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We started this year with three goals:
1. To provide regulatory relief that promotes growth and opportunity for struggling Americans — especially those with low and moderate incomes; 2. To perform rigorous oversight so that we were able to craft responsible and effective solutions; and 3. To lay out a Republican vision of how to help taxpayers achieve financial independence.
Our hope was to meet each of these challenges in a bipartisan manner, and on all of these fronts, we have made substantial progress.
“The House Financial Services Committee has had a banner year in terms of bipartisan accomplishments. Twenty-two of its bills were signed into law, more than any other committee.” — Morning Consult, 12/16/2015
To date, the House has passed 43 of our Committee’s bills and all of these have received bipartisan support.
We made progress on what others said was impossible: relief from Dodd-Frank.
This 2,300-page bill was intended to rein in Wall Street but is instead hurting those on Main Street. Chairman Jeb Hensarling recognized the 5th anniversary of its enactment in an address this summer:
“[Dodd-Frank] is essentially And just like Obamacare, Dodd-Frank has left us with fewer choices, higher costs, and less freedom."
Since Dodd-Frank, the big banks are bigger and the small banks are fewer. It enshrined Too Big To Fail — keeping taxpayers on the hook for future Wall Street bailouts. It is our goal to repeal Dodd-Frank and replace it with a responsible alternative that protects consumers, protects hardworking taxpayers and promotes a healthier economy. And this year, we made a number of key changes to provide immediate relief.
In fact, of the 28 Committee bills signed into law as of today, 6 have dealt with Dodd-Frank.
We also passed the most significant Federal Reserve reform legislation in a generation.
The Fed Oversight Reform and Modernization (FORM) Act was supported by Republicans and Democrats and would require new levels of transparency at the Fed. The economic uncertainty caused by the Fed is only more evidence that that our economy would be healthier with a more predictable and transparent Federal Reserve. The FORM Act provides consumers, job creators and investors the confidence they need to make financial plans.
Lastly, the Committee’s oversight work led the FDIC to renounce its involvement in Operation Choke Point and exposed a rogue CFPB for being what it is: a hostile workplace with leaders willing to use false data to further their own political agenda.
You can read more about that here, and it is worth noting that Republicans and Democrats voted in support of measures to make significant reforms to this unaccountable agency. We will continue working to protect consumers and small businesses from this agency’s overreach.
As we move into 2016, you can expect the Financial Services Committee to advance a Republican vision for our country.
To answer Speaker Ryan’s call, you will see a see a visionary piece of legislation laying out the Republican vision for financial reform. And part of that will necessarily include repealing huge swaths of Dodd-Frank that have been hurting consumer choice and holding back economic growth.
We will move forward bold ideas that promote more opportunities for low and moderate-income individuals. We will protect taxpayers from future Wall Street bailouts and we will advance solutions that empower families and individuals to improve their lives and achieve financial independence.
We hope that you join us in our efforts and follow our progress on Twitter and Facebook.
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