McHenry Delivers Remarks at Markup of Financial Institutions, Capital Markets, and Housing Legislation
Washington,
May 16, 2024 -
Today, the House Financial Services Committee is holding a markup of various measures. These include a slate of financial institutions, capital markets, and housing legislation to improve efficiency and accountability at federal agencies, as well as expand economic opportunity.
Watch Chairman McHenry’s opening remarks here.
Read Chairman McHenry’s opening remarks as prepared for delivery:
“Today, we will consider a slate of financial institutions, capital markets, and housing legislation.
“As I said at the top, we have eleven bills to get to, and how many we get to depends on how long we all want to talk. So, I’ll keep this as brief as possible.
“The bills we are taking up center on two key, commonsense themes: improving efficiency and accountability at the federal agencies under our jurisdiction; and expanding economic opportunity for all Americans.
“We will consider Subcommittee Chairman Barr’s Promoting Access to Capital in Underbanked Communities Act. This legislation will support the creation of more de novo banks, with an emphasis on underserved areas and banking deserts. This is an essential first step to ensure unbanked Americans have access to the financial products that make everyday life possible.
“We will also advance Congressman Rose’s CDFI Fund Transparency Act. This bill will add an additional level of transparency for Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, by requiring the director of the CDFI fund to testify before this committee annually.
“Subcommittee Chairman Barr’s Bank Resilience and Regulatory Improvement Act will right-size overly burdensome regulations, put a strict timeline on the merger review process, and improve the supervisory appeals process. Additionally, it will take steps to enhance the operations of the Fed’s discount window, which is critical after the banking turmoil we saw last year.
“Congresswoman Kim’s Clarity in Lending Act will provide the regulatory clarity necessary to ensure financial institutions can offer small-dollar loans. This will help ensure Americans have access to regulated alternatives to pay-day loans, which is especially important as families struggle to make ends meet under Bidenomics.
“Next, we will consider three measures to provide robust accountability to the SEC.
“Subcommittee Chairman Wagner’s SEC Reform and Restructuring Act makes targeted changes to the Commission’s rulemaking process. Republicans have been sounding the alarm about the havoc wreaked by Chair Gensler’s rushed, destructive rulemakings.
“H.R. 8339 will help right the ship by strengthening the SEC’s cost benefit analysis, ensuring adequate public comment periods, and requiring semi-annual testimony from the SEC Chair.
“I also look forward to passing Congressman Loudermilk’s Protecting Investors’ Personally Identifiable Information Act to bolster privacy protections for investors. H.R. 4551 will prevent the SEC from collecting personally identifiable information on Americans through the consolidated audit trail.
“We will also consider Congressman Garbarino’s CRA resolution to overturn the SEC’s cybersecurity rule, which has elicited bipartisan opposition.
“Finally, we will consider four bipartisan bills from our Housing and Insurance Subcommittee. These bills include two from our colleagues, Rep. De La Cruz from Texas and Rep. Sherman from California. Both seek to address the same issue: helping our nation’s wounded warriors access critical housing assistance.
“Rep. De La Cruz’ bill, H.R. 7480, would fix a long-standing problem regarding how its CDBG program treats service-connected disability compensation for disabled veterans. I have called on HUD to fix this problem on their own for years to no avail, so today we will pass her bill and stop needlessly excluding disabled veterans from the help they need.
“Similarly, Rep. Sherman’s bill would instruct HUD to stop including disability benefits received by low-income veterans in determining eligibility for its HUD-VASH homelessness program. HUD-VASH has long been a successful program to help end veteran homelessness. We want it to help more at-risk veterans, not exclude them.
“We will also consider the Yes in My Backyard Act. This House has passed this legislation in the past couple Congresses, and I look forward to advancing it again today. It’s a critical first step to ensure we build more housing to address the affordability crisis.
“Last but not least, we have Subcommittee Chairman Davidson’s HUD Evaluation and Optimization Act. This bill is a commonsense approach to require HUD to work smarter—not harder—to solve today’s challenges.
“His bill establishes an independent, bipartisan Commission to review the structure and effectiveness of HUD and its programs. The commission will then issue recommendations to Congress.
“I look forward to a robust debate and yield back.”
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