Jeb Hensarling

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), the majority whip of the committee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin), from the land of moose and maple syrup, a hardworking member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Tenney), a hardworking member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Davidson), a hardworking member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the motion to recommit.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, when I have said something incorrect, I wish to correct myself in front of my colleagues in the public. I earlier said that my colleagues were trying to give us status quo. I wish to correct myself. This motion to recommit is worse than status quo. It would take us back even further. The gentlewoman from Ohio should admit when she is wrong. She is wrong when she says this will not kill the bill. This will kill it. It will gut it. It will bury it 6 feet under. I think she knows that. So she is entitled to her opinion about what Reg. A+ should be, but she absolutely eviscerates the bipartisan bill that is before the House. Because many who are watching this may somehow think, ``Oh, my Lord, there are no consumer protections for Reg. A+ offerings,'' the basic requirements that are applicable to both Tier 1 and tier offerings include company eligibility requirements, bad actor disqualification requirements, issuer disclosure requirements, ongoing reporting requirements. And then for Tier 2 offerings, additional requirements: providing audited financial statements; requirement to file annual, semiannual, and current event reports; and limitation on the amount of security nonaccredited and accredited investors can purchase. Then those that are offered on an exchange have to adhere to the exchange's listing standards, including corporate governance requirement, background checks on the management and board, shareholder approval of certain corporate actions, and the list goes on. Mr. Speaker, I think there is a good case here. Anybody who picked up a newspaper recently would find out that, yesterday, the SEC charged Theranos with raising more than $700 million from investors through exaggerated and false statements about the company's technology. Guess what. In announcing the enforcement decision, here is what the SEC noted: The charges make clear that there is no exemption--no exemption--from the antifraud provisions of the Federal securities laws simply because a company is nonpublic, development-stage, or the subject of exuberant media attention. In other words, the SEC was thoroughly able to do their job, and they were ready and willing to investigate and bring enforcement actions, as they well should. This is part of their job, investor protection. But guess what. So is capital formation. Capital formation is part of the mission of the SEC. That is why it is so important that we not protect our constituents against great investment opportunities, like Apple, like Uber, and like Spotify. So when we have so many Americans who are still living paycheck to paycheck, when they finally get a little savings together, shouldn't they be able to invest in great opportunities of early growth companies? Shouldn't these early growth companies have access to capital? I think so. You can't have capitalism without capital. Let's get more capital circulating in the system. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has done so much good, but we need so much more. We need capital circulating the system, particularly for our startups and our early growth stage companies. We need to reject the MTR, and we need to vote in support of H.R. 4263. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 773, I call up the bill (H.R. 1116) to require the Federal financial institutions regulatory agencies to take risk profiles and business models of institutions into account when taking regulatory actions, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

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

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we were told many, many years ago that Dodd-Frank was passed to deal with the big Wall Street banks, that somehow our community banks and our credit unions would be held harmless because, Mr. Speaker, they didn't cause the crisis. Now, we can have the discussion of what did--that is a whole different discussion for a different day--but unfortunately, regardless of whatever good intentions there might have been at the time, and I don't offer an opinion as to those intentions, the facts are that, since Dodd-Frank was passed, the big banks are bigger and the small banks and credit unions are fewer. We are losing, on average, a community bank or credit union every other day in America. And as we lose them, Mr. Speaker, so do we lose the hopes and dreams and desires of our constituents, of so many hardworking Americans who deserve to buy that car, who deserve to be able to own their own home, who deserve, after working so many years on the assembly line, to finally capitalize their own small business. But none of this is going to happen unless we actually tailor this regulatory burden to the size and complexity of the financial institution, something that, in many respects, was promised by Dodd- Frank but not delivered by Dodd-Frank. So I am very, very happy that, today, we have yet another bipartisan bill from the Financial Services Committee that is aimed to promote economic growth, to help hardworking Americans, again, achieve their American Dream, because half of this country is living from paycheck to paycheck, and we need to ease that economic anxiety, and so we have got to make sure that the lifeblood of credit, that capital, is flowing through the system. It is our community banks in particular that fund our small businesses. Unfortunately, up until the advent of the new administration, Mr. Speaker, small business lending by banks was at a 25-year low, entrepreneurship was at a generational low. Now, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we have turned that corner, but we have so much further to go. So a particularly hardworking member of the House Financial Services Committee, the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), has come to us today with H.R. 1116, the Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk Act, yes, Mr. Speaker, the TAILOR Act. Simply put, what this bill does is simply directs the Federal financial regulators to, again, simply tailor their regulations to entities based upon their size, their risk profile, their complexity. It also demands that they have some transparency in this process by requiring that the regulators report to Congress, report to the representatives of ``we the people'' how they have actually tailored the regulations--again, something that was implied, something that was promised in Dodd-Frank but did not actually occur. Again, Mr. Speaker, every single day we hear from our community financial institutions. I heard from one in New Mexico that said: You know, we are a $300 million community bank in an area with high unemployment. Thirty-seven percent of our employees are active in community organizations, Little League, charities, and many serve in leadership positions in these organizations, and we also make tens of thousands of dollars in charitable contributions every year; but if our bank can't survive, you take away the local leadership, you take away the economic engine of our community. This banker was clearly talking about the regulatory burden. I heard from one in Iowa: I am a mortgage consumer lender and also the compliance officer of a small community bank in rural Iowa. I have been in banking for over 30 years and always enjoyed my job until the last 5 years. The new rules that will be implemented are ridiculous, and at that time, we may discontinue to offer in- house mortgage loans. Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, my mailbox runneth over. As our small banks and credit unions go, so goes the American Dream. At a bare minimum, let's tailor the rules and regulations to the size and complexity of the institution so our credit unions, so our banks can thrive and, thus, our constituents can thrive and meet their economic goals and responsibilities. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), the sponsor of the TAILOR Act, who also serves as the vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of our Financial Services Committee, a very, very hardworking member of the committee and a real leader to help preserve and maintain our community banks and credit unions.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer), the chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit and a real leader on our committee for proper regulation.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Missouri (Mrs. Wagner), the chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), who is the chairman of our Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Kentucky.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Rothfus), the vice chairman of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, and the former chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, who knows how important our community banks are to the world of agriculture.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton) for his leadership. Again, whether it be through failure, whether it be through merger or acquisition, we still, on average, are losing a community bank or credit union a day in America. And when we listen to them, Mr. Speaker, what we know is it is the regulatory burden. I know that the ranking member speaks frequently of the Wall Street megabanks. They have done quite fine under Dodd-Frank. The ranking member likes to allude to their profitability. Listen, I hope every business in America can find some way to be profitable, but that is not the question. The real question is the profitability of our constituents, half of whom are living paycheck to paycheck. And it is those constituents who we care about when we lose an opportunity for them to capitalize their American Dream. When I hear from Colton in Terrell, Texas, in the Fifth District that I proudly represent, who says: You know what? Me and my wife have been unable to get a mortgage due to credit. We are 25 to 30 years old. We have good credit, but we are getting denied. That is everything to do with the regulatory burden, Mr. Speaker. I heard from Sara in Eustace in my district. She writes: I would like to refinance with a cashout option to fix some storm damage to my property and home, but I found out that it is not an option for me because the government doesn't believe I should be able to do this. I heard from Alan, in Kaufman, Texas, who said: However, as a small-business owner, I offer owner financing for real estate to people with little or no credit, but the overregulation of Dodd-Frank has caused my cost of business to rise. I am forced to pass that cost on to the consumer. Regulations cost the consumer, not the business. So the ranking member wants to know who is for this bill. Well, I can tell you what, Colton is for this bill, Sara is for this bill, Al is for this bill, and, oh, by the way, so is the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck), Democratic member of our committee; so is the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), Democratic member of our committee; so is the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gonzalez), Democrat member of our committee; so is the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Scott), Democratic member of our committee. Again, there is lots of great bipartisan work that goes on at the House Financial Services Committee. Regrettably, very little of it takes place with the participation of the ranking member. Again, this is a very simple bill. It just says tailor the regulation. Tailor the regulation to the size and complexity. Mr. Speaker, I don't believe in too-big-to-fail banks. I don't believe any financial institution is too big to fail in America. I am not going to vote to bail them out with taxpayer funds; maybe the ranking member will. But if I did, if I believed in too-big-to-fail banks, it would be limited to about eight or nine. Using the ranking member's favorite phrase, the Wall Street megabanks. Then, fine. Then why don't we see an amendment from her that limits the entirety of Dodd-Frank to the so- called Wall Street megabanks? I am still waiting for that amendment. I have yet to see it. Why don't we release the rest of the banking and credit union world to help finance the American Dream, to help finance the cars, to help finance the small businesses, to help finance the homes? Again, it is a simple amendment. It is a bipartisan amendment. And, by the way, it happens to be one of the most important amendments supported by the trade associations for the credit unions and for our community banks. So they believe in it, Mr. Speaker. So I encourage every Member of this body to vote for the TAILOR Act and save our community banks and credit unions to finance the American Dream. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Emmer), a very hardworking member of the House Financial Services Committee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Minnesota.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Loudermilk), someone who knows that one size does not fit all.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Georgia.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I don't have any further speakers, and I reserve the balance of my time.