The campaign by the Partnership for Protecting Consumer Credit (Partnership), aimed at congressional staff working on this issue, highlights the benefits of the national credit system to consumers and businesses. The ads appear throughout the Washington, D.C. area in various periodicals, Capitol Hill newspapers and within the public transportation system.

In addition to the ad campaign, Partnership members are working to educate individual Members of Congress and their staff through a steady stream of visits on Capitol Hill.

The FCRA provisions set to expire January 1, 2004 preempt state law in a number of areas, including prescreening, use of consumer reports to make credit decisions, the furnishing of information to consumer reporting agencies, and the sharing of information with affiliated corporations. Discontinuation of these provisions would affect a consumer's ability to acquire credit and the industry's ability to offer a unified approach to offering credit.

For those reasons, FCRA is the most pressing legislative issue now before AFSA. "Together with the Partnership members, our companies serve million of consumers nationwide," says AFSA's Tom Lehner. "Pooling resources and working together as one voice will communicate a unified message to Congress that will be key in achieving our goal of reauthorization."

The Partnership is committed to working with Congress and consumers on educating them on the important role the FCRA has in this nation's economy. To learn more about the FCRA and the Partnership, please visit www.protectconsumercredit.org.