News List

The Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Thursday will hold a hearing on the new Office of Financial Research (OFR) and pay particular attention to the data security risks inherent with OFR’s mission of collecting sensitive, private financial information. The Office of Financial Research, created by the Dodd-Frank Act, has the authority -- backed up by subpoena power -- to… Read more »

WASHINGTON -Continuing the Financial Services Committee’s ongoing efforts to thoroughly review government policies and regulations, the Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee will meet for a hearing to evaluate recent changes to mortgage origination laws. The Subcommittee hearing will particularly focus on the impact the new laws and regulations have on consumers and… Read more »

WASHINGTON - The Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee approved legislation today sponsored by Rep. Robert Hurt to reduce the government’s role in the mortgage market. The Market Transparency and Taxpayer Protection Act directs the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director to require Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to dispose of all non-mission critical… Read more »

WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives today overwhelmingly approved legislation to reauthorize and significantly reform the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The reforms included in the legislation will ensure the continued economic viability of the NFIP by eliminating unnecessary federal subsidies, and facilitate private sector participation in the flood insurance market.… Read more »

WASHINGTON - In continuing the Committee’s efforts to end the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee considered and advanced six proposals today to protect taxpayers by reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus said, “We continue to advance solutions to protect… Read more »

By Rep. Spencer Bachus Politico The Dodd-Frank Act has been described by supporters and opponents alike as the most sweeping reform of the financial services industry since the Great Depression. It can also be described as a story of the “good, the bad and the ugly.” A few of its provisions represent useful reforms to a financial system that came close to the brink of collapse in… Read more »

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus today issued the following statement after the U.S. Labor Department reported that only 18,000 jobs were created in June and that the unemployment rate increased to 9.2 percent: “The trend in recent jobs reports is disheartening and unmistakable.  Even though the recession technically ended over two years ago, the economy… Read more »

Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus made the following statement concerning today's Subcommittee hearing on legislative proposals regarding bank examination practices. "Every member of Congress has heard the concerns of small business owners and bankers about overzealous regulators. "No one wants regulators to allow unsafe practices, but no one wants regulators… Read more »

Subcommittee to Vote on 7 Bills Next Week That Protect Taxpayers From Bailout WASHINGTON -The Financial Services Committee will continue moving forward next week with needed reforms of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to end the taxpayer-funded bailout of the government sponsored enterprises. The Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee will meet on Tuesday, July… Read more »

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the government bureaucracy that’s supposed to “nudge” you to make decisions about your life that it deems are correct) doesn’t start operating until July 21.  The President still has not even nominated someone to lead the agency yet.  But it does have an office softball team and it is hiring at a rate of more than 80 new government… Read more »