President Ford Signs Equal Credit Opportunity Act
President Gerald Ford on this day signed into law the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which helped to reduce sex discrimination in access to credit.
As a member of the Appropriations Committee, Congresswoman Lindy Boggs (D–Louisiana) helped shape the law. She hand-wrote “sex or marital status” into the text and then passed out new copies of the bill with the phrase included. She suggested sweetly that the omission “must have been an oversight.” The amendment passed.
President Gerald Ford signed further amendments to bar discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, or national origin with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments of 1976 in March 1976.
President Ford signing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act Amendments of 1976: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=5745
Read: Gerald Ford, A Time to Heal: The Autobiography of Gerald R. Ford (1979)
Learn more about equal credit opportunity: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0347-your-equal-credit-opportunity-rights