J. Hill

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Rose certainly talked about cost savings due to the deregulatory nature of this bill, lowering costs. All of us here know that we have learned in our committee work that 25 percent of the price of a new home in America is due to regulatory costs, State, local, and Federal. So, our bill has that as a theme. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Nunn). He has worked hard at making sure these improvements in the Housing for the 21st Century Act fully apply to housing in rural areas, not just urban areas.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Kim), a great member of our House Financial Services Committee and a senior member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the gentlewoman from California.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, first, I have to say a big thank-you to Ranking Member Waters; the ranking member of our subcommittee, Mr. Cleaver; and the tireless leadership of Mike Flood, the chair of our Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance. They have collaborated for a year to bring these proposals to the House floor today. I reiterate that the linkage of housing and community banking is two sides of the same coin that leads to a better outcome, more choice, more accessibility, more affordability, and more housing choices for the American people. This bill also has important HUD oversight, which I think is critical to make sure those who are tenants in HUD programs have the care, oversight, and safe and sound conditions they deserve. Mr. Speaker, I also thank the staff on both sides of the aisle for their work in putting this bill together, particularly on the majority side, Ed Skala and Maura Woosley, for their collaboration on the banking provisions with their minority colleagues and the community banking provisions. I urge Members on both sides of the aisle to provide a ``yes'' vote for this important banking and housing legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3682) to amend the Financial Stability Act of 2010 to require the Financial Stability Oversight Council to consider alternative approaches before determining that a U.S. nonbank financial company shall be supervised by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 this measure.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of this fine bill offered by Mr. Foster and Mr. Huizenga. It is a bipartisan bill, Mr. Speaker, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act, after a decade of collaboration across four Presidential administrations that has led to this consensus on this measure. The Financial Stability Oversight Council, FSOC, created in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, plays an important role in understanding and examining nonbanks, and that is because many nonbanks, large nonbanks, are not subject to the same regulations and supervision as traditional banks, so the Congress created this process. Unfortunately, its own structure, as composed by political appointees, can inhibit the Council's ability to effectively critique fellow agencies or itself when monitoring potential systemic risk to financial stability by a large nonbank. H.R. 3682 requires the FSOC to explore alternatives to designating a nonbank for enhanced supervision by the Federal Reserve. This is at the heart of the collaboration in this bill. If a nonbank were improperly designated, it could hinder innovation and make the United States' financial system less competitive as a result. This bill will impose rigorous procedural guardrails and enhance due diligence protections and a stronger analytic framework before a firm can be designated as a systemically important financial institution, or SIFI. I thank, again, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga) for their collaboration in producing this solid, bipartisan bill that will protect U.S. competitiveness and deliver financial stability consistent with FSOC's mission, but do that in a thoughtful, analytic way that can support a review of systemic risk. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), who is the vice chairman of our full committee and the author of this important bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate on this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Illinois and his collaboration with the gentleman from Michigan to tackle and bring definition to something that has been a big issue for the past decade, which is what is the proper method, style, and oversight of designating a nonbank a systemically important financial institution. I congratulate them on their bipartisan work. For the reasons I have stated, I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3390) to amend the Federal Reserve Act to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to carry out a review of discount window operations and to implement improvements to such operations, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 for the Record on this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of Ms. De La Cruz's bill, the Bringing the Discount Window into the 21st Century Act. It is critical that our banks have the ability to have emergency liquidity in the case of a crisis or having liquidity intraday in the banking day without a stigma. These are challenges. They were challenges before the financial crisis, but it continues today. This bill allows banks to keep credit flowing through the economy while reducing risks that a panic-induced bank run would lead to unnecessary bank failures. The discount window has been underused and burdened by operational difficulties and stigma. We have seen that on this House floor in our economy, most recently in the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in the spring of 2023, where fear of a market reaction and outdated technology delayed the use of the discount window when it was needed most. It is critical that the Federal Reserve learn from these mistakes of the past and allow the discount window to fulfill its role as the primary tool for stabilizing the financial system in a time of stress. Representative De La Cruz's bipartisan bill would do just that by directing the Fed to conduct a review of the discount window, submit a plan to Congress with concrete, actionable reforms, and then provide regular updates on its implementation. For example, H.R. 3390 explicitly directs the Federal Reserve to evaluate whether extending operating hours and improving technology would make the discount window more accessible and thereby more effective. In requiring the Fed to make changes based on these findings, H.R. 3390 goes beyond a study bill and would meaningfully address deficiencies that would make the American financial system stronger and more stable. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from south Texas (Ms. De La Cruz) for her leadership on this important issue to make sure the Fed is ready and the discount window use is appropriate for the 21st century, where money now moves, Mr. Speaker, at the press of a button. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record the CBO estimate for this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. De La Cruz), the author of this important legislation.

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 thank the gentlewoman from south Texas for advancing this bill. I thank the minority's consistent work to make sure that this is a bill that will substantially direct the Federal Reserve to make sure our discount window is effective and used by our financial institutions to enhance financial stability. Mr. Speaker, I urge both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1531) to direct certain financial regulators to exclude representatives of the People's Republic of China from certain banking organizations upon notice of certain threats or danger, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 this bill.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Mr. Lucas' bill, the PROTECT Taiwan Act. Mr. Speaker, China has shown no sign of slowing their aggression toward Taiwan. The Chinese Communist Party, or CCP, continues to threaten the people of Taiwan's independence by repeatedly holding military drills, increasing economic coercion, and ramping up political pressure. Let me state clearly, Mr. Speaker, and with no equivocation, the Chinese Communist Party's obligation under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which sets out quite clearly that China cannot use military force or coercion, boycotts or embargoes to compel Taiwan to capitulate to the Communists and become One China. The PROTECT Taiwan Act will exclude Chinese representatives from international organizations like the G20 and the Financial Stability Board if the President of the United States notifies Congress declaring any threat to Taiwan. H.R. 1531 ensures there will be significant financial and diplomatic consequences for China to invade Taiwan. Full stop. The U.S. must send a clear message that China's aggression toward Taiwan will not and is not tolerated, and the PROTECT Taiwan Act does just that. I thank the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas) for his work in standing up for our keen allies in the Indo-Pacific, not just Taiwan but all of our allies in northeast Asia. This is a key step in deterrence to the Communists in Beijing from invading Taiwan, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Lucas), the chair of our Task Force on Monetary Policy, Treasury Market Resilience, and Economic Prosperity and the author of the PROTECT Taiwan Act.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I noted in my remarks that the only way that Taiwan and the People's Republic of China can become one is through mutual consent, not through coercion, not through embargoes, not through invasion, and not through military attack. Congressman Lucas' bill is a commonsense measure to unify American policy of economic deterrence, military preparation, peace through strength, but also diplomacy and economic deterrence. Mr. Lucas' bill is an excellent step in that regard. I urge all Members to support it on both sides of the aisle, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.