Consumer Protection

The first responsibility of government is to protect its citizens—not only from foreign and domestic threats to our nation’s security, but also from crime, unsafe products, and unscrupulous business practices.
Keeping Minnesotans safe means a commitment to consumer protection. Consumers deserve products that have been tested and meet strong health and safety standards. However, as global commerce has increased, public concern has grown over the safety of many products imported from abroad, whether they are toys or charm bracelets, seafood or pet food, or tires or toothpaste. We need to ensure that the agencies responsible for protecting consumers—such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Trade Commission, and the Food and Drug Administration—have the necessary authority and resources to perform their important duties. I strongly oppose efforts by the Trump administration to undermine these critical agencies.
We must keep unsafe products off our shores and out of our stores and remain vigilant in rooting out fraudulent or deceptive practices that impact family pocketbooks. Our financial and telecommunications markets have undergone rapid changes in recent years. The housing market saw the emergence of predatory lenders that offered risky loans to homeowners and evaded the traditional financial safeguards meant to protect consumers. And the increasing integration of wireless and internet technologies into our lives—from social media to healthcare—has resulted in growing concerns over the privacy and security of our personal data.
There has also been a rise in major data breaches that have exposed the personal information of millions of consumers. The changing nature of technology and increased availability of data have created new opportunities for hackers to commit cyberattacks and steal sensitive information from consumers, companies, and the government. We need better methods for detecting breaches and preventing these attacks from happening in the first place.
As Minnesota’s U.S. senator, I will continue to focus on these priorities:
As Minnesota’s U.S. senator, I’ve been fighting to strengthen our commitment to consumer protection: