Patrick McHenryChairman

Washington, April 14, 2015 - Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) delivered the following floor statement in support of H.R. 685, the Mortgage Choice Act, sponsored by Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and co-sponsored by Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Rep. David Scott (D-GA), Rep. Michael Doyle (D-PA), Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL) and Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-IN):

Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his leadership on our committee and for bringing this bill through our committee on a strong, bipartisan vote.

I’ve got to tell you, Mr. Speaker, it is with great pride that the House Financial Services Committee just a couple of weeks ago voted out 11 different bills to help American families achieve that coveted goal of financial independence.

Part and parcel of that quest, that dream is the dream of home ownership. Regrettably there are some people within this body who believe in bipartisanship more in theory than they do in practice. I regret those who supported the bill before they were against it, but that is where we are today, Mr. Speaker.

What we are really about here is trying to ensure that low and moderate income people do not have their federal government protect them out of their homes. And what we have seen is bad and dumb regulations out of Washington do just that. The goal of consumer protection ought to be to help empower consumers to buy homes they can afford to keep; that we have competitive, transparent, innovative markets that are vigorously policed for force, fraud and deceptive advertising. That’s the vision we have on this side of the aisle and frankly it even is the vision that some on that side of the aisle have as well.

So, Mr. Speaker, this is an incredibly modest but still important bill. By definition if it is bipartisan it’s going to be modest. I’m somewhat shocked that under our rules and procedures that this would not be on the suspension calendar. In fact, in the last Congress there was not one single vote cast to object to this bill from the gentleman from Michigan, Mr. Huizenga, the Chairman of our Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee -- a real leader on housing opportunity for low and moderate income Americans on our committee.

Not a single dissenting vote, but I guess that was before, again, the left hand knew what the far left hand was doing. Now all of a sudden we’ve entered yet another fact-free zone and we’re having all of this incredible verbiage about Wall Street when all this bill is doing is leveling the playing field between those firms that would be affiliated and those that would not so consumers can have a few more choices and benefit from lower costs as they try to get their American dream.

If we follow the logic of the far left, McDonald’s could serve you a burger but they could no longer serve you fries. You would have to go across the street to Burger King for your fries there. I guess National Tire and Battery would have to be National Tire. They couldn’t sell you a battery anymore.

Consumers would be protected and not have their choices recognized. I guess the phone company could no longer offer you a discount on internet and cable and phone put together because, my Lord, those are affiliations, Mr. Speaker.

Apparently the far left wants to ensure that consumers are stripped of their economic liberties to make choices for themselves, to be able to get discounts when products are put together; I don’t understand it.

We are trying to ensure that low and moderate income Americans have convenience, they have choice, that they have lower prices. The Truth in Lending Act will apply, should apply; we have to protect consumers against force and fraud and deception but we’ve got to quit protecting consumers right out of their homes.

Again, I want to thank the gentleman, Mr. Huizenga from Michigan, for doing everything he can to help this segment of our American population. So often we hear the left and the far left talk about affordable housing. Once again, it’s something they recognize in theory; it’s just not anything they want to support in practice. This is an affordable housing bill. Consumers will have choice under this bill, thus the name.

Yet there are those on the far left who would hurt the most vulnerable in our society, who would deny them fundamental economic liberties to choose the mortgages they want, to allow them their American dream of home ownership.

That is not right. That is not fair. That is not economic justice and that is why, Mr. Speaker, it is so critical today that we support H.R. 685. It was designed to be a bipartisan bill; it should be a bipartisan bill and I encourage every single Member to adopt it. I thank the gentleman from Michigan for his leadership.

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