Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici represents the First Congressional District of Oregon, which includes Washington, Yamhill, Clatsop, and Columbia counties and part of Multnomah County.
Strengthening public education is one of Suzanne's top priorities and one of the reasons she got involved in public service. Suzanne spent hundreds of hours volunteering in public schools before serving in the Oregon State Legislature, where she passed legislation to reduce duplicative testing. In Congress, she is a leader on the Education and Labor Committee and Chair of the Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services.
As a consumer protection attorney at the Federal Trade Commission, I learned firsthand how strong consumer protection laws keep Americans financially secure and level the playing field for businesses. A thriving marketplace without deceptive practices is also essential to our economic recovery because it will help to restore consumer confidence. I have taken on predatory lending and other unscrupulous practices, and I have worked to prevent insurance companies from taking advantage of seniors. Recently I introduced the SAFE (Stop Abuse and Fraud in Electronic) Lending Act, a companion bill to legislation Senator Merkley introduced in the Senate, to protect consumers from abusive online payday lending practices.
As a member of the Financial and Economic Literacy Caucus, I am working to promote more personal financial education. With more education and understanding about personal finance and economics, consumers will be more knowledgeable in the marketplace and less likely to fall victim to scams.