Patrick McHenryChairman

The committee passed 13 bills on Wednesday to help Main Street businesses gain access to the capital they need to grow and create jobs. 

"We still have millions and millions of our fellow countrymen, hardworking moderate-income taxpayers, who find themselves with stagnant to lower paychecks; bank accounts that are less than before the great economic crisis -- and they need more jobs, better jobs, and you can’t have more and better jobs without more and better capital formation,” said Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX).

By passing the JOBS Act in 2012, Congress took an important bipartisan step toward easing the regulatory burden on small businesses and startups seeking access to capital markets.  However, more needs to be done to eliminate and streamline the regulations that make it difficult for them to open their doors and create jobs.

The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX), held a hearing on Tuesday to focus on how to protect financial institutions and consumers’ financial data from cyberattacks

"We should all remember that no single institution or system is 100 percent protected from cyberattacks. The sector faces threats posed by a growing array of cyber criminals, nation-state actors, and terrorist organizations," said Chairman Neugebauer.

The U.S. financial sector is a critical asset and part of the nation’s infrastructure.  A broad-scale cyberattack that disrupts financial markets or payment system could bring enormous harm to our economy.

Small businesses are the primary source of job growth in America, yet the sheer weight, volume and complexity of Washington regulations hinders their ability to create jobs and spur economic growth.

“As multiple witnesses have testified to this Committee over the years, our current equity market structure in many ways disadvantages small issuers, who often times find their stocks trading in illiquid markets with little to no research coverage.  This has the ultimate effect of raising the cost of capital for these companies, impacting their ability to grow and hire new workers,” said Chairman Garrett. 

Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) said in his opening statement, " In the era of “big data,” large-scale security breaches are unfortunately all too common. Every breach leaves consumers exposed and vulnerable to identity theft, fraud and a host of other crimes.”

Chairman Hensarling said he viewed the hearing as a venue for a “thoughtful and constructive dialogue on a bipartisan basis,” about the issue, and he commended Reps. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) and John Carney (D-DE) for introducing bipartisan data security legislation.

The bill passed the Financial Services Committee by a vote of 53-5 and the House last month by a vote of 235-183.

As Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC) said, “Too often, CFPB regulations designed for massive, ‘systemic risk’ financial institutions end up hurting small businesses, credit unions and community banks.  This bipartisan legislation will restore balance, continuing strong protections for consumers while allowing small businesses the freedom to grow and create good paying jobs.”

Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) praised the legislation:  “An agency as powerful as the CFPB will benefit from the advice of small businesses, community banks and credit unions. The CFPB should listen to them so it can issue smart regulations rather than dumb regulations that harm Main Street America.”

Editorial:  Obama Threatens To Veto Bill Giving Small Biz Greater Voice In CFPB Rulemaking
Investor’s Business Daily – May 1, 2015

President Obama claims to champion small business, yet he's threatening to veto a bipartisan bill to give small businesses and banks a voice in regulation so that new rules won't overburden them and kill jobs.

The White House warned Congress last week that it opposes a bill to make the powerful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau more accountable to small businesses.

HR 1195, which passed by a 235-183 vote margin, would force the CFPB to pay attention to the concerns of small businesses, community banks and credit unions when developing new rules and regulations.

Small business owners, along with the public and press, have been barred from CFPB meetings with radical activist advisors.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray and other top officials met behind closed doors with his hand-picked Consumer Advisory Board, which has undue influence over financial regulatory policy. Secret talks have covered issues ranging from new mortgage regulations to onerous new rules for auto lenders and payday lenders.

It's critical that the financial community knows how these powerful officials are scheming with the radical nonprofit sector to control it. CFPB has the power to regulate virtually every consumer financial transaction in the U.S.

Its 25-member Consumer Advisory Board includes former Acorn activists, trial lawyers who make a living suing banks, and even a member of the Democratic National Committee. Some have taken hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grant money to gin up housing and lending discrimination complaints.

These radicals not only advise the government on new bank rules but also influence their enforcement actions against creditors.

Right now, CFPB is not consulting with small businesses and lenders before making rules that harm them, even though they make up the backbone of the economy. In 2013, for instance, a small-business man drove to Jackson, Miss., to attend a meeting of the Consumer Advisory Board but was turned away. "We just don't allow anybody from the public into these meetings," Bobby Riggs said he was gruffly told by a CFPB official.

But the new House bill, introduced by Rep. Robert Pittenger, R-N.C., would establish a new Small Business Advisory Board to give such owners a voice in CFPB affairs and create some balance in an agency that has shown a strong anti-business bias.

It would also create a permanent Community Bank Advisory Council and a Credit Union Advisory Council. The business advisory boards will be paid for by making a tiny reduction — 0.1% — in the amount of funds that the CFPB is allowed to draw from the Federal Reserve over the next 10 years.

Hillary Clinton recently said that she was "surprised" to learn that small businesses were struggling. For an explanation, she can look at all the red tape with which CFPB is strangling them, in addition to ObamaCare mandates.

Obama argues that he opposes Pittenger's sensible bill because it would slightly reduce CFPB spending to offset the cost of the new boards. But the real reason is: he doesn't want business owners to loosen the death grip that radical anti-business activists have on the agency.

A pressure group that Sen. Elizabeth Warren set up to create CFPB — Americans for Financial Reform — is blitzing Congress to defeat the bill. In letters to Democrats, it warns them that the legislation is "a Trojan Horse designed to limit the Consumer Bureau's work" and strongly urges them to help kill it in the Senate before it gets to Obama's desk.

Some of the most radical lobbyists in Washington — including La Raza, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Greenlining Institute, National People's Action and SEIU — have signed the letters.

What they're really worried about is losing their radical hold over CFPB and the financial sector.

In its coverage of the hearing, The Hill quoted Task Force Chairman Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) as saying that members will make sure "the federal government is using every tool at its disposal to deprive groups like the Islamic State, Boko Haram and other terrorist organizations of the funds they rely on to advance their warped ideology."

Members and hearing witnesses expressed concern that lifting sanctions against Iran as part of President Obama’s nuclear deal “could ease the flow of funding to terrorist groups around the world,” the Boston Herald reported.

The U.S. is ceding $11.9 billion in cash transfers to Iran as the Obama administration looks to finalize a nuclear deal with Tehran.

Juan Zarate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies testified that effectively fighting terrorists requires choking off their money supply.  “Whether it is Al Qaeda, the Islamic State, or Hizballah, the reality is that terrorist groups need money to operate their networks, implement logistics, maintain territory or influence, and to plan strategically against the United States,” he said. "Money is their enabler, but it’s also their Achilles’ heel."

For more on the Task Force, be sure to watch this week’s Sunday Video Message with Task Force Co-Chairman Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-NC). 

The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee continued examining the detrimental effect the regulatory burden on community financial institutions has on consumers at its hearing on Thursday. 

As Bloomberg reported in its coverage of the hearing, “Smaller banks have been complaining for years of the compliance costs of post-crisis regulations, particularly those implementing the Dodd-Frank Act.”

Members shared their concerns about the shrinking number of local banks and credit unions due to burdensome and duplicative regulations.

Subcommittee Chairman Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) shared that "In the 19th District of Texas, we need relationship banking. My constituents want to know their banker. The local banker wants to be flexible and find ways to help his neighbor realize their dream and reach financial independence."

Members also discussed how their constituents struggle when one-size-fits-all Washington regulations impact their hometown banks and credit unions.  Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) said consumers in his area are not able to have their needs met by their local financial institutions because they are no longer in the “business of lending,” he said, but rather the “business of paperwork and compliance.”

Overregulation has limited choices for consumers, increased costs and made it harder for Americans, especially those with low and middle incomes, to achieve financial independence, said Rep. Frank Guinta (R-NJ).

Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO) said in his rural district community financial institutions are "about to give up" due to the unmanageable amount of regulations.