TINA.org Executive Director to Testify in Senate Hearing

On Tuesday, April 27, at 10am ET, TINA.org’s Executive Director Bonnie Patten testified before Congress in a hearing on “Curbing COVID Cons: Warning Consumers about Pandemic Frauds, Scams, and Swindles.”

The ongoing pandemic has exacerbated the ever-present dangers of deceptive and unfair acts and practices in the marketplace. TINA.org has heard from countless consumers – including senior citizens, military veterans and struggling parents – whose experiences illustrate the fact that deceptive marketing is putting the health, financial well-being and safety of our most susceptible populations at risk.

To make matters worse, last week, the Supreme Court ruled against the FTC, the agency primarily charged with policing these deceptive acts, in a case that challenged its ability to make victims whole under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. Losing a mainstay of its enforcement authority leaves consumers and our economy more vulnerable to harm, especially during these unprecedented times.

Watch the webcast to hear what Bonnie had to say on these important consumer protection issues in her testimony before the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Data Security in a hearing convened by its chair U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT).

She was joined by Daniel Kaufman, Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection; William Kovacic, Global Competition Professor of Law and Policy and Director of the Competition Law Center at The George Washington University Law School; Kevin Rhodes, Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel at 3M; and Cynthia Alexander, Assistant Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, Washington Attorney General’s Office.

Read her written testimony here and watch the proceedings here.