Consumer Protection

As Minnesota's Attorney General from 1960-1964, Walter Mondale established a reputation as a strong consumer advocate. He litigated and won several high-profile consumer protection cases: deception and fraud amounting to millions of dollars by the Sister Elizabeth Kenny Foundation; fraud by Minnesota Boys Town, in which donations amounting to a quarter of a million dollars were not used for troubled teens; and fraud by the Holland Furnace Company of Michigan, in which aggressive salesmen conducted phony tests and convinced homeowners that they needed a new furnace. He added a consumer protection unit to the Office of Attorney General. He applied the conviction for consumer protection he developed as attorney general—"Consumers are always at risk of getting cheated by some shady operator, and that they often have no remedy. . . The attorney general's office should protect members of the public in cases where they couldn't protect themselves . . . [and] Sometimes you need the hand of government to ensure that honest people can carry on in business"[1]—to his work in the United States Senate.

As a freshman senator, Mr. Mondale cosponsored the Truth in Packaging Bill, introduced by Senator Hart (D-MI), requiring packages to accurately and clearly provide essential product information and fairly represent their content. In a speech to the Pillsbury Company Consumer Forum, Senator Mondale echoed what he learned as attorney general: "Government does have an ancient and indispensable responsibility to protect the ethical competitor and the consumer from those who would resort to fraud, misrepresentation and deliberately contrived confusion. And Government has a responsibility to protect the ethical competitor and the consumer from those who fail to clearly and responsibly disclose the essential facts necessary for a wise and rational consumer choice."[2]

Senator Mondale worked closely with Ralph Nader, a well-known consumer advocate, in drafting the Fair Warning Act. The bill required automobile manufacturers to immediately notify consumers with defective cars. The bill was incorporated into President Johnson's National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966.[3] Senator Mondale worked hard to get the Vehicle Safety Act passed, writing articles and giving speeches concerning the fundamental right of consumers "to know about any hidden hazards associated with the products they buy."[4] When the car companies claimed they would have to raise car prices due to new safety standards, Senator Mondale was skeptical: "I think it is most strange that an industry which is so experienced and expert at making expensive annual styling changes in automobiles without increasing prices, finds it necessary to substantially increase prices to meet the modest safety standards being required this year. I cannot recall ever hearing an industry spokesman say 'prices will have to be increased this year because of the costly styling changes in our new cars.' But let anyone mention the most trivial safety requirement and immediately we hear that it will be terribly costly and that the consumer will have to pay extra for it."[5]

Senator Mondale introduced the Wholesome Meat Act in 1967 after learning of unsanitary conditions in unregulated slaughter houses. He discovered that some of the largest meat packing firms "purchase or establish intrastate meat plants to avoid federal inspection."[6] The act, therefore, aimed to extend federal inspection of slaughter houses to companies doing business within a state as well as across state lines. Senator Mondale was instrumental in getting this legislation passed, thus ensuring the public of protection for all meat and meat products. He was adamant that there be federal inspection standards for all meat packing plants, and that adequate funds were provided to states to improve their inspection systems.

Senator Mondale introduced legislation three times in an effort to outlaw fraudulent pyramid schemes; he supported legislation providing federal assistance to states for establishing and strengthening consumer protection programs (1969); he introduced a bill that provided for mandatory inspection of protein products (poultry, fish, and eggs)(1968); and he drew attention to the affects of asbestos and the effects of unsafe working conditions on workers (1973). When inflation sky-rocketed, Senator Mondale introduced Senate Resolution 357, insisting that the government pursue "a more balanced set of anti-inflationary policies"[7] (1970). He also introduced bills that would impose a freeze on all prices, rents, interest rates, and wages and that would direct the President to use the allotted time to establish "a long-run program to control inflation that is firm, fair, and equitable"[8] (1973).

In his last full year in the Senate, Walter Mondale supported an agency much like the consumer protection unit he added as an attorney general:

Consumers are usually poorly organized, underfunded, and ill equipped to present an effective case before a federal court or agency. A single consumer can rarely gather the resources needed to intervene or litigate. A group of consumers often feel a sense of powerlessness, even if it is able to find out about an important consumer proceeding in time to participate . . . The Agency for Consumer Advocacy will function as an advocate and spokesman for consumer interests. The ACA will provide useful input to the decision making process and will provide important and helpful information to the American consumer. We have needed the Agency for Consumer Advocacy for a long time. Now is the time to take decisive action to insure the prompt creation of the ACA, the effective representation of the consumer before Federal courts and federal agencies, and decision making in the consumer interest.[9]