J. Hill

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of this resolution to overturn the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's deeply flawed final rule on larger participants in general-use digital payment applications. It sounds complicated, Mr. Speaker, but it is not. This is a midnight rule created by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It is overly broad, and it is imprecise. It treats a wide variety of digital payment applications, peer-to-peer apps, digital wallets, and e-commerce tools, as though they are identical simply because they facilitate payments and serve a large numbers of users. However, these products are not the same. They serve different models, operate under different rules, and pose different kinds of consumer risks. This kind of regulatory overreach is bad enough on its own, but what makes this rule especially concerning is the process by which it was created. The CFPB's approach to carry out this rulemaking is a clear example of undemocratic and unjustified action. The CFPB gave the public just 30 days to comment on this proposal. That is 30 days for businesses across the country, Members of Congress, State regulators, and the public to weigh in on a rule that has potentially profound consequences for digital commerce, one of the most rapidly growing portions of Financial Services and FinTech. In addition, the Bureau rushed to finalize the rule in the waning days of the Biden administration, ignoring much of the stakeholder feedback and pushing it through to try and insulate it from future scrutiny or reconsideration. Now, this is not the first time that the CFPB has issued rules without sufficient transparency or process. In fact, Members on both sides of the aisle during my years in Congress have routinely criticized the CFPB for rushing matters, not following the process, not giving the public sufficient time to criticize and critique its proposals. However, Mr. Speaker, this needs to be the last time that the CFPB does this. In a post-Chevron deference world, Congress must step in and assert our Article I authority over independent agencies that stray beyond their statutory authority, bypass the legislative process, and undermine the public trust. Let's be clear: There is no apparent evidence of widespread consumer harm that justifies this rule. There is no demonstrated market failure here. What we have instead is an agency stretching its mandate in a way Congress never intended. By allowing this final rule to remain intact, we are affirming that scale alone justifies the regulation, meaning size and scope alone justifies the regulation regardless of the conduct, the risk, or harm to a consumer. This CFPB approach violates decades of balanced principles in assessing and implementing regulations in finance. It certainly is not the barometer that Congress intended for the CFPB to use when interpreting their authorities. This is not responsible, risk-based regulation. It is a shortcut to control, applied without the justification that both consumers and innovators deserve. Some may try to frame this argument as a gift to Big Tech. That is a distraction. This is not about defending large companies. This is about defending good governance, our legislative authority, and the public's right to be part of major and costly regulatory decisionmaking. If we allow this rule to stand, we are setting a dangerous precedent, one where Federal agencies can bypass Congress, ignore public input, and rewrite rules largely behind closed doors. This is a precedent that we cannot afford to set, regardless of who is in the White House or who is in the crosshairs. Mr. Speaker, the CFPB operated without accountability or transparency. It has undermined consumer protections, stifled innovation, and eroded public trust. I encourage my colleagues to support this resolution and reassert the proper role of Congress in setting the regulatory agenda and shaping sound financial policy. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 284, I call up the joint resolution (S.J. Res. 28) disapproving the rule submitted by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection relating to ``Defining Larger Participants of a Market for General-Use Digital Consumer Payment Applications,'' and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I was unable to vote because I was in a legislative meeting which ran over. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 77. Stated against:

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome today's guest chaplain, my friend, Rabbi Pinchus Ciment. Rabbi Ciment is the director of Chabad Lubavitch of Arkansas in Little Rock and is currently the longest serving rabbi in our State. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and moved to Little Rock with his wife in 1992. Rabbi Ciment has lectured on matters in Judaism at several universities in Arkansas and has been a frequent author in the ``Ask the Clergy'' section of our statewide newspaper, the Arkansas Democrat- Gazette. He studied at the Rabbinical Seminary in Morristown, New Jersey, and the Central Lubavitch Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York, receiving his rabbinical ordination in 1990. Rabbi Ciment is a devoted husband to Estie and a proud father of 10 children. I extend my heartfelt thanks to Rabbi Ciment for delivering a beautiful opening prayer. Mr. Speaker, I wish him, his family, and Chabad Lubavitch of Arkansas continued success in serving the central Arkansas community.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor John Edward Hain, Jr., who celebrated his 100th birthday on March 20. A Little Rock native, John graduated from Catholic High School at age in 1941 and is currently the school's oldest living alumnus. He is a World War II veteran. John was drafted at 18 and served in England, Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands as an Army corporal in the field artillery attachment of the 5th Army Division, the 9th Army spearhead, the 5th Armored Division, and the 29th Division in Operation Kaput. John married his wife, Beverly, in 1947. They have 5 daughters, 17 grandchildren, and 19 great-grandchildren. After his service to our Nation in World War II, he worked at the Krebs Brothers Supply Company as a traveling salesman, and he retired as president of Krebs after working there for 50 years. I thank John for his long service to our community, and I congratulate him on reaching this amazing milestone. PAWS for Justice

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Susan Bradshaw and Fawn Borden of PAWS for Justice. PAWS for Justice is an Arkansas charity that provides courthouse facility dogs to assist witnesses and victims as they go through difficult court proceedings. For children who are recounting heartbreaking terrible events, these dogs provide comfort and support to make those difficult moments just a little bit better. While these dogs can often cost courthouses around $50,000 each, PAWS for Justice provides them free of charge. As a proud owner of my great pup, Taft, I have an incredible appreciation for PAWS for Justice's efforts and thank them for their hard work in providing comfort for those who need it the most. Recognizing Lance Restum

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Keaton Beasley of Simmons Bank. Keaton is a graduate of Henderson State University, a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and a banker in Little Rock. Keaton exemplifies the ethos of a community banker, frequently working with children, adults, and seniors to teach them the importance of financial literacy. His efforts prove it is never too late or too early to learn how to manage your finances. As a former community banker, I admire his efforts to uplift his community and help those around him build a stronger foundation in finance. I look forward to seeing Keaton's continued impact in central Arkansas and wish him the best of luck in his bright future in banking. Honoring John Edward Hain, Jr., on His 100th Birthday

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Lance Restum, director of community relations for the Arkansas Travelers baseball team. Lance has been with the championship-winning Travelers since 2006 and is the founder of the Arkansas Travelers Youth Foundation. Since 2021, the foundation has been introducing kids across the Natural State to America's pastime. They provide baseball clinics, equipment, grants, and scholarships to get kids active and interested in baseball. Lance and the foundation's work serve as an excellent example for those of us who want to make a difference in our communities. I wish Lance and the Arkansas Travelers the best of luck in their new season, and I look forward to my next game at Dickey-Stephens Park.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I rise to wish Lorie Tudor, the former director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation, a very healthy and happy retirement. Lorie was with the Department of Transportation for over four decades and served as the director for the last 5 years. She began her career at the department as a clerk-typist back in 1982. After taking time away to earn an engineering degree from the University of Memphis, she returned to the department as a civil engineer in 1998. In 2014, she was promoted to deputy director and chief operating officer, and she became the agency's first female director in early 2020. Lorie guided the department through the challenges of COVID-19, played a pivotal role in the Connecting Arkansas Program, which included over 30 State highway construction projects and helped modernize the Natural State's transportation infrastructure. She has left a lasting mark on the department and our State, and she has proven to be a tireless and effective leader. I thank Lorie for her lifetime of dedication and her terrific perseverance to accomplish her personal goals and those of the department. Recognizing Austin Booth

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Austin Booth, an exceptional Arkansan who recently completed his service as the director of our Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. A native of Scott, Arkansas, the outdoors and a passion for public service were integral to Austin's upbringing. After witnessing the 9/11 attacks from his classroom at Catholic High School in Little Rock, Austin was determined to serve his country, ultimately becoming a Marine Corps officer and deploying to Afghanistan. After his tour in Afghanistan, Austin came to Washington, D.C., where he would go on to work as an advocate for the corps on Capitol Hill and, later, a judge advocate. He returned to Arkansas to serve in the Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs and then as a director of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Under his leadership, the commission launched its strategic 5-year plan and Austin was instrumental in conservation projects that will benefit hunters, anglers, and conservationists for generations to come. I thank Austin for his leadership, for our friendship, and for his unwavering commitment to Arkansas' natural treasures, and wish him all the best in his future endeavors. Recognizing Bart Likes, Owner of Ol' Bart Southern Eats

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Bart Likes, the owner of Ol' Bart Southern Eats. What started as a job at a hunting lodge has become a successful multilocation restaurant and catering business that serves customers across our State. Yet, Bart's contributions to his community are not confined to his successful business. Since the tragic passing of his mother, he has been serving others in our State, including sponsoring local sports teams, feeding healthcare workers, and providing free meals to victims of domestic abuse. Bart's story should remind us all that life has twists and turns but following your passions will never steer you wrong. It should also remind us that there is no greater obligation in life than to help those in need. Madam Speaker, I applaud Bart for his success and thank him for his dedication to helping others. Celebrating John Gill

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to celebrate a truly remarkable gift to higher education in Arkansas and honor the legacy of John Gill, whose name will now grace the newly renamed prelaw program at Hendrix College in Conway. Thanks to a generous $250,000 donation from George and Sallie Gill in honor of their brother and brother-in-law, this endowed program will help prepare Hendrix students for a legal career. As a former president of the Arkansas Bar Association and member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, John Gill has left an indelible mark on our State's legal landscape over his six-decade career. From serving as a delegate to the 1969 Arkansas Constitutional Convention and shaping the Arkansas Supreme Court's Rules of Civil Procedure, John's legacy is one of integrity and mentorship. Through this endowment, Hendrix will continue to enhance its already impressive prelaw program, which boasts an 87 percent law school acceptance rate. Madam Speaker, I commend Hendrix College and the Gill family for their commitment to advancing legal education in Arkansas, and I look forward to seeing those students thrive in law school and beyond.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Chair, I thank Mr. Arrington for yielding this time. Mr. Chair, what is irresponsible, to those watching this debate, is the truth about the Biden-Harris policies, that when you combine irresponsible fiscal policy in this Nation over the past 4 years and an irresponsible monetary policy--what is irresponsible, Mr. Chair, is the fact that our families are suffering from inflation, the highest in 40 years. It takes $1.21 for what cost $1 just 4 years ago. The resolution before us changes the direction. It delivers on President Trump's agenda to put the American people first. This resolution does protect the American people from the largest tax increase in American history. Let's set the record straight: The top 1 percent are paying more in taxes than they have ever paid in the history of the country. They pay 45 percent of all the taxes in this country, and 50 percent of us are paying the least amount of tax they have ever paid in American history. This bill goes on to support border security and national defense, which President Trump campaigned on and Republicans campaigned on, and it reins in wasteful spending. It reduces our long-term debt to GDP. In the Financial Services Committee, we are pleased to follow the direction of the House Budget Committee and deliver on spending reforms by cutting back one of the most wasteful agencies that we have, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I thank my good friend from the First District of Utah for yielding. His magnificent career before he came to Congress in business and in national security make us all proud. We are so grateful that he is our vice chair of the Conference, and that he leads us in bringing the good work of Republicans to the House floor every week so the American citizens see what we are doing and hear from us directly. Aside from his beautiful family, the best thing about him is that he is an Eagle Scout. People are still talking about his Eagle Scout project in Utah. I thank him for letting me share some time with him. Madam Speaker, I come to the House floor tonight to also express my deep dismay for the plethora of midnight rulemakings that we saw at the end of the Biden-Harris administration. Last December, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and I were clear when we sent letters to outgoing Biden-Harris regulators and department heads urging them to put their pens down. Don't issue any more rulemakings or guidance. Don't sue anybody. Their time has come to an end. What did we see in response? We saw an avalanche of relentless rulemakings, one after another after another. Madam Speaker, the worst offender was former head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Rohit Chopra. Madam Speaker, I think he became the poster child of midnight rulemaking renegades. Chopra never put his pen down. Under his leadership, the CFPB went full steam ahead with their reckless rulemakings. They capped fees on overdraft services, which is just another form of price control that harms customers who deserve access to financial choices and financial options when it comes to managing their household budgets. He issued a rule to hide medical debt owed from credit reports, which will drive up the costs of all Americans' access to credit and to seeking healthcare. It will have a devastating long-term impact on consumers. Mr. Chopra initiated lawsuits one after another before he left office. Mark my words, Madam Speaker, we are going to fight to overturn these erroneous actions. The House passed my colleague Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona's bill today that ensures Congress can exercise appropriate oversight of these kinds of executive rulemakings. It would allow multiple agency rules to be considered en bloc, that is in a group, as a single Congressional Review Act resolution if the rulings took place at the end of a Presidential term. I think this is a terrific idea from our friend and colleague Representative Andy Biggs. It is an important step in fighting back to rectify the misguided rulemakings at the end of the Biden-Harris administration, and I thank him for leading this effort. As the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, I am committed to my work with Chairman Tim Scott across the Capitol in the Senate, as well as the Trump administration, to rightsize the regulatory burden facing America's financial providers. When we do that, we will preserve safety and soundness absolutely, but we will also increase the access to capital to our families, to our businesses that need it. Together, we will facilitate faster and stronger economic growth in the years ahead. Madam Speaker, I appreciate my friend from Utah and I thank him for the time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 736, the Protect Small Businesses from Excessive Paperwork Act. I thank Representative Nunn of Iowa for his work on this important legislation. In 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act, known as the CTA. The goal of the CTA was to strengthen national security tools to target bad actors and nation-states attempting to launder money through illicit activities. To accomplish this, the CTA established the beneficial ownership information reporting regime through Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known across the country as FinCEN. With an effective date of January 1, 2024, the CTA regulations required roughly 32,600,000 small businesses in the United States to report their beneficial ownership information to FinCEN by the following year. To the best of my knowledge, Mr. Speaker, only some 9 million, or one-third, of those required small businesses have filed. Recent Federal court actions on this confusing and complex rule have just added to the confusion that many of our Members are hearing about from their constituents in their districts. Although this law was enacted with good intentions, Treasury's promulgation and implementation of the new reporting regime has been overly complex and particularly burdensome. Over the last year, Members have heard consistently from their constituents that confusion reigns when it comes to beneficial ownership reporting requirements. We have all heard not only from small businesses that are in the real estate business or some small operating businesses that have a limited liability company or a limited partnership, but we have heard from their CPAs, their certified public accountants, and their legal advisers about all the confusion and concern around these reporting requirements. It does not help that many small businesses have no idea what FinCEN is, making them wary of submitting such sensitive data to a government agency with which they are not familiar. It is personally identifiable information, the most sensitive information we have: our name, our taxpayer ID number, and ownership of our companies. That is why Congressman Nunn's bill provides a 1-year extension of the reporting deadline, which will allow FinCEN to address gaps in its nationwide education campaign and tailor its outreach to small business owners. This extension ensures that all small business owners that qualify and are required, as beneficial owners, to report have adequate time to try to complete their reporting requirements, while here in Congress we continue to fight back against this particular rule and its structure. Otherwise, Mr. Speaker, these small business owners face aggressive penalties if they fail to report, even if it is unintentional. Small businesses in this country are the backbone of our economy. I hear that said many times every week on this House floor. If that is true, we ought to be working together to get relief for them from this onerous rule. I commend Mr. Nunn for offering relief with this particular legislation. I want to highlight the work of my Republican colleagues for their cosponsorship of this critical legislation and thank my friends on the other side of the aisle, the gentlewoman from Kansas (Ms. Davids) and the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Davis), for signing on to H.R. 736. I hope they will help us get this legislation over the finish line to benefit America's small businesses, even if it is in a moment of reprieve from the avalanche of rules. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to join me in supporting Mr. Nunn's bill, H.R. 736, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nunn), the lead sponsor who has crafted this constructive bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 224 as put forward by the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz). She has heard strong support on a bipartisan basis on both sides of the aisle from our friends, Mr. Vargas and Mr. Sherman in the minority, and Mr. Nunn in the majority. Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 224, the Disabled Veterans Housing Support Act, introduced by my good friend from Texas, Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz. It has been said that what the American people desire is not bigger government but a much better and more effective government. The reforms proposed in this bill would accomplish just that. This bill would reform a program meant to assist those in need, HUD's, Housing and Urban Development's, Community Development Block Grant program. This includes helping our Nation's low-income veterans with the housing challenges that many of them face across our Nation. However, the bureaucratic obstacles at HUD know no bounds. Mr. Speaker, today, veterans are being turned away from this very positive CDBG program. How is that? The formula HUD tells communities to use to see if veterans qualify as low income and are therefore eligible to participate in the CDBG program counts service-connected disability compensation as income, whereas other government programs correctly do not. The result has been, in some places, especially in our most rural areas, communities have to tell low-income, disabled veterans they are too wealthy to qualify for help. Truly, Mr. Speaker, you cannot make this up. Excluding low-income veterans because they are disabled is not what Congress intended for communities to take action on by receiving CDBG funds. Of course, HUD understands this exclusion has been happening. Yet, rather than fix the issue by providing clear rules on how to calculate the income of disabled veterans, the Biden administration kept saying that it was someone else's problem. Mr. Speaker, that ends today with this good bill. This bill would reform CDBG's income calculation formula, telling HUD, in no uncertain terms, to stop including service-connected disability compensation as income. Fixing programmatic flaws and bureaucratic obstacles is exactly what the American people have sent these Members to this House floor to do. It is unfortunate that HUD has had several opportunities to fix its flawed guidance without Congress, but it has refused to act even with multiple letters from our Financial Services Committee. This commonsense fix, which passed out of the committee with strong bipartisan support and on suspension in this House during the previous Congress, ensures that disabled veterans who have served our Nation with honor receive the benefits that they have earned and deserved. Under the leadership of Representative De La Cruz, we will ensure that HUD stops excluding our Nation's heroes. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 224) to amend section 102(a)(20) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 to require the exclusion of service- connected disability compensation when determining whether a person is a person of low and moderate income, a person of low income, or a person of moderate income, and for other purposes.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 386) to require the United States Governor of, and the United States Executive Director at, the International Monetary Fund to oppose an increase in the weight of the Chinese renminbi in the Special Drawing Rights basket of the Fund, and for other purposes.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this bill.