June 8, 2017
Bringing back the community banks that Dodd-Frank destroyed means that more people, not just the wealthy, will have access to credit. But if we want everyone to be part of the American economy, we don’t want people to face the same risks they did before. We want people to be treated fairly. In 2008, people lost everything. Aided by misguided Washington policies, some played fast and loose and put almost everyone else at risk. So it is only natural that people looked around and asked: Why do we have a system where, when things go wrong, banks need to get bailouts, but the American people get nothing? It is not a fair system. Dodd-Frank made it worse. It actually codified bailouts into law and made a taxpayer slush fund. On top of all that, we all know the regulations it created were just ridiculous. Why is it that the rich and powerful get to game the complicated rules produced by their friends in the bureaucracy while everyone else faces a mountain of paperwork and regulations that no human being has a chance of understanding? We all know that is not fair. All this ends up boxing out small-business owners and normal Americans who can’t hire lawyers to sift through it all. The Financial CHOICE Act levels the playing field. It makes both Wall Street and Washington accountable so that their bad decisions don’t cost the taxpayers money. It makes things simple so that you don’t need an Ivy League law degree to understand the rules that govern our lives. America is a nation for the people. Everyone has a shot. Everyone should be treated the same. Everyone has a chance to succeed. The Financial CHOICE Act brings us a little closer to that America one more time. Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. DAVID SCOTT), one of our senior members of the Financial Services Committee. Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia. Mr. Chairman, I love this country. The heart and soul of our country is our financial system. This bill is a dangerous bill to our economy. Let me tell you why. First of all, it takes away all of our consumer protections. I want to give you an example. Before we had Dodd-Frank, a bank that is insured by the taxpayers could go in and use their customer’s money. They could take their customer’s money out to invest in risky bets, and then when the bets go south, it is the taxpayers that have to pick up the freight. Secondly, let us use this example. Because of the impact and the complexities of our financial system, so much of the cause and effect of the downturn were the big banks. What Dodd-Frank did was provide a test to be able to go in and simulate and confer with the bank to prevent it from going overboard.
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Wake up, America. I have talked with our Senators and they have assured me that this bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Mexico (Mr. PEARCE), who is the chairman of the Terrorism and Illicit Finance Subcommittee. Mr. PEARCE. Mr. Chair, credit is one of the most powerful devices of our financial system. It was designed over time by modern societies. In some countries, credit is simply not available to those who need it the most: people at the bottom of the ladder. In the United States, we have got a well-developed system where credit is available no matter how bad their credit rating might be. That is, it was available until the Dodd-Frank regulation created the CFPB. In the Second District of New Mexico, 50 percent of the homes are mobile homes or manufactured housing. DoddFrank immediately began to show that they had no clue about how rural societies worked, and put into place regulations that choked off the access of most of our homeowners to manufactured housing. That wasn’t enough for the CFPB. They began then to set forward qualified mortgages, which then choked off traditional mortgages to many people in the Second District of New Mexico. Many people in New Mexico will buy their first mobile home and they will live in that. Then, over their life, they will buy 8 or 10 more. Then they sell those one at a time, usually to people who can’t get credit any other way. The CFPB simply shut that down. Now, seniors with less income, but people who need the loans the most, have one more source of credit dried up to them. The rules that affect the rural mortgages and small businesses were so punitive that the economy in New Mexico has never come back. It is not just that the Financial CHOICE Act is the right choice in the rural areas, in our areas; it is the only choice. I support H.R. 10, and I ask my colleagues to vote ‘‘yes’’ on the bill. Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, I yield 11⁄2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. SCOTT), the ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee. Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I rise in opposition to the ‘‘Wrong’’ CHOICE Act. In addition to what else is wrong with the bill, there are two significant problems with it impacting the jurisdiction of the Education and the Workforce Committee, where I serve as the ranking Democratic member. First, the bill essentially eliminates the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The Bureau has played a crucial role in making sure student loan borrowers are treated fairly and receive the protections that they deserve. It has shut down fraudulent student loan
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debt relief scams, resolved countless consumer complaints, and secured hundreds of millions of dollars in loan forgiveness for borrowers tricked into taking out costly private loans. The bill also repeals the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, which simply ensures that financial advisers put their retirement clients’ interests first. Workers getting ready to retire often seek assistance in making what would be the biggest financial decision in their life. Let’s be clear: many of these just set aside a few hundred dollars a month throughout their career, and now have hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest. They are counting on their financial adviser to do right by them and their families. This rule simply says that they have to do right for the families and the workers, not what may generate the highest fees. Mr. Chairman, this bill undermines key policy priorities impacting student loans and retirement savings. We should stand up for students and retirees and reject this bill. Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. DUFFY), the chairman of the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee. Mr. DUFFY. Mr. Chairman, this debate oftentimes can become confusing because banking law is confusing. We hear both sides take different positions on the Financial CHOICE Act and on Dodd-Frank, but I think the way you cut to the fat about whether Dodd-Frank was great law and does the Financial CHOICE Act actually make this law way better, I think we have to look at a couple simple factors. Big banks brought us to the crisis in 2008. The question for my friends across the aisle and people watching this debate is: Because of Dodd-Frank, have big banks gotten smaller or have big banks gotten bigger? The answer is: Big banks have gotten bigger. If you go to rural Wisconsin, small community banks and credit unions that help grow businesses and help provide to capital to our families are going out of business. Big Wall Street banks don’t set up shop in rural Wisconsin. So the little guy is getting hurt and the big guys are doing really well. You have got to ask yourself: Who supports the Financial CHOICE Act? You have the NFIB protecting small businesses, the Independent Community Bankers of America, the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions, and the Credit Union National Association. Credit unions and small banks support this bill. Who doesn’t support this bill? Well, if you look to The Washington Post: HENSARLING, our chairman, faces opposition from big-bank CEOs that like Dodd-Frank. They hate the Financial CHOICE Act. Another quote from The Wall Street Journal: ‘‘Big banks have an unexpected message for President-elect Trump: Don’t trash the Dodd-Frank Act.’’
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