Hoyer Floor Remarks on the GOP Legislation to Gut Consumer Protections in Dodd-Frank
Press Types
Press Release
For Immediate Release:
May 22, 2018
Contact Info:
Mariel Saez 202-225-3130
WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke on the House Floor today in opposition to a Republican bill to gut consumer protections in the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Below is a link to the video and transcript of his remarks:
“Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, the Congress enacted, over the opposition of our friends in the Republican party, mostly, the Dodd-Frank reforms to safeguard our economy and safeguard consumers.
"When we passed Dodd-Frank in 2010, no one believed it was perfect. No legislation is ever perfect. There is nothing wrong with evaluating the Dodd-Frank [law] eight years after it was enacted to determine what is working well and where we might improve.
"Many Democrats, myself included, support providing regulatory relief to community banks. And we ought to do that in a bipartisan fashion – not just a few bipartisan participants, but in a bipartisan fashion. I have talked to the Ranking Member. She has indicated that that's something that she supports, as well.
"However, the bill on the Floor today goes much further and would weaken the rules that Dodd-Frank put in place. It would undermine the regulatory framework for all banks. This would roll back parts of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, stress tests for large banks, and bank capital requirements. It would also, as has been noted, raise the threshold for the automatic assignation of systemically important financial institutions from $50 billion to $250 billion. The changes that are proposed risk making our nation's financial system vulnerable to another crisis that would require yet another taxpayer bailout.
“Mr. Speaker, because of that – and because I would like to see a truly bipartisan bill, supported overwhelmingly on both sides of the aisle, to make sure that our community banks are not impacted in a way that was never intended, nor should it be intended by the Congress – I, therefore, urge opposition to this particular piece of legislation, and I thank Ranking Member Waters for her hard work in making its consequences clear.”
“Mr. Speaker, in the wake of the worst financial collapse since the Great Depression, the Congress enacted, over the opposition of our friends in the Republican party, mostly, the Dodd-Frank reforms to safeguard our economy and safeguard consumers.
"When we passed Dodd-Frank in 2010, no one believed it was perfect. No legislation is ever perfect. There is nothing wrong with evaluating the Dodd-Frank [law] eight years after it was enacted to determine what is working well and where we might improve.
"Many Democrats, myself included, support providing regulatory relief to community banks. And we ought to do that in a bipartisan fashion – not just a few bipartisan participants, but in a bipartisan fashion. I have talked to the Ranking Member. She has indicated that that's something that she supports, as well.
"However, the bill on the Floor today goes much further and would weaken the rules that Dodd-Frank put in place. It would undermine the regulatory framework for all banks. This would roll back parts of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, stress tests for large banks, and bank capital requirements. It would also, as has been noted, raise the threshold for the automatic assignation of systemically important financial institutions from $50 billion to $250 billion. The changes that are proposed risk making our nation's financial system vulnerable to another crisis that would require yet another taxpayer bailout.
“Mr. Speaker, because of that – and because I would like to see a truly bipartisan bill, supported overwhelmingly on both sides of the aisle, to make sure that our community banks are not impacted in a way that was never intended, nor should it be intended by the Congress – I, therefore, urge opposition to this particular piece of legislation, and I thank Ranking Member Waters for her hard work in making its consequences clear.”