Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to express my strong support for H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008. This bipartisan piece of legislation, introduced by Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Representative Chris Cannon (R-UT) would provide an avenue for open negotiations between the retail community and the credit card companies in the currently anticompetitive interchange fee setting process.

As grocers, we operate on paper thin profit margins, and are experiencing a real crunch due to excessive interchange fees, especially as more consumers turn toward plastic for the purchase of necessity goods like milk and bread. As members of the business community, we rarely, if ever, ask government to have any say in the way in which we run our businesses, but we feel powerless to stop the credit card companies' out of control anticompetitive behavior.

On the surface, the payments industry may appear to be more competitive than ever, but that is absolutely not the case. Interchange fees are the only cost of doing business that we as retailers cannot currently negotiate, and Visa and MasterCard control over 80% of the payments card market, effectively forcing us into a corner. Because of the take-or-leave-it situation Visa and MasterCard have created with their anticompetitive behavior, we are forced to accept whatever rates and terms the credit card giants dictate.

We believe that H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act, is the best market-based solution to the current anticompetitive setting of interchange fees by the credit card industry and strongly encourage you to join the bipartisan cosponsors of this important piece of legislation and support H.R. 5546.

Thank you.

Cosponsors of H.R. 5546, the Credit Card Fair Fee Act of 2008 (as of May 6):

Democrats

Rep. Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14] Rep. Allen, Thomas H. [ME-1] Rep. Carnahan, Russ [MO-3] Rep. Carney, Christopher P. [PA-10] Rep. Delahunt, William D. [MA-10] Rep. Ellison, Keith [MN-5] Rep. Gonzalez, Charles [TX-20] Rep. Jackson-Lee, Sheila [TX-18] Rep. Johnson, Eddie Bernice Rep. Kagen, Steve [WI-8] Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [CA-16] Rep. Marshall, Jim [GA-8] Rep. McCollum, Betty [MN-4] Rep. McNerney, Jerry [CA-11] Rep. Shuler, Heath [NC-11] Rep. Weiner, Anthony D. [NY-9] Rep. Welch, Peter [VT] Rep. Yarmuth, John A. [KY-3]

Republicans

Rep. Cannon, Chris [UT-3] Rep. Boozman, John [AR-3] Rep. English, Phil [PA-3] Rep. Gohmert, Louie [TX-1] Rep. Hall, Ralph M. [TX-4] Rep. Peterson, John E. [PA-5] Rep. Platts, Todd Russell [PA-19] Rep. Porter, Jon C. [NV-3] Rep. Shuster, Bill [PA-9] Rep. Sullivan, John [OK-1] Rep. Tiberi, Patrick J. [OH-12] Rep. Wamp, Zach [TN-3] Rep. Whitfield, Ed [KY-1] Rep. Wilson, Joe [SC-2]

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
May 15, 2008