Jeb Hensarling

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Messer).

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 materials on the bill under consideration.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining on each side, please?

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Maine an additional 10 seconds.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Trott).

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin).

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining on both sides, please.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Guinta).

Mr. HENSARLING. I yield myself the balance of the time. Mr. Speaker, ever since the Dodd-Frank law was passed, none of the promises that were made have been kept. It didn't end too big to fail. Big banks have gotten bigger. Small banks have gotten fewer. Working Americans continue to fall behind. They have seen their paychecks either remain stagnant or shrink. They have certainly seen their bank accounts shrink. After Dodd-Frank, we have seen free checking at banks cut in half. Since other financial laws of the Obama administration have been passed, we have seen 15 percent fewer credit card offerings, and on average, many of them have increased by 2 percentage points in cost, hurting working Americans who need access to credit. For purposes of the debate today, Mr. Speaker, what is undeniable is that we are losing a community financial institution a day in America. As we lose those financial institutions, we are also losing the hopes and dreams and financial security of millions of our fellow countrymen, particularly those who live in rural areas, like huge portions of the Fifth District of Texas that I have the honor of representing in Congress. I keep on hearing the ranking member talk about a ``deal,'' something from the last Congress. The last time I read my Constitution, there is nothing to say that because one Congress acted on a matter, another Congress can't act on a matter. And, indeed, I am not sure we have any more urgent matter in the House Committee on Financial Services than to save community banking. It is urgent, almost bordering on a crisis, Mr. Speaker, the loss of these banks. Small business lines of credit have been hampered, small business, the job engine of America, fueling our entrepreneurs, fueling new businesses, fueling the American Dream. So I was happy that we passed a number of bipartisan regulatory relief provisions in this Congress. Now, regrettably, many of them were opposed by the ranking member. So I hear the rhetoric in helping community banks, and yet she opposed H.R. 766, Financial Institution Customer Protection Act supported by community banks; H.R. 1210, Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act supported by community banks; H.R. 1266, Financial Product Safety Commission Act of 2015 supported by community banks; H.R. 1408, the Mortgage Servicing Asset Capital Requirements Act, supported by community banks; and the list goes on and on. So I think the proof is kind of in the voting card, Mr. Speaker. It is Members of this side of the aisle, especially, that are consistent in trying to help our community banks, our rural communities. So right now they are all, again, Mr. Speaker, suffering from the sheer weight, volume, load, complexity, and cost of this massive Washington takeover of our banking system--the micromanagement, the control by Washington. Again, that is the primary reason we are losing a community financial institution a day. And let me tell you, they are not going to get bought up by JPMorgan. JPMorgan is not coming to Jacksonville, Texas. Goldman Sachs isn't coming to Forney, Texas. If we don't allow these smaller banks to consolidate, we will lose them. That is the choice, Mr. Speaker. Are we going to lose our community banks in rural America? And again, if the other side of the aisle would want to repeal their number one threat--Dodd-Frank--maybe this bill from the gentlewoman from Utah wouldn't be necessary. But it is necessary. It is an urgent situation that we deal with today. So I want to urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 3791. It is modest. It will help at least 400 community banks. Four hundred community banks will be helped. It will help them, hopefully, not only survive, but to thrive, so that they can fuel and finance the American Dream through better home mortgages, through better auto loans, through better small business lines of credit. I want to thank the gentlewoman from Utah for her hard work, for her leadership. And, again, I urge all my colleagues to vote for H.R. 3791. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I reserve a point of order.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, today I am humbled to honor Mrs. Sadie Mae Luster Royall--a remarkable lady who resided in Henderson County, Texas. As we celebrate ``Black History Month,'' it is important that we take time to recognize African-Americans who made remarkable contributions to their family and community. ``Mama Sadie,'' as she was affectionately referred to by those who knew her, was truly one of those people. Mrs. Royall always had high aspirations and dreams. It was her desire to help and care for people in their time of need that led her to put herself through, what was then, Henderson County Junior College. After becoming a Licensed Vocational Nurse, Mrs. Royall became the first African-American nurse to work for the Henderson County Memorial Hospital in Athens, Texas. For an extraordinary 42 years, ``Mama Sadie'' cared for and comforted countless patients and their families, and was known for her incredible work ethic. Though it was her desire to make an impression on her daughters that drove her, there is no doubt this remarkable woman made an indelible impact on her community as well. Mrs. Royall--who sadly passed away on December 3, 2015 at the age of 90--was a life-long resident of Athens, Texas. She married her beloved husband, Robert Lee Royall, on September 4, 1941. They were blessed with four daughters--Mary Royall, Betty Allen, Bobbie Royall, and Alice Lynch--and six grandchildren--Terry Royall, Russell Allen, D'Undra Wasson, Marcus Royall, Chris Lynch, and Kevin Lynch. It is truly an honor to represent remarkable individuals like Mrs. Sadie Royall. There is no doubt that her legacy lives on through her family and in the community she loved and served.

Mr. HENSARLING

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the gentlewoman's motion.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Tipton), an outstanding member of the committee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Williams), another outstanding member of our committee.

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

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman), who is a very thoughtful member of the House Financial Services Committee. I wish to accept his amendment. I believe it adds greater granularity and specificity on a very important issue. Since he lost an amendment yesterday, I want him to bat at least .500. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, I have had the privilege to serve in this body for a number of terms, but I have not lost my ability to be outraged. Operation Choke Point is an outrage to the American people. Who will stand up and defend the small mom and pop shops on Main Street from the billions of dollars and the thousands of lawyers at the so-called Justice Department who wake up one day and decide that, notwithstanding current law, they are going to put them out of business? Fortunately, Mr. Chairman, we have one outstanding Member of Congress, the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Luetkemeyer), my colleague who is standing up to these people. He is standing up to these people by authoring H.R. 766, and he is saying enough is enough. And we must say enough is enough. Fortunately, Mr. Chairman, a number of Democrats on the other side of the aisle have actually joined with our side to say that justice must prevail and that the rule of law must prevail. I suspect that is why the ranking member--bless her heart--had to spend so much time speaking herself, because she probably couldn't find any other speakers to come and help her out. It is an outrage, Mr. Chairman, that this administration continues to trample on the Constitution. Clearly, we know the President has his pen and he has his phone. But he clearly doesn't have a copy of the Constitution. For legally constituted businesses to have to fear that, in the dark of night, they are going to be shut down by the awesome power of the Obama administration is an outrage. All Americans should be outraged. Frankly, when is it that we will have the ranking member and others stand up for the rule of law? We are losing the rule of law to the discretion of regulators. If there was any justice in the Obama Justice Department, somebody would be indicted over Operation Choke Point. Perhaps, Mr. Chairman, they should indict themselves for bringing forth something we haven't seen since the Nixon era. What else is going to be in the bag of dirty tricks? Somebody has to stand up against the elites in Washington who bypass article I, section 1 of our Constitution. All legislative power is vested in this body. It is not vested in the Justice Department, Mr. Chairman. They are supposed to enforce the law, not make the law. To wake up one morning and find out that your bank account and your access to funds have been choked off by an oppressive Federal Government, lawlessly, has to be stopped. Where is the justice, Mr. Chairman? I ask you, where is the justice? Now, just yesterday I learned that on the other side of the Capitol, we had a Senator from Massachusetts who invoked the names of three dead African Americans who tragically lost their lives and used that bloody shirt to attack this bill. Then this very same Senator turned around and put out a fundraising appeal on H.R. 766. The American people have not lost their ability to be outraged at those who may possess Ivy League degrees and Washington, D.C., addresses who have the arrogance to tell them what is best for them, their businesses, their lives, and their families. It is time that we respect the rule of law. It is time that we respect the Constitution. It is time that we choke off Operation Choke Point and put it into the dustbin of history: the history of dirty tricks and the history of lawlessness. That is why it is so important, Mr. Chairman, that all Members-- Democrat, Republican, and liberals--let their voice be heard by casting their vote for H.R. 766. Why--why--do Members outsource their legislative authority to the unaccountable and unelected? Sooner or later, Mr. Chairman, the shoe is going to be on the other foot. Who will stand for justice today? We will look closely as the names come up on the big board. The American people are watching, and they want to know: Who is going to stand with me? Who is going to stand for the rule of law? Who is going to stand for the Constitution? Who is going to stand for the little people in America? I am proud to stand with Chairman Luetkemeyer and the Republicans of the House Financial Services Committee to ensure that Operation Choke Point is choked off once and for all. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I am not opposed.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, how much time do I have remaining?

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I think I have finally found some common ground with my friends on the other side of the aisle, which is that we lament how few prosecutions there have been after the great financial crisis. How about all of the former Democratic officials who used to warrant Fannie and Freddie, which took tens of millions of dollars of bonuses only to see hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer bailouts? Where are those prosecutions, Mr. Speaker? How about all of the Democratic lawmakers who came and said, ``Let's roll the dice for taxpayer bailouts'' ? Guess what? The dice were rolled, and taxpayers were rolled as well. Where are the prosecutions there? It has been 8 years of the Obama administration's Justice Department. They are trying to take you away from what this is truly about. It is about, again, Operation Choke Point. It is about the awesome resources and power of the Federal Government that is being used to crush small businesses that somehow appear on the Obama administration's enemy list. Today, those small businesses that deal with ammunition sales, that are coin dealers, dating services--all on the enemies list--that deal with fireworks sales, payday loans, pharmaceutical sales. It is all right here in the FDIC Supervisory Insights. It reads that, even though you are a perfectly legal business, if we don't like you, we are going to crush you, and there is nothing you can do about it because we are the Federal Government. Mr. Speaker, there is something we can do about it. We can pass H.R. 766. All the motion to recommit says is that the Justice Department gets to decide whether the law is ever enacted. It is not worth the paper it is printed on. When is this body going to quit outsourcing its constitutional authority to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats? It is an outrage. Operation Choke Point is an outrage. It is an affront to the Constitution. It is an affront to the rule of law. It is an affront to all of the hardworking mom-and-pop shops all across America. It strikes fear in the hearts of Americans. It is time to stand up for the Constitution. It is time to stand up for the rule of law. It is time to stand up for those who do not have voice, for those who do not have power. Reject this motion to recommit, and enact H.R. 766. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HENSARLING. I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill), one of the most knowledgeable members of our committee.

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, how much time is remaining, please?

Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Neugebauer), my friend and chairman of our Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee.