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THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2016

Press Types
Daily Leader
For Immediate Release:
2016-12-01T00:00:00
Contact Info:

Mariel Saez 202-225-3130

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House Meets At:First Vote Predicted:Last Vote Predicted:

10:00 a.m.: Morning Hour
12:00 p.m.: Legislative Business

Fifteen “One Minutes”
5:00 – 5:30 p.m.5:30 – 6:00 p.m.

H.Res. 937 – Rule providing for consideration of the Conference report to accompany S. 2943 – National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (Rep. Thornberry – Armed Services) (One hour of debate).  The Rules Committee has allowed debate on the conference report be divided pursuant to clause 8(d) of Rule XXII.  The Rule allows one motion to recommit and waives all points of order against the conference report and against its consideration.  Members are urged to VOTE NO.

H.R. 6392Systemic Risk Designation Improvement Act of 2016 (Rep. Luetkemeyer – Financial Services).  H.R. 6392 would scale back certain provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act that give federal financial regulators authority in regulating Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) and would potentially exempt large regional banks from the type of oversight necessary to ensure the health and stability of our financial markets.  The bill is yet another Republican attempt to roll back important Dodd-Frank regulations that were designed to prevent the type of risky financial practices that led to the near-collapse of our financial system just 8 years ago.     

In reaction to the 2008 financial crisis, Title 1 of Dodd-Frank provides that any large bank with assets over $50 billion be automatically designated a SIFI by the Financial Stability Oversight Counsel (FSOC) to ensure that financial regulators oversee their activities.  A significant finding in the aftermath of the 2008 financial collapse is that federal financial regulators did not use the authority available to them to monitor the health, safety, and risk management practices of large banks.  Under Dodd-Frank,  the Federal Reserve, as the primary regulator of bank holding companies, is required to examine any bank designated a SIFI for potential risk to the financial system and establish any appropriate regulatory standards.  While Republicans argue the $50 billion threshold is arbitrary and imposes excessive restraints, they are in fact justified considering banks above this threshold were found to have engaged in reckless financial practices that significantly contributed to the 2008 Great Recession. To ensure that banks of this size are appropriately and not excessively regulated, Dodd-Frank provided the Federal Reserve ample discretion to tailor any enhanced regulations based on the size, complexity, and varying risk profile of the SIFI.  For example, additional capital requirements only apply to banks with assets over $250 billion, and the toughest leverage requirements only apply to eight of the largest SIFIs that are designated as Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs). 

H.R. 6392 would completely repeal Dodd-Frank’s $50 billion asset threshold above which banks are automatically labeled SIFIs, and strictly limit automatic SIFI-designation to only the largest U.S. banks that have already been designated as G-SIBs subject to enhanced prudential standards.  As of November 2015, only 8 of the 33 U.S. banks designated as SIFIs under Dodd-Frank carry the G-SIB label.  All other bank holding companies would have to go through an extensive review process before being designated a SIFI subject to increased oversight by the FSOC, a lengthy and potential interminable case-by-case exercise.

With H.R. 6392, House Republicans are preventing regulators from applying enhanced prudential requirements for trillions of dollars of assets managed by dozens of the largest banks in the U.S., thereby exposing our country’s economy to unnecessary financial risk.  Instead of wasting time undermining Dodd-Frank, House Republicans should work with Democrats to ensure our financial system is strong while supporting economic growth and opportunity for the American middle class.

In the Statement of Administration Policy, the President’s senior advisors stated that they would recommend he veto this bill.

The Rule makes in order 1 amendment, debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided between the offeror and an opponent.  The amendment is:

Davidson/Luetkemeyer Amendment. Prohibits the use of international standards not specifically provided in the bill.

Bill Text for H.R. 6392:
PDF Version

H.Res. 933 – Providing amounts for further expenses of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the One Hundred Fourteenth Congress (Rep. Miller (MI) – House Administration) (One Hour of Debate).  The resolution increases funding for the Energy and Commerce Committee on to finance the activities of the Select Panel to Attack Women’s Health by $800,000.

The Select Panel was created in response to heavily-edited undercover videos from antiabortion activists that allegedly showed Planned Parenthood profiting from the sale of fetal tissue collected from abortions.  However, after three investigations by House Committees, no evidence has been found to prove Planned Parenthood conducted any illegal activity or misused federal funding.  Despite the fact that the Select Panel has yet to produce a single shred of evidence of wrongdoing, House Republicans have continued this partisan witch-hunt, which is clearly another Republican assault on women’s health care and Planned Parenthood. 

For over 100 years, Planned Parenthood has provided critical and potentially life-saving services to Americans all across the country.  Nearly 2.7 million men and women use Planned Parenthood or their affiliates annually.  The organization provides essential services such as providing birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and sexually transmitted disease and HIV screenings.  In one-fifth of the counties throughout the United States in which Planned Parenthood operates, they are the sole women's reproductive health clinic serving low-income women.

The Select Panel to Attack Women's Health, which has already received $790,000 in 2016 alone, has proven a complete waste of lawmakers' time and taxpayer dollars.  Instead, Republicans should work with Democrats to complete this year’s work, including funding the government, finishing work on the National Defense Authorization Act, and passing legislation that provides funding for the Flint water crisis.    Members are urged to VOTE NO.

Bill Text for H.Res. 933:
PDF Version

The Daily Quote

“The overwhelming majority of our Members supported the Republican budget, which was reported out of committee, but we couldn't get 218. Quite frankly, you can't expect the Democrats to pass a Republican budget, that's pretty much our responsibility…. Now, in my view we could have done, and should have done, an omnibus spending bill this year. We could have all the spending set through the end of the fiscal year. The decision was made at the leadership level and by the incoming Administration not to do that. Personally, I got to tell you I think that was a mistake. And we’re going to end up next year having to write two sets of appropriation bills. We'll get it done, but with all of the other things on the table so to speak that Mr. Trump is proposing, we shouldn't -- this Congress shouldn't push off its responsibilities… It's our job to write the 2017 fiscal spending plan. We're going to do that, we did it we just haven’t enacted it, and instead we are going to pass a continuing resolution probably through the end of April. And frankly, when we get there, if we're not careful, temptation will be let's continue this through the end of the fiscal year, September 30th. I think that's sloppy appropriating and budgeting.”

     -    Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), MSNBC’s Morning Joe, 12/1/2016