Stephen Fincher

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate my friend, Sheriff Bill Oldham, on being selected as the 2015 Tennessee Sheriff's Association's ``Sheriff of the Year.'' Sheriff Oldham received this prestigious award at the Tennessee Sheriff's Association conference in Sevierville on Friday, July 24, 2015. This award was much deserved and highlights Sheriff Oldham's lifelong dedication to the preservation of safety in the Shelby County community. A native Memphian, Sheriff Oldham graduated from the Catholic High School for Boys and attended Memphis State University from 1967 to 1970. He advanced to the Memphis Police Academy, where, in 1972, he graduated as a member of the 33rd Session. Upon graduation, Sheriff Oldham began his career as a police officer. Sheriff Oldham was elected as Secretary and Treasurer of the Memphis Metropolitan Association of Chiefs of Police in 1993, Vice President in 1994, and President of the Association in 1995. He rose as a natural leader through the ranks of the Memphis Police Department, earning Officer of the Year twice, and retired in 2000 as a director. In 2002, he was appointed as Chief Deputy of the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, and then was elected Sheriff of Shelby County in 2010. Sheriff Oldham has served the community on a national scale. In 1991, he was selected by the FBI as a member of the National Law Enforcement Budgeting Advisory Group, and in 1995 he graduated from the 21st Session of the FBI's National Executive Institute. Sheriff Oldham worked tirelessly on many City, State, and National boards and commissions encompassing credit, education, and corrections. Sheriff Oldham received multiple appointments to correctional committees from Governor Bill Haslam. Sheriff Oldham is an active member of the MMACP, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Tennessee Sheriff's Association, the National Sheriff's Association, the Major County Sheriff's Association, and is a retired member of the Tennessee Chiefs of Police Association. The Tennessee Sheriff's Association annually selects a ``Sheriff of the Year'' who has a dutiful career of dedication to law enforcement encompassed by commitment to public safety and selfless leadership. On behalf of Tennessee's 8th Congressional District, I congratulate Sheriff Oldham on receiving the Tennessee Sheriff's Association's 2015 ``Sheriff of the Year.'' I wish him the best of luck for all future endeavors.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Jonathan Dyer who has achieved the Eagle Scout award, a Boy Scout's highest honor. This recognition is well deserved and represents these young men's commitment to public service. Achieving the status of Eagle Scout is a huge accomplishment, and I commend Mr. Dyer for being a positive role model to young people across our great state and the nation through his commitment to community service. Once again, congratulations to this young man for his outstanding accomplishment. I am very proud of him and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Washington for yielding on this important subject and the rest of my colleagues for coming tonight to hopefully shed light on why the Export-Import Bank is so important. I have a few stats I just want to read. My comments will be brief. The Bank supports about 200,000 jobs each year at no cost--let me repeat--no cost to the U.S. taxpayer, including 8,315 jobs in my home State of Tennessee. That is around 1.4 million American jobs in the past 5 years. In fiscal year 2014, Ex-Im Bank supported $27.5 billion in exports and 164,000 U.S. jobs. The Bank returned $675 million to the U.S. Treasury in fiscal year 2014, reducing the deficit. In fiscal year 2013, the Bank sent back more than $1 billion. Small businesses accounted for nearly 90 percent of the Bank's transactions in 2014. Last year, the Bank had a historically low active default rate of less than one-quarter of 1 percent. Its default rate for the past quarter was .167 percent. We have a very, very serious obligation to our constituents that we represent back in our districts. I serve the Eighth Congressional District of Tennessee--a wonderful State and a wonderful district--and my constituents send me to Washington to make the government more accountable, to make it better, to make it smaller, to make it more transparent, and to make it work for them back in their districts. They don't send me to Washington--I don't go home every week to my district, and my constituents come to me and say: Stephen, we wish you would shut down the government this week. We wish you would end, Stephen, the only good government programs that work. We want you to abolish them. They send us up here to make these things work. The Export-Import Bank is in need of serious reforms, and that is why, a few months ago, we started to work on a reform package, our bill to reauthorize with reforms, with 31 reforms, to fix the Bank and to make it work better and more transparent and more accountable. For some reason, some of my colleagues in the House have taken a very different approach. They have taken a political approach that this is going to be the hill, so to speak, that they are going to die on and the facts don't matter; all that matters are the political outside groups calling for whatever is in their best interest, not the best interest of our districts and our constituents back home. Think about this. I go home to my district and my constituents come up to me and say: Congressman, have you been able to get rid of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae? I will say to them: Well, we are working on it. They say: Well, Congressman, have you been able to reform Medicare and Social Security and make sure it is solvent for future generations? I say: Well, we are working on it. They say: Well, Congressman, have you been able to do tax reform? I say: Well, we are getting there. They say: But, Congressman, let me make sure I understand that the only thing that Congress did do was get rid of the only thing that worked that helped create my job, and now, I am on the unemployment line because I don't have a job. Surely, surely, we are better than this and that we can work for our constituents all over this great country. I look back at history, and I look back a few years ago. In 2006, this was voice voted. My chairman, who is on opposite sides with me on this issue, was here in 2006. Now, if this was such a big deal, why in 2006 was this issue not raised? We are doing more in the way of reforms probably than Ronald Reagan did many, many years ago. Plain and simple, this is about jobs; this is about making sure that we are working for our districts; this is a serious reform bill that moves this Export-Import Bank in the right direction by making it work. I urge my colleagues--hopefully, we get a chance to vote on this in the next week to 10 days, but that we pass this, and we do what is right for our constituents.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2064, the Improving Access to Capital for Emerging Growth Companies Act. I was pleased to introduce this legislation with my colleague, Congressman John Delaney of Maryland. This legislation builds upon the success of the original bipartisan JOBS Act, which I worked on, that created a new category of stock offering for emerging growth companies, which have proven to be a major new source of job creation for the 21st century. Job creation is the number one reason to support this legislation. As companies are able to expand and go public, they are able to hire more employees and to ultimately invest more in our economy. Our bill makes important changes to the registration process to ensure that these companies have the most efficient, streamlined access to the market. Shortening the 21-day filing period to 15 days would save companies exposure to some market volatility before public launch. The purpose of the 21-day period is to allow the information about the EGC IPO to disseminate to the public before purchase orders are taken on the EGC's stock, but with today's technology, the current 21- day quiet period is unnecessarily long. The shortened time period would allow the benefit of clearer visibility in market conditions and would save companies from having to update financials and other disclosure before public launch. Additionally, the bill calls for a grace period of the JOBS Act protections to an issuer who loses EGC status mid-IPO process. Under current law, if a company exceeds the EGC status criteria during the IPO process, it no longer qualifies for the designation. This discourages a borderline EGC which may be considering going public from making an offering. The grace period would allow an issuer who qualifies as an EGC at the time of filing its confidential registration statement for review to continue to be treated as an EGC through the date on which it completes its initial public offering or 1 year has passed, whichever comes first. Finally, the bill would permit EGCs to avoid incurring the significant expense and effort of preparing and having audited financials and related disclosures for past periods that will not be included in the prospectus to investors. This legislation was reported out of committee unanimously, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support the passage of H.R. 2064 today. This is a simple adjustment to reduce the burdens placed on smaller companies that are trying to access the market, grow their businesses, and hire more employees. Now more than ever, as Members of Congress, we need to be focused on ways to facilitate job creation. This bill is an important step in that direction.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Claims Licensing Advancement for Interstate Matters Act, known as the CLAIM Act to help consumers save millions of dollars in insurance costs and create more jobs. Under current law, independent claims adjusters face a hodgepodge of inconsistent state regulations that only serve to delay the prompt adjustment of claims for natural disasters, accident victims, and other tragedies in life. Independent claims adjusters must take a license examination in each state in which they work. This requires adjusters to take time off from their job and travel to each state in which they seek a license. This is a costly burden on the claims adjusters, the companies that employ them, and ultimately, the consumer. Sadly, it is the consumer who currently pays for these costs in higher premiums. Today, it is my pleasure to introduce a bill that would end this costly burden. The CLAIM Act would lead to a process that would provide independent claims adjusters licensing reciprocity so their home-state license is valid in any other state. This legislation builds upon the success Congress has already had in encouraging states to coordinate licensing for agents and brokers, and appropriately expands that precedent to claims adjusters, who face many of the same licensing issues. To be clear, the CLAIM Act does not create a new federal law and does not ``federalize'' the insurance industry. The CLAIM Act respects states' rights to continue to regulate insurance. The CLAIM Act would make sure that each state keeps its independence to adopt rules as they see fit and recognizes that state insurance regulators are best situated to address insurance licensing standards. The goal of this bill is to streamline the claims adjustment process so that individual claims adjusters can respond in the fastest possible and most cost-effective manner possible. I look forward to further discussing the issues of uniformity and reciprocity and the CLAIM Act as we move forward in the Committee process.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, on June 18, 2015, I missed a Roll Call vote. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on Roll Call #375, on passage of the Protect Medical Innovation Act.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss my bill, the Risk- Based Capital Study Act of 2015. My legislation requires the NCUA to perform a study of appropriate capital requirements for credit unions to ensure that these institutions and their members are not harmed by overregulation that suggests a solution in search of a problem. On January 15, 2015, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Board, in a 2-1 vote, issued a revised risk-based capital proposed rule for credit unions. While the revised proposal addresses some concerns expressed by Congress and by credit unions regarding the initial proposal, it still has raised a lot of concern in the credit union community--as evidenced by the revised proposal receiving over 2,150 comments during the comment period. A thorough study of the proposal before it moves forward is necessary to ensure credit unions and the communities they serve are not unduly burdened. The bill would require the NCUA to provide to Congress an analysis on their legal authority with respect to certain aspects of the proposal, rationale behind the risk-weights assigned to various asset classes, and a close look at how the proposal would impact lending to credit union members before moving forward with their proposed rule. Given the critical role credit unions play in lending to our local communities, it's absolutely imperative that this proposal is reviewed closely before a judgement is made relative to moving forward.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate Mr. Graham Boone who has achieved the Eagle Scout award, a Boy Scout's highest honor. This recognition is well deserved and represents this young man's commitment to public service. Achieving the status of Eagle Scout is a huge accomplishment, and I commend Mr. Boone for being a positive role model to young people across our great state and the nation through his commitment to community service. Once again, congratulations to this young man for his outstanding accomplishment. I am very proud of him and wish him the best in his future endeavors.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, on June 9, 2015, I was unavoidably detained during a series of Roll Call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on the following Roll Call votes: #309, on final passage of the Commodity End-User Relief Act and #329, on final passage of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, on June 1, 2015, I was unavoidably detained during a series of Roll Call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted ``NAY'' on the following Roll Call votes: #264, on passage of the Dingell Amendment, #265, on passage of the Lowenthal Amendment, and #266, on the Motion to Recommit with Instructions. I would have voted ``YEA'' on Roll Call #267 for final passage of H.R. 1335, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, as our economy continues to recover, some military servicemembers, particularly those leaving active duty, are facing financial challenges, such as finding new employment, among other things. Additionally, a slow recovering real-estate market in some areas of the country can make it difficult for military members to sell their homes or purchase new ones upon receiving new orders. That's why I'm introducing legislation today, with the gentleman from Washington, Mr. Denny Heck, to provide a one year extension of foreclosure protection for military servicemembers leaving active duty. In 2014, Congress extended the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protection against foreclosure for military personnel to a year post- military service to help give servicemembers time to get on their feet financially and avoid the stress of potentially losing their home. These financial challenges still exist for many servicememebers, particularly those reacclimating to civilian life after serving abroad. Our nation's military personnel are the best in the world, willingly putting their lives on the lines to protect our freedoms every day. The least we can do for them is to ensure they have a home when they leave active duty service. The gentleman from Washington, Mr. Heck, and I are pleased to be introducing this bill today. I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this legislation.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, on May 12, 2015, I missed a series of Roll Call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted ``YEA'' on #216. I would have voted ``NAY'' on #217 and 218. I would have voted ``YEA'' on #219 and 220.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the pastor who gave our opening prayer this morning, Brother Larry Kendrick, who preaches at my home church, Archer's Chapel United Methodist Church in Frog Jump, Tennessee. I just want to tell him how much we appreciate his service to the kingdom. His wife and daughter, Karen and Vicki, are here with him also--and their service to God's kingdom--and we wish them the best. God always be with you. Thank you for coming today and opening us up with prayer.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to rise today to honor and thank Mrs. Martha Beard for an outstanding forty-four year career of serving the public and to wish her well on retiring as Memphis Regional Executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on May 8th, 2015. Originally from Mobile, Alabama, Mrs. Beard received a Bachelor of Arts from Clark Atlanta University and a Master's in economics from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. After, Mrs. Beard joined the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank as a management trainee and served in many different positions before being transferred to the Memphis Branch in 1997. As the Regional Executive, Mrs. Beard was responsible for conducting regional economic research, gauging monetary policy input for banking and business leaders, and hosting community seminars that provided education and materials covering the Memphis zone. The zone included western Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and eastern Arkansas. During her tenure in Memphis, Mrs. Beard was extremely active in the community. She served on the boards of Memphis Tomorrow, the Greater Memphis Chamber, United Way, St. Jude Children's Hospital, Baptist Health Care, and Mid-South Minority Business Council. She has been profiled by many of the area's publications and received numerous awards for her work from organizations like Leadership Memphis, the FBI, and the United Way. On behalf of Tennessee's 8th Congressional District, I would like to congratulate and wish the best of luck for all future endeavors to the family and friends of Martha Perine Beard.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate my friend, Mr. Ed Haley for an outstanding career of public service that has spanned over 30 years, encompassed numerous roles, and helped countless lives. An advisor to the powerful, a mentor to the many, and smiling face for those he served, Ed Haley's life has exemplified what it means to be a servant leader. Following graduation from Millington Central High School, Mr. Haley joined the Air Force and served as a radioman for four years before he was honorably discharged. Then, he embarked on a 15 year career with the DuPont Company before joining the Shelby County Government in 1973. During the next 27 years, Mr. Haley worked for the citizens of Shelby County, Tennessee as the Assistant Director of Safety, the Administrator for the Shelby County Automotive Facility, and ultimately the Director of the Shelby County Road Department. While most people would be looking forward to retirement, Mr. Haley energetically signed on to help the small town of Arlington as Town Superintendent and managed Arlington's explosive growth over the last 15 years until his well-deserved retirement on March 1, 2015. Of course, knowing only Mr. Haley's public work contributions would be to miss the massive impact he has had through volunteer service during his tenure. Growing up in Millington, Tennessee and returning after the Air Force, Mr. Haley won a seat to the Board of Alderman in 1972. Throughout the 1970's and 80's he was active in the Jaycees, Optimist Club, Rotary Club, PTSA, Scottish Rite, and Gideon International. In 1990, he was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly as a State Representative serving north Shelby County until 1998. In Matthew's Parable of the Talents, each servant has been entrusted with resources for which they are held accountable. Mr. Haley has used his life's work for the betterment of others and truly deserves to hear his Master say, ``Well done, good and faithful servant.'' On behalf of Tennessee's 8th Congressional District, I would like to congratulate and wish the best of luck in retirement and for all future endeavors to the family and friends of Mr. Ed Haley.

Mr. FINCHER

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 189, I call up the bill (H.R. 650) to amend the Truth in Lending Act to modify the definitions of a mortgage originator and a high-cost mortgage, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is left on both sides?

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and submit extraneous materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, before I start, I want to thank Chairman Hensarling and the leadership that he has shown in his ability to work with us and allow us to do these commonsense pieces of legislation that help our districts all over this country, especially my home State of Tennessee and the Eighth Congressional District. So I just want to definitely make sure I thank him for his leadership and support. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to be the sponsor of H.R. 650, the Preserving Access to Manufactured Housing Act. Access to affordable housing is of vital importance to families in my district and all across the United States. Unfortunately, due to CFPB mortgage regulations that do not reflect the unique nature of the manufactured home sales process, access to financing for manufactured homes is in serious jeopardy. Manufactured housing serves as a critical option for those who cannot otherwise afford to buy a home. Homes are commonly available at lower monthly payments than what it costs to rent. And the average price of a manufactured home is less than $43,000, compared to an average price of $177,000 for a site-built home. Almost three-quarters of families living in manufactured homes have annual incomes under $40,000. But this important source of homeownership for American families is being threatened by current high-cost mortgage rules that are too inflexible and often lead to the denial of financing for certain homes, particularly those that are lower priced, more affordable options. Since the CFPB's Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act ``high cost'' rules consider cost as a percentage of a loan, smaller size loans, like manufactured home loans, often violate points and fee caps. Manufactured home loans are typically associated with fixed interest rates, full amortization, shorter loan terms, and the absence of alternative features, such as balloon payments, negative amortization, no down payment loans, et cetera, to allow them to satisfy conservative and prudent underwriting standards, and H.R. 650 won't change this. Because of the resulting ``high-cost'' designation and increased lender liability associated with it, some lenders have stopped making manufactured housing loans altogether, and others have stopped originating loans under $20,000. Many community owners have said that their tenants are being forced to sell their homes well below market value to cash buyers because potential buyers can't find financing. These below-market sales don't just hurt sellers; they hurt every homeowner in the community who feels a huge loss on the equity of their home. Additionally, since the CFPB's rule on the loan originator definition has gone into effect, retailers have been forced to stop providing technical assistance to consumers during the process of home buying. This bill modifies the definition of high-cost loans so that manufactured housing loans are not unfairly swept under the high-cost loan designation simply due to their size. Mr. Speaker, this bill would help ensure the availability of financing options for manufactured homes while preserving the necessary consumer protections in the Dodd-Frank Act and the SAFE Act. Let me say that one more time. This bill would help ensure the availability of financing options for manufactured homes while preserving the necessary consumer protections in the Dodd-Frank Act and the SAFE Act. H.R. 650 not only preserves Dodd-Frank's core consumer protections, but it helps consumers by restoring access to financing. Such financing enables working families and retirees to obtain housing that is much cheaper than renting or conventional home mortgage options. CFPB, HUD, and State oversight of manufactured lending will continue. Consumers will continue to have the wide range of mortgage protections established by Dodd-Frank, including the QM ``ability to repay'' requirement, the prohibition on steering incentives, the prohibition against steering a consumer to a loan that has predatory characteristics, the prohibition on mandatory arbitration, loan term disclosure requirements, and the other State and Federal laws. This bill is about ensuring access to affordable housing, especially in rural America, where rental properties are not as abundant as in urban areas. This bill enjoys broad bipartisan support by groups including the National Association of Realtors, the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Manufactured Housing Institute, the National Organization of African Americans in Housing, the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, the National Association of Mortgage Professionals, the California Association of Mortgage Professionals, and numerous manufactured housing State associations. This bill, Mr. Speaker, is a compromise from last year's bipartisan bill. In an effort to gain even more support on both sides of the aisle, we introduced a bipartisan compromise again this Congress. This is not a Democrat or a Republican issue. It is an affordability of housing issue for rural America. We cannot forget about rural America, Mr. Speaker. These are my constituents and the constituents of many folks here who serve in this body. So, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues today to support this. With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams), my good friend.

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute. I enter into the Record a letter from Mr. Barney Frank back in 2011, a former chairman and former ranking member of our committee, on this issue: Thank you for your thoughtful letter about the negative impact of the Financial Reform bill on manufactured housing. I'm very proud of the work I have done with the manufactured housing industry for years and was regretful to realize that we did have this problem. I do not think it is necessary to include manufactured housing as part of our effort to prevent abusive mortgage practices, and I am now working with my staff to see if we can find a way to make a change that would deal with the problem you currently point out. Mr. Speaker, so much of what the ranking member, my colleague on the other side of the aisle is saying--we are not messing with those parts of the bill that strengthen protections. All we are doing is fixing the unintended consequences that happened with the Dodd-Frank bill being so big. With that, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Neugebauer), my good friend, the chairman of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee.

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the gentlewoman from Alabama for supporting the legislation. I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).

Mr. FINCHER. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. FINCHER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling), the chairman of our committee, and I again want to thank him for his leadership on this issue.