My son, Sean Moyer, committed suicide on February 7, 1998. He was 22 years old, a junior at the University of Oklahoma and $10,000 in debt to credit card companies.

I am here this morning because I believe something must be done to stop credit card companies from preying on 18, 19 and 20 year olds. My hope is that maybe by telling Sean's story, someone, somewhere will think about the damage credit cards can do to our children.

Like most kids in credit card debt, Sean was a good kid. He got his first job when he was 16 and worked all through high school and college. He was a national merit finalist and earned a full-ride scholarship to The University of Texas as Dallas. He was so bright about many things but so stupid when it came to managing his money -- he just couldn't do it.

I remember the day his father and I took him to college. We were so full of excitement about his future. The excitement about living on campus, his classes and the opportunities he would have.

I also remember the credit card companies having booths at the union trying to get Sean and other freshman to sign up. They offered the kids T-shirts and other things just for opening an account.

Sean got his first card soon after he started college. While attending UT he worked as a gift wrapper and sales person at Marshall Fields. He was making minimum wage. His meager salary didn't bother the credit card companies. By the time he died he had 12 cards including 1 Master card, 2 Visas, Neiman-Marcus, Saks 5th Avenue, Macy's, Marshall Fields, Conoco and Discover. How those companies can justify giving a credit card to a person making $5.25 an hour is beyond me.

Sean tried to pay of his debts. He went through credit counseling while in Dallas but he fell further and further behind. When he was 21 he realized he couldn't afford Dallas and moved back home with us to attend the University of Oklahoma. He was working at 2 jobs plus attending college. Still he couldn't make ends meet.

A week before he killed himself we had a long talk about his debts and about his future. He told me he had no idea how to get out of his financial mess and didn't see much of a future for himself. He had wanted to go to law school but didn't think he could get a loan to pay tuition because he owed so much on his cards.

His father and I were appalled that he had gotten into so much debt but we also didn't have an extra $10,000 to pay his bills. He thought he was a failure at 22. I will never know the exact reason Sean killed himself -- he didn't leave a note -- but I have no doubt that his credit card debt played a significant part in his decision.

I am haunted by the thought that he might be alive today if I had been able to pay off those cards. And I am outraged by the aggressive marketing tactics used by credit card companies that prey on kids like Sean.

You can't attend a college event without seeing credit card booths giving students gifts for signing up. The University of Oklahoma's web page allows a student to sign up without asking how much money they make. They do ask, however, how many of the student's other credit cards they want to transfer to the new card. Sean is still getting credit card offers a year after his death. This spring he received two offers from Chase for a pre-approved card with a $100,000 limit.

There simply has to be some limits set on credit card companies before more students end up in bankruptcy or dead. Credit must be based on the applicants present income -- not on their potential to earn. If a student is making minimum wage today credit card companies have no business giving him credit based on the probability that someday he might be earning a lot more.

Credit card companies have to take into account the number of cards the student already has. You don't issue a Master card when the kid already has 2 Visas. Base the issuance of credit on a person's reasonable ability to pay off the debt. Credit card companies must act responsibly when it comes to issuing cards.

Responsibility is a two-way street. Students need to limit their spending, they need to think about the long term consequences of how they use credit. They need to realize that they must wait for some of the things they want.

Finally our government must regulate the issuance of cards to children under the age of 21. I have heard the argument that this is not an issue for government action. That 18 year olds are legally adults and at some point we've got to stop protecting them from themselves. That point is when they are 21. When they've had a chance to grow up, to be on their own, to earn a living, pay bills and mature. Not when they are fresh out of high school. Give them an opportunity to grow up before they are given the opportunity to wreck their lives. Thank you