Barry Loudermilk

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) for yielding this time to debate these important measures. This is a historic moment here in the House. Today, we will be sending the most significant financial regulatory relief legislation to the President's desk in more than a decade. I am proud to have been part of this effort, and I thank all of my colleagues who helped get us to this moment. Madam Speaker, for the past 3\1/2\ years I served in this House, I have been telling the same story over and over again: My home State of Georgia lost 70 banks during the financial crisis, the most of any State in the Nation. Today, 52 of Georgia's counties do not have a community bank headquartered there, and three of Georgia's counties have no bank branch whatsoever. Why? Because of excessive regulatory burden placed on small community banks and credit unions by previous legislative action and through overreach by regulators. Today, we are taking a major step toward reversing that trend by taking bold action and by sending progrowth regulatory relief to small community banks and credit unions to the President's desk. This bill will help ensure that community banks and credit unions will no longer be crushed under the weight of regulations that do not distinguish between them and the largest financial institutions. Much of this bill originally came from House bills--bipartisan, I may add. This moment is an example of the legislative process working well in a strong bipartisan fashion. I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, first let me thank my good friend Representative Carter from the great city of Savannah and the great State of Georgia for his vision to have this time to honor a true statesman, a legend in the State of Georgia, Zell Miller. It is sad that we wait until someone has left this life to sing their praises and to recognize the tremendous impact that they have had not only on our lives, but our children and their future lives. That really defines Zell Miller. I never had the opportunity to work directly with Zell Miller or even serve with Zell Miller, although I served with other Governors, but I knew of Zell Miller. I think that says a lot about someone that, even though you don't personally know them but you know of them, signifies the impact that they are having on lives. Zell Miller's death was a tremendous blow for a lot of people in our State. I knew of him from my involvement in politics, and I knew as Representative Carter said, that he was one of the few, if not only, to be a keynote speaker at both the Democrat and Republican National Conventions. That means he was truly bipartisan. What does that mean? Well, it doesn't seem to mean a lot today, but what it meant back then was: I care more about the people of the State. I care more about the people of this Nation and defending the rights and liberties and those things from which I believe in than I do a single party. That was Zell Miller. If you were to go to the place where Zell was laid to rest, you would see a headstone. As you see on most headstones, you will find the date of his birth, February 24, 1923. There will be a dash, followed by the date of his death, March 23, 2018. What is interesting, it isn't the date of his birth or the date of his death that matters, but it is the dash in between those dates that really matters. I think it is important that we ask ourselves: What are we going to do with that dash? Because we have all been given a dash. Zell Miller used that dash for the good and the rights of people. You see, his dash continues today as, literally, thousands of Georgians were able to complete or actually receive a college education because of his vision for the HOPE Scholarship, which is still alive and well today. That dash is part of their lives and their future and their children's lives. Another part of that dash in Zell Miller's life was the titles that he obtained. I believe titles say a lot about us and say a lot about what we do. His titles included mayor, because he was mayor of the town of Young Harris. He was Lieutenant Governor. He was Governor. Another title that he proudly used, as my good colleague Buddy Carter uses, he was a Georgia Bulldog. And for those of you who aren't from Georgia, it is not d-o-g. It is d-a-w-g, dawg. But also, from knowing of this incredible gentleman, there is another title that I believe if we were to talk to him today, it wasn't mayor, Lieutenant Governor, Governor, or even U.S. Senator that he would be most proud of of his accomplishments. It would be that of a United States Marine. You see, his dash is a dash that is living on because of the lives that it affected for so many people. And while so much has been said about Zell Miller, let me close my remarks by saying this: There are very few people today who, across our globe or even across our country, can be categorized as a true statesman. One of those is Paul Coverdell. When Paul Coverdell died in office, the Governor of the State of Georgia at that time looked for another statesman to fulfill that seat that was vacated by Paul Coverdell's death, and that statesman was Zell Miller. If there is one thing that we can gather from all of these tremendous stories that we heard about Zell Miller today, it is that he loved his country. He loved his State. He loved the people of this country. He loved his God, and he fought for those principles and ideas that he believed in. Even though he may have disagreed with others on certain policy issues, Zell Miller was a statesman who believed in liberty. He believed in freedom for all, and his life is a legacy. Mr. Speaker, I hope that one day when I am laid to rest that that dash between my birth and my death will just have a portion of the meaning of that of Zell Miller. Honoring the Inman Family

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I also want to thank, again, my dear colleague and friend from Savannah, Georgia, for yielding me this time and allowing me to honor another Georgian who passed 18 years ago. It was 18 years ago, in June, as Georgia heat blanketed the Inman family as they packed their car for a family getaway in the mountains of north Georgia. It was the Friday before Father's Day when Billy and Kathy Inman, the parents of their son, Dustin, and their family dog set off to go on a fishing trip for the weekend. As they headed north, making their way along the wooded, hilly highways that make up that part of my home State, they stopped at a traffic light in the little town of Ellijay, Georgia. As they waited for the light to turn green, the Inman family's lives were suddenly and tragically changed. Traveling well over the speed limit at 62 miles an hour, a car driven by Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez slammed in the rear of the Inmans' vehicle. The tremendous impact knocked Billy and Kathy unconscious. Kathy, Dustin's mom, remained in a comma for 5 weeks. When she finally regained consciousness, she learned that the injuries she sustained in that wreck were so severe she would be wheelchair-bound for the rest of her life. But more tragically, she was told the heartbreaking news that her son, Dustin, was killed by that tremendous impact. Within seconds, their lives were forever changed by the driver who slammed into the rear of their car. And while Kathy would not recover from her injuries nor would they ever see the smiling face of their dear son again, they could at least ensure justice was served. But soon they would learn that even that would slip through their hands. The car that killed their son, Dustin, and permanently disabled his mother was driven by Gonzalo Harrell-Gonzalez, a man who had illegally entered this country. Although illegally in this country, Gonzalez was able to obtain a valid North Carolina driver's license, using his Mexican birth certificate and a Mexican Matricula Consular ID card. When local law enforcement went to the hospital to take Mr. Gonzalez into custody, they found that he had escaped the hospital. As a fugitive from justice, he continued to evade U.S. and local law enforcement and soon emerged back in the streets in Mexico. Even though the location of Mr. Gonzalez is now known by U.S. and Mexican law enforcement, the family has not been able to get justice for his crime. Under our treaty with Mexico, Mexico does not recognize vehicular homicide as an extraditable offense. The Justice Department has informed the Inman family that there is nothing else they can do--nothing. After 18 years of grieving the loss of their son and adjusting to a life of permanent disability for Mrs. Inman, Mr. Gonzalez is still evading justice and has yet to pay for his crime. The tragedy can have easily been avoided if Congress had taken the border threat and security seriously years ago. This car wreck would have never happened, and Dustin would likely still be with us today. Because of the severity of their injuries, Billy and Kathy were not even able to attend their own son's funeral. Billy will tell you that, yes, he blames the driver of the car for the death of his son--his hunting buddy--but he also blames the government for ignoring our open and porous borders and for allowing someone who was here illegally to obtain a driver's license. While there have been many speeches given in this Chamber on immigration, we have yet to be able to have a vote or even have a debate on what the majority of Americans are demanding, what the President has committed to, and what we as a legislative body should do, and that is to secure our borders. How many more innocent victims such as Dustin Inman, Kate Steinle, and Sarah Root--and the list goes on and on--must die before we start taking the safety and security of American citizens seriously and prioritize securing our borders? Not only are our borders a thoroughfare for human trafficking, they are also a distribution channel for cartels that smuggle contraband, dangerous drugs, and weapons that make their way into our communities. They are a portal for dangerous gangs such as MS-13 that bring terror, drugs, and murder to our streets. For too long, we have chosen partisan politics over doing what is reasonable and right, and we put our families' livelihoods at tremendous risk. It is beyond time to take action. It is time for Congress to act. It is time for us to enforce our laws, and it is time to secure our borders, not for our own political victories, but for families such as Billy and Kathy Inman.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) for yielding time and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill) for bringing this bill, a very important bill, to the floor for a vote today. Mr. Hill's bill will simplify and streamline one of the most complicated regulations from Dodd-Frank, the Volcker rule. The Volcker rule is intended to prevent banks from engaging in risky investments that do not benefit their customers, also known as proprietary trading. There are currently five Federal regulatory agencies implementing the Volcker rule. This has caused overlap, duplication, and confusion among regulated companies. The bill on the floor today will ensure that one Federal agency, the Federal Reserve, is responsible for writing this regulation and that each bank's primary regulator will have the sole enforcement authority for that bank. This will streamline and simplify this overly complicated rule so financial institutions can spend more of their time making loans to consumers and businesses and less time on regulatory compliance. This bill will also fully exempt our small community banks that maintain less than $10 billion in assets from the Volcker rule rather than requiring them to prove a negative. There are currently 176 banks headquartered in my home State of Georgia, and all but three of them have less than $10 billion in assets. This bill will go a long way toward relieving small community banks in Georgia from unnecessary, complicated, and burdensome regulation. This bipartisan bill passed out of committee by a vote of 50-10 with the support of all the Republicans and the majority of the Democrats. I urge all my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for the time. Let's make no mistake today. The only reason that we are here, today, talking about an amendment to the Constitution to force Congress to balance a budget is because of the lack of fiscal responsibility of this body over the past several years. Throughout the history of the United States, the United States has gone into debt during times of national crisis or war, but both parties understood the danger to our national security and our economy by sustaining a debt and, therefore, worked together to pay off that debt. But not in the modern era of Congress, no. We continue to print money, and we continue to go deeper and deeper into debt. Make no mistake, the American people understand that this enormous debt that we have accrued in this country of $21 trillion is a responsibility of Congress, and it is our responsibility to fix this problem. Now, a lot of people don't understand how much money $21 trillion really is. That is part of the problem. Our debt is so big that no one really understands how big this debt is. Let me put it into perspective. Regardless of your background or your religious beliefs, if you know what today's date is, you know historically when Jesus was born. If you were to go back to the moment that Jesus was born and put $17,000 into the bank, and you waited 60 seconds and put another $17,000 into the bank, you waited another 60 seconds and deposited another $17,000 into the bank, and you continued to put $17,000 into the bank every minute since Jesus was born, you still wouldn't have enough money to pay off our national debt today, and that is an atrocity to the American people. There is one way to fix this. We can either pass this amendment and have it ratified, or we can actually have the fortitude to pass a balanced budget. The Republican Study Committee will bring to this floor a balanced budget, as we have many times in the past. And if my colleagues who are calling us hypocrites are serious about balancing this budget, then they will come together and vote for a budget that balanced. We have the authority, we have the power to do that, it is just we don't have the fortitude or willingness to do what is hard. We owe it to our grandchildren, and we owe it to our children.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, today I have the honor of introducing our guest pastor, Dr. Michael Lewis, from my home district and from the great city of Marietta, Georgia. Dr. Lewis graduated in 1996 with a master of divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In May of 2005, he received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Liberty University. He has had the honor of serving in churches in South Carolina, Texas, and Florida as their pastor. Currently, Dr. Lewis serves as pastor of Roswell Street Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia, where he lives with his wife of 25 years, Liliana, and their three wonderful daughters. It is my privilege to introduce Dr. Michael Lewis, who opened us this morning in prayer.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I especially thank my good colleague and friend from West Point, Georgia, for managing this hour so that we can share, really, the excitement that we are seeing back home for what adding a little bit of money in the people's paycheck is doing. Mr. Speaker, I have often contemplated what transformed America from an enthusiastic ragtag rabble that had this idea of freedom into the strongest economy, the freest Nation, and the strongest military in the entire world? The reality of that is the freedom that this government and the rights that were given by God that we protect has given to the American people. When you think about the innovation that has come from America, innovation that has changed the face of the world, most of it came from here because of the freedom that we have. Now, if you go right down the road here to the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum, you will see a testament to that freedom in that building where two bicycle mechanics from Ohio were able to accomplish to what, for centuries, scientists and engineers couldn't accomplish, because they had the freedom. We have taught our children in this Nation to dream big. In America, you can accomplish anything that you want to dream. But in the past couple of decades, we have squelched the dreams of these kids because, as we have put out the fire that we tell them they can have in America, we are quenching that fire with wet blankets of bureaucracy and obstacles. But I want to share with you a story from back home. It was a letter I received from a young man, a 14-year-old, thanking me for the tax reform bill, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which put more money in the back pocket of his parents. You see, he had a dream. He dreamed of being a pilot. He wanted to be a pilot. But I can tell you, as a pilot myself, that is a difficult thing to accomplish. Not only is the training difficult, but it can be very expensive. But he wrote me this letter thanking me. Because of the bonus that his dad received from his company because of the corporate tax cut, and the money that they are going to save because of the individual tax cuts, his parents are using that money to ensure that he gets flight lessons at 14 years old. He is accomplishing a dream because we removed government out of the way. And one thing, quite frankly, is we need airline pilots. Up here, we start looking at what government programs we can put in or incentives to get people to fly, when all we have got to do is get out of the way and let our children, once again, dream big. That is all that we are doing, is getting us out of way. When you look at Georgia, the results have been astounding. Even Home Depot, which is headquartered in my district, is investing $50 million to train 20,000 tradespeople to fill the gap. With this closing, Mr. Speaker, let me bring up that the number of jobs that we have available in this Nation is about equivalent to the number of people we have unemployed. We need to continue to get out of the way.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to my friend, Mr. Joseph Kelly McCutchen III, a man who has dedicated his life to serving the people of the state of Georgia. Kelly was born in Ellijay, Georgia, to Joe and Betty McCutchen. He graduated from Gilmer High School and became the third generation in his family to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he graduated with the highest honors. He began his career in the Trust Department of Trust Company Bank in Atlanta, where he was a vice president before he joined the Georgia Public Policy Foundation in 1993. For many years, he offered the state guidance and counsel on issues including education, tax, health care and economic policy. Kelly became president and CEO of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation in 2010. He resigned from GPPF recently, after nearly 25 years providing Georgia's policymakers and lawmakers with the intellectual ammunition to embrace policy over politics. He remains active in Foundation policy as part of the think tank's network of Senior Fellows. At the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, his service to the state and its people has been exemplary. Kelly helped create the Civic Renewal Project that highlights the work of outstanding community-based organizations, the ``No Excuses'' program to recognize and study high achieving and high poverty public schools, and award-winning statewide report cards on education, crime and taxes. During his tenure, the Foundation was named First place for highest integrity and Third place for most knowledgeable among business organizations or state associations in Georgia, by James magazine (2004) and, in January 2018, one of the Best Independent Think Tanks in the 2017 Global Go-To Think Tank Index Report. A tireless fundraiser for GPPF and numerous nonprofit organizations, Kelly was also a member of the Leadership Georgia Class of 200l. He served on the boards of Leadership Georgia, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, and the Conservative Policy Leadership Institute. He was a founder and Governing Board Chair of Tech High, a math, science and technology-focused public charter school in Atlanta. He co-founded the Georgia Warrior Alliance, a nonprofit with the mission to make Georgia the national Leader in programs supporting military veterans and their families. He served on the board of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and chaired the board of the Healthcare Institute for Neuro-Recovery and Innovation Foundation. He served on the Education Policy Committee and the Health Care Policy Committee for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce; the Georgia Science and Technology Executive Committee; the Public Policy Committee for the Metro Atlanta United Way, and is a policy adviser for the Technology Association of Georgia. Through his work and civic engagement, his lovely wife, Mary Kay Davis McCutchen, has been a dedicated companion. Kelly and Mary Kay live in Atlanta, as Kelly tells the rest of Georgia, ``So you don't have to!'' Married since 1994, the McCutchens have a son, Kelly, and a daughter, Caroline, both in college; Caroline is the family's fourth- generation attendee of Georgia Tech. On behalf of Georgia's 11th Congressional District and the United States House of Representatives, I commend Kelly McCutchen for his many years of outstanding, dedicated and effective service.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Mr. Warren `Rhubarb' Jones of Tallapoosa, Georgia, who passed away on April 2, 2017. Rhubarb's love of music and strong work ethic led him to become one of the most talented and decorated radio personalities in the State of Georgia. In his 48 years as a disc jockey--23 of them in the Atlanta market--he earned many well-deserved accolades, including 1983 CMA and ACM DJ of the Year, 1987 Large Market CMA DJ of the Year, 1991 Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame, and 2001 Country Music Disc Jockey Hall of Fame. He was one of the founding members of the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame, contributing greatly to their organization. He was inducted into their inaugural class in 2007. At the time of his death, he was the longest- running morning radio personality in the Atlanta radio market. For the last couple years, he hosted middays on Great Classics 98.9 in West Georgia. In 2008, Rhubarb joined the Kennesaw State University family as Senior Director of Special Projects in the Office of Development and Distinguished Lecturer in the Department of Communication. He was one of the most popular professors among their communications students and a passionate supporter of the school, even helping launch their football program. Rhubarb was passionate about the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and helped start the March Across Georgia in 1990. During the month of June every year, he would make stops all over the state of Georgia, collecting pennies everywhere he went. Over 18 years ago, he began running a celebrity golf tournament to advocate and raise money for their research. Through his efforts, he helped to raise over $3.5 trillion. On behalf of Georgia's 11th Congressional District and the United States House of Representatives, I offer my heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Donna Jones and their daughters, Presley and Callie. Mr. Jones will be fondly remembered by all of Georgia for his strong dedication to his community and his kind spirit. He is greatly missed.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the outstanding leaders and members of the Leadership Cobb Class of 2018. Leadership Cobb was founded in 1983 by a nucleus of leaders, including Harris Hines, Johnny Isakson, Phil Sanders and Jay Whorton, in order to train a new group of leaders to guide Cobb County's future. From hundreds of qualified applicants, Leadership Cobb selected 50 exceptionally qualified individuals for the Class of 2018, to provide a learning environment that enhances personal and professional growth to benefit the individual, his or her local community, and the entire Atlanta region. The Leadership Cobb Class of 2018 is led by Leadership Cobb alumni Lee Freeman-Smith, Brett McClung, Chris Martin, Tripp Boyer, and Michelle Howard from the Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, and dozens of alumni who volunteer for committees to plan each program day, including class members Wendy Alpine, Elaine Armster, Lisa Ashby, Neera Bahl, Dale Bercher, Alyssa Blanchard, Obie Brannon, Littie Brown, Jarrette Burckhalter, Amy Carrier, Karen Cates, Cedric Clark, Christi Cronin, Lisa Cupid, Frank Durrance, Jesse Evans, Britt Fleck, Jason Gaines, Derek Goshay, Tyler Gwynn, Bonnie Harris, Stacy Haubenschild, Bob Heuel, David Hoeller, Erick Hofstetter, Peter Hortman, Schuyler Hoynes, David Jones, Derek Krebs, Kelly Luscre, Tim Matthews, Anthony Mullins, Nicole Nurse, Jonathan Page, Amber Patterson, Serena Ploessl, Ron Price, Esther Prieto, Valerie Prince, Matt Reid, Christina Saliba, Jessi Samford, Kelvin Scott, Amanda Seals, Jason Shepherd, Thomas Sherrer, Jr., Angie Smith, Trey Spivey, Meaghan Timko, and Erin Zwigart. On behalf of Georgia's 11th Congressional District and the United States House of Representatives, I commend Leadership Cobb and the members of the Leadership Cobb Class of 2018 for their dedication to community service and their commitment to improving opportunities for local citizens.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, in Georgia, we have lost more banks than any other State in the Nation, and, today, 52 of Georgia's 159 counties do not have a community bank headquartered there, and we have three counties that have no bank at all. The TAILOR Act is simple. It is a commonsense idea, and I stand in full support. I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this commonsense act to right-size regulations for our small banks and credit unions.

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) for allowing me this time to speak in strong support of the TAILOR Act and for my colleague, Mr. Tipton, for bringing this legislation forward. I am an original cosponsor of this bill, Mr. Speaker, not just because it is just one of these bills that you want your name on. It is because I really believe in the concept that right-sizing regulation of our community banks and credit unions is what they need to be able to survive and succeed. Now, I want to make something clear. The other side has argued that if one bank wants a regulation one way and another one wants a regulation another way, it is almost impossible. It is the regulators that are doing the tailoring. It is the regulators, not the banks, that would tailor the rules. And if the minority side does not trust the regulators enough, they should not have extended all this power to them through Dodd-Frank. The truth is, Mr. Speaker, every time I meet with community banks and credit unions in my district, they tell me about the excessive regulatory compliance burdens that this one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme has on them, and they describe it as a death by 1,000 cuts. In other words, it is not one single regulation that makes it difficult to do business; it is the combination of many under this one-size-fits-all scheme. That is why this TAILOR Act is so important for the small guy Since the financial crisis, our Nation has lost one community bank or credit union a day.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from the Republic of Texas, Chairman Hensarling, for giving me this time to move away some of the hyperbole that you may hear today and speak about the truth of what this really simple and commonsense measure really does. Mr. Speaker, the Comprehensive Regulatory Review Act is a bill that I introduced simply to reduce the burden that outdated and unnecessary Federal regulations place on our small banks and lending institutions across the landscape of America. I would like to start by thanking some of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have worked tirelessly to make this a strong, bipartisan piece of legislation. I appreciate the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer) for negotiating reasonable changes to this bill and for being an original cosponsor. I also appreciate Mr. Duffy and Ms. Sinema and the others who have reached across the aisle to cosponsor this important piece of legislation. To fully understand this bill, Mr. Speaker, we have to go back to 1996, when Congress gave the financial regulatory agencies a useful tool by passing the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act, or, as you have heard today, more commonly known as EGRPRA. This law directed the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve, and the FDIC to review their regulations once every 10 years to identify those regulations that may be outdated, unnecessary, or overly burdensome. After that, the regulators were to send a report to Congress and eliminate any regulations they determined were unnecessary. This law has been somewhat useful, and it was a good idea back in 1996 because, after all, who would be opposed to eliminating rules that even regulators thought were unnecessary? But too often, EGRPRA has been viewed as merely a check-the-box exercise by the agencies and the financial sector. Now that we have two EGRPRA reports, a 2007 and a 2017, it is obvious that EGRPRA could have been more effective and produced more useful recommendations to policymakers. In retrospect, we also realize we need more direct action from the regulators to clean up outdated and unnecessary rules. That is why it is important for Congress to revisit EGRPRA, as this bill does. My bill contains several reforms to the EGRPRA review process that will breathe new life into this law, this tool for the regulators, and make sure it is not simply a check-the-box exercise. This bill will require more frequent regulatory reviews by moving the review cycle from once a decade to once every 7 years. It will expand EGRPRA to include all regulated financial institutions instead of only depository-insured institutions. It will codify the National Credit Union Administration into EGRPRA, since the agency participated in the latest review voluntarily. The bill will also add the controversial Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, CFPB, to the EGRPRA review process. This provision is especially important because, before Dodd-Frank, consumer financial laws were implemented by the three banking agencies; but when Dodd- Frank was enacted, the CFPB was given the responsibility for enforcing consumer financial laws. Since the CFPB is exempt from EGRPRA, these laws and regulations are no longer being comprehensively reviewed. Dodd-Frank requires the CFPB to review its regulations every 5 years after they are enacted, but this leaves out rules which are considered nonsignificant. It also excludes rules that were adopted before the CFPB was created. Also, the CFBP's regulatory reviews are under a single, 5-year look-back period. We must ensure that each regulatory agency is comprehensively reviewing its rules, and on a regular basis. This bill is not duplicative because it requires CFPB to use its findings from its existing regulatory reviews in its EGRPRA reports so the CFPB does not waste time on rules it has already reviewed. And, most importantly, Mr. Speaker, this bill will require the agencies to tailor rules that they find to be unnecessary based on the size and risk profile of the bank or the credit union. Mr. Speaker, I would like to repeat that last point because it is so important. This bill does not require the agencies to cut regulations with a broad brush, as it has been presented so far, nor does it cut regulations on the payday lending industry, as some have argued. It simply states the rules will be adjusted based on a company's risk if the regulators determine that to be appropriate. The bill ensures that if the financial regulators--the regulators-- determine that a regulation is important to consumer protection for safety and soundness, the agency will still have every right to leave that regulation completely intact. This bill is not just about eliminating unnecessary regulations; it is about good government and cleaning up unnecessary red tape that inevitably hurts the consumer. Mr. Speaker, the Treasury Secretary came to our committee for a hearing last month, and I asked him about this very issue. He simply said: Rules and regulations need to be constantly looked at as markets continually change. He also said: I'm not sure why the CFPB was exempted from EGRPRA, so I agree with the change. Mr. Speaker, this bill passed out of committee with a strong bipartisan vote of more than two-thirds of the committee members, and I urge my colleagues to join us in support of this bill.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I am wrapping up. This bill passed out of the committee with a strong bipartisan vote of more than two-thirds of the committee members, including all Republicans and eight Democrats. I urge my colleagues to support the rule and the underlying bills.

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague from Colorado for yielding me this time to speak on this rule. I have to admit, I was a little confused when I walked in, based on what I was hearing on the other side, of what bill we were actually discussing. And let me just say this, Mr. Speaker, before I get into why I am rising today in support of these important bills that have bipartisan support. Being someone who has been on the receiving end of being shot at, we have to focus on how do we make our children safe. I think everybody in this Chamber is deeply, deeply concerned on that. We have to assume the next shooter is there and he already has a weapon, and the actions that we take must be focused clearly on how do we make these children safe. I don't think there is any person in this Chamber who would disagree with that, and especially, I know, on our side of the aisle, so we are committed to that. But today, we are here speaking on a rule that is very important for two substantive bills that we are bringing up, and I rise in support of not only my bill, the Comprehensive Regulatory Review Act, but also my colleague, Mr. Luetkemeyer's bill, which we are also discussing here. This week, the House is continuing to take up strongly bipartisan bills from the Financial Services Committee. The committee has passed, so far, Mr. Speaker, 91 bills in this Congress, and we have taken our remarkable productivity to the floor by passing 36 bills out of this Chamber, and six of them have been signed into law. My bill, which we are beginning to debate here today, is another strongly bipartisan bill which will provide regulatory relief for financial institutions and increase access to capital and credit for businesses and consumers. Mr. Speaker, there is a historical trend for the government to overregulate after an economic recession. The recovery from the financial crisis of 2008 to 2009 was weak and slow for many reasons, not least of which was overregulation of the financial sector by the Dodd-Frank Act and the previous administration. Some would argue that there is also a trend to underregulate during good economic times like we are living in now. Some say that the regulatory relief legislation that we passed out of the Financial Services Committee will lead to abuses by big banks and other financial institutions and cause another financial crisis. But these bills will not cause the government to underregulate banks and credit unions. They will simply implement smart regulation. In other words, these bills do not gut or eliminate regulation. They right-size regulation and make it more efficient. Back in 1996, Congress did a good thing by passing the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act, or as we call it, EGRPRA. EGRPRA requires the banking regulatory agencies to go back once every 10 years--that is, once a decade--and review their regulations to identify those that may be outdated, unnecessary, or overly burdensome, and then they are to send a report to Congress. It also requires the agencies to eliminate regulations if they determine they are inappropriate. Make no mistake, EGRPRA was a good idea back in 1996, and it is a very valuable tool, but far too often EGRPRA regulatory reviews have been viewed as merely a check-the-box exercise by these agencies and in the financial sector. Many believe the two EGRPRA reports, which were released in 2007 and then a decade later in 2017, were lackluster and could have produced more useful recommendations to policymakers; and under the current EGRPRA law, it will be another decade before we could actually look at those regulations again. EGRPRA could also result in more action from the regulators to clean up outdated and unnecessary rules. That is why it is important for Congress to revisit EGRPRA and to revitalize this law. My bill contains several reforms to the EGRPRA review process that will breathe new life into the law and make sure it is not simply a check-the-box exercise for regulators. This bill will require more frequent regulatory reviews by moving the review cycle from 10 to 7 years. It will expand EGRPRA to include all regulated financial institutions instead of only the insured depository institutions. It will expand EGRPRA to include the CFPB, and the bill will also codify the National Credit Union Administration into EGRPRA, since the NCUA participated in the latest review voluntarily. The bill will also require the CFPB to use its findings from its Dodd-Frank regulatory reviews and its EGRPRA reports so the CFPB does not waste time on rules it has already reviewed. And most importantly, this bill will require the agencies to tailor rules they find to be unnecessary, outdated, or overly burdensome based on the size and risk profile of the bank or credit union--that is, the regulators making the determination, not the banks and not the institutions.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, Representative Hultgren, for taking this time to do something that is so worthy. You know, we live in a city where we have vast monuments erected for people who have left an impact on this Nation or on the world. When you walk the Halls of this grand and beautiful Capitol, there are statues of those who have made significant marks and changes to this Nation. As I stand here today, I think of the gentleman who is going to lay in honor in the rotunda tomorrow, how he left such an impact on the world. He is probably the greatest impact on this Nation and this world of modern times. The monument to him is in the hearts of literally billions of people who he touched with one simple message: God loves you. That was as simple as Billy Graham would speak to the hearts of millions of Americans that God loves you and he cares about you individually as a person. That resonated so strong that it is estimated that--and this was in 2008--that through his ministries and his radio and television and his crusades, he reached over 2.2 billion people with a simple message that God loves you, and it is a message of truth. He has had such an impact, as had been spoken of earlier, on a number of world leaders that he impacted with that simple message. The words that he shared--and he left us many quotes, and many of us are inspired by those quotes--but the words that he used that were most impactful were the words of Jesus. He just repeated the words that Christ had given us. He was also a man of great, great courage. A lot of people don't realize the close relationship he had with Martin Luther King, Jr. And in the 1950s, when Billy Graham came to the south and he was going to preach at one of the crusades, he noticed that there was a rope running through the middle of the congregation, a rope that separated Whites from Blacks. He was so offended, he went and asked that that rope be removed; and when the ushers refused to do it, Billy Graham went and moved the rope himself. That sparked a friendship with him and Martin Luther King, Jr. When Martin Luther King, Jr. penned his famous ``Letter from Birmingham Jail,'' he condemned a lot of churches for not being engaged in what we believed that God created everyone in his image and that they should all be equal. But Billy Graham was not one of those. He stood strong. In fact, in 1960, when Martin Luther King, Jr., was in prison, Billy Graham paid his bail. Billy Graham has left a mark, but we still fight some of the battles that he warned us of and he fought back then. A couple of the quotes that have meant so much to me that Billy Graham left us with is one that God's will will not take us to where God's grace will not sustain us, knowing he was preparing us for battles that we have to fight. He also stated that the Founders who pinned our Constitution believed in a freedom of religion, not a freedom from religion. And finally, even though we are in a time of crisis in this Nation, things are happening we don't understand, the last quote that I will leave you with that Billy Graham said is: ``I've read the last page of the Bible. It's all going to turn out all right.''

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to a good friend, Mrs. Barbara Hickey, a woman who has devoted her life to improving the lives of individuals in her community. Barbara grew up in Niagara Falls, New York, the oldest of five children, and has been politically active since high school. Marrying a soldier curtailed her opportunity to run for public office, but after twenty-seven years in the U.S. Army traveling and living overseas and across the United States, they came to the state of Georgia and became active in Republican politics. Barbara and her husband, Jim, moved to Cobb County in 2001 and reside in Mableton. Barbara and Jim have four children and four grandchildren. Among her many accomplishments, Barbara founded The Etiquette School of Atlanta, where she teaches classes and workshops to enhance personal effectiveness for adults and children. She has served as a consultant at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., the United States Department of Agriculture, and as a Master Trainer for the Army Family Team Building Program. Barbara has served her community and state tirelessly as an integral part of many organizations, such as the South Cobb Business Association, Cobb County Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Federation of Republican Women, Cobb County Republican Women's Club, and the Cobb County Republicans, among others. On behalf of the people of Georgia's 11th Congressional District and the United States House of Representatives, I commend Barbara Hickey for her many years of outstanding, dedicated and effective service.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Madam Speaker, I thank Chairman Hensarling for his leadership and for allowing me to come here and speak in support of the TRID Improvement Act and the other bills that are in this package. Madam Speaker, we have seen countless examples of overregulation and regulatory mission creep by many agencies, and especially of the CFPB. But one of the things the CFPB should be doing is making sure that consumers have the right information when closing on a home. Unfortunately, the CFPB's 2015 mortgage disclosure caused many home buyers to not have an accurate disclosure of their title insurance premiums. The commonsense bill proposed by my colleague, Mr. Hill, will make sure that home buyers know exactly the cost of their title insurance, not two different prices from a loan estimate and a closing document. I also strongly support several other pieces of legislation that have been included in this package. Mr. Ross' bill, the FSOC Improvement Act, will make regulation of large financial institutions much smarter and more effective. Instead of only focusing on punishing companies for violations of rules, regulators should also focus on what should be the real purpose of financial regulations, which is reducing risk. Mr. Ross' bill will also allow nonbank financial companies the opportunity to reduce any risky activities before they are designated as systemically important. This will help financial regulators to achieve their intended purpose rather than simply being a gotcha game on regulated companies. All of these bills we are considering today received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Financial Services Committee, and I urge all of my colleagues to support this legislative package.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of Mr. Edwin Richard Hamilton and Mrs. Sandra Elain (Thompson) Hamilton. Edwin and Sandra were married on February 3, 1968 in Cartersville, Georgia by the Reverend Charles McPherson. Reaching the wonderful milestone of a golden anniversary shows such a great commitment to your spouse and family. This marriage stands as a blessing and an encouragement to me and all those who know this couple. Please join me in wishing Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton a very happy and blessed anniversary. May God bless them with many more years of happiness and health.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding me time to speak in support of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act sponsored by my good friend and colleague, Mr. Emmer. As I sit and I listen to the debates that we are having in here and I think of what people back home must be thinking, it is hard, quite often, for us here to actually see what it is like, the boots on the ground back home. So I tend to go back home, and I talk to the source. What is it that we do up here that can hurt you or help you in your business and your life? Recently, I had a gathering of small-business owners, executives from larger businesses from across my district, and I posed a question to them: If we could only do one thing to help your business, what would that be? Would you rather us lower taxes or reduce regulation? Without exception, every person in that room said: Reduce regulation on my business. That surprised me. So I asked them why. They said: Because, by lowering our taxes, you can help our bottom line, but it is the regulation that hurts our ability to actually meet the needs of our customer. Now, when I talk to the small banks who predominantly loan to the small guy, the small-business guy, they say: It is things such as this that actually get in the way of my helping the customer. So it is not about inconvenience to the business. It is about serving the needs of the small guy, and it is about serving the needs and actually providing access to the capital that the small-business owner, the backbone of America, actually needs. Now, this bill is a perfect example of how we are simply reducing the burden on these businesses so they can meet the needs of the consumer much better. It doesn't do away with the regulation. It just reduces some of the reporting requirements that are onerous and that are duplicative. Basically, it tailors this data toward the small bank and the small business.

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, currently, only mortgage lenders that have made fewer than 25 loans a year are exempt from this onerous data reporting requirement. All this bill does is extend that to 500 because I want our small banks to be making more than 25 loans a year to the small guy. I want them to make many more loans. Especially as this economy is improving, we want to support the small guy. With that, Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to support this commonsense piece of legislation.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the 95th birthday of Mrs. Ruth M. Young of Marietta, Georgia. Mrs. Young was born on January 15, 1923. A longtime resident of Decatur who relocated to Marietta-Cobb County with her daughter, Olivia, Mrs. Young continues to be an active member of her neighborhood and community. A woman who is deeply devoted to her family, being married for 72 years until the death of her beloved husband (Jesse T. Young) in 2013, she has continued to be a tireless mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and well-respected neighborhood- community figure. Mrs. Young's family and friends are gathering this weekend to celebrate her 95th birthday with a reception on January 15, 2018. Please join me in wishing Mrs. Ruth Young a very happy birthday.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas for yielding time so that I can speak, and not just in support of this legislation, but in strong support of the legislation by my colleague and friend from Michigan (Mr. Trott). In the short time I have been in Congress, Mr. Speaker, one thing I have come to realize, there are some people in this Chamber who never met a regulation that they didn't like. Regardless of how effective or ineffective or misguided that regulation is, or how outdated the regulation is, they always just want to hold on to a piece of government regulation. I, too, appreciate the ranking member for going through the litany of mission statements of special interest groups here in Washington, D.C. But this is precisely what the American people are tired of. They are tired of the Washington, D.C., swamp. They are tired of the special interests, and they want legislation that affects them personally. This piece of legislation will affect millions of Americans directly. Now, I am not just speaking today from prepared remarks, which I have, but I am speaking from someone with experience in this area. I spent 30 years, Mr. Speaker, in the IT services business. Ten of those years I spent protecting some of our Nation's secrets, through military intelligence, and then working in the defense industry. Twenty of those years I had my own business, and we were responsible for protecting the sensitive information of businesses and their customers. So I am well versed in the idea of protection, and, as a constitutional conservative, I am very sensitive to privacy protection. This piece of legislation is commonsense legislation. It is exactly what the American people want us to pass, and I can give you some great examples of why, because one of the aspects of security, especially data security, is being continually aware of the threat. Now, what happens--and I remember when this happened. I was still in my IT business when the original legislation was passed; and all of a sudden, I am receiving a privacy notice of what my rights are, and, unlike most Americans, I sat down and actually read all of it. Now, where the confusion came in is when, a year later, I receive another one, and then I receive another one, and I am literally comparing the two to see what has changed, and I find out that nothing has changed. So what was the reaction after that? Every time I get a notice in a big envelope, instead of just a bank statement, I would just take it and throw it in the trash, not knowing if something has actually changed, which would be important. Now, Mr. Luetkemeyer, another colleague of mine on the Financial Services Committee, passed a bill 2 years ago to provide correction to that problem. All Mr. Trott's bill is doing now is expanding that to other industries. This is a consumer protection bill because now, if someone in those industries, if there is a change, they receive a notice, they know that there has been a change. But, as the chairman has pointed out time and time again, this is actually going to give more immediate access to know what the privacy policy is of financial institutions, to identify if there have been any changes because they can go online to see it. I mean, you can get that instantaneous with these devices that almost everyone carries. It is time to bring us up into the current century and the technology that we have. So I commend my colleague on actually bringing commonsense legislation, the type of legislation that Americans want, that consumers want. They want to know what their rights are, but they don't want to be inundated with useless information continually, over and over again, because then they would actually not be aware of what their rights are and what has changed. Now, this is especially beneficial to Georgia because Georgia has become an auto manufacturing hub. And as we continue to grow this economy, and more people--I believe in the next few days, when we pass this tax bill, you are going to see a rise in people buying automobiles. Why? Because they are going to have more money in their back pocket. They are going to spend more money, and they are going to be taking out more loans. So we need to make sure that they know immediately what their privacy rights are, and this bill will make it to where those will be available online. This simply makes--it right-sizes government by making government smarter, more effective, and, actually, that the regulation is tailored toward the consumer, not toward the special interest groups and the trial lawyers in Washington, D.C. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support this legislation. I urge my colleagues to join me in a favorable vote for this.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I don't intend to take 30 minutes, but the time that I do spend is very important, because I want to honor a very, very special person. First of all, let me start off by wishing you a Merry Christmas. I say that because, as we are getting into the season, many of us are thinking about family and friends and spending Christmastime at home, which I hope to be able to do as well. Every Christmas season my thought goes back about 73 years ago. You see, my dad was a medic in World War II, and December 16, which will be just a few days from now, will be the 73rd anniversary of one of the largest, most significant battles of World War II: the Battle of the Bulge. My father was a medic in the Battle of the Bulge, and I still remember the stories he used to tell of the cold weather and the snow and how, when the Germans broke through the Siegfried Line, they decimated American forces--we lost thousands and thousands of troops in those few days--how the snow was just so heavy and so thick that many were trapped in their foxholes, unable to escape. Many retreated back to areas of safety and the lines behind. But I don't want to talk about my dad here today. I want to talk about someone else, a dear friend of mine, someone I got to serve in the Georgia Legislature with. It was another young Georgian from Spalding County who was a pilot in the Army Air Corps. Now, Captain John Yates was not what you may think of. Most people think of an Army Air Corps pilot flying a B-29 or a B-25 Mitchell. What John Yates flew was a small, single-engine Piper Cub aircraft. He was a liaison pilot. Now, most people aren't familiar with what a liaison pilot is, but they played a very crucial and critical role in the victory in Europe in World War II and even in the Pacific theater. You see, as a pilot, I have a lot of appreciation for someone who will fly a very small plane. I mean, I am a pretty tall guy. I don't fit in the cockpit of a Piper Cub very well.

Mr. LOUDERMILK

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Mr. Speaker, I would like to just take a moment and recognize another anniversary. Six months ago today, on a baseball field just a few miles from here, I and several of our colleagues found ourselves in a combat zone of our own. It doesn't seem like it has been 6 whole months since a crazed gunman walked onto our field and started shooting at us. But the reason I want to bring that up today is because every person on that field that day who was shot at is still in this House today and still walking around in Washington, D.C. By the grace of God, we were protected during that time, and I just want to thank everyone for their prayers and support, and those who responded to that event and came out and saved the lives of many of us. Steve Scalise, the whip whom we serve with here; Matt Mika, one of our staff members; Zack Barth, a congressional staffer; and Capitol Police Special Agent Crystal Griner all were wounded during that battle, and it really was a battle. But I also want to highlight some of those who did not leave the field that day, who stayed and helped others; people like my good friend from Mississippi, Congressman Trent Kelly, an Army Reservist, who, when he identified the shooter, did not panic, but he alerted others, and then eventually led many to safety behind a concrete building. Representative Mo Brooks stayed and helped apply a tourniquet to Zack Barth who had been shot in the calf. Representative Brad Wenstrup, who is also a colonel in the Army Reserves, a combat doctor, was out on the edge of the field and could have easily run away, but he stayed and was one of the first to be able to run out and give aid to Steve Scalise out on the field as he lay near second base. Retired Lieutenant General Representative Jack Bergman was able to actually lead several of our players and staff members to safety inside of the dugout away from the gunfire. Brian Kelly, a civilian staff member on the team, stayed with me throughout the gunfire as we tried to lend aid to Matt Mika who was lying next to the Capitol Police SUV throughout the entire incident. Finally, my thanks go out to Special Agent David Bailey, who I personally watched on numerous occasions put his own life in danger as he would move out into the line of fire to draw fire away from myself and Brian Kelly. He saw that, whenever the shooter was not shooting at Capitol Police, they were shooting at us so he would purposely move himself in the line of fire, and again, miraculously protected us, even as one of the rounds hit his cellphone which deflected away from his body. Lastly, I want to thank the Alexandria Police Department, who came to our aid and eventually took down the shooter. Moments like this are surreal to me and to others, and it is important that we go back and reflect and remember these moments. Because the only way that we can correct mistakes from our past, is if we go back and we relive them and we look at what caused this. As we stand here today, one of the things that I see that we need in America that we have lost is the idea of civility. We have heard here on the floor today differing opinions regarding policy; ideas of what is good for this country, what is right for this country. That is part of the strength of this country. That is the freedom that we have, which is to bring different ideas. The whole idea of this Chamber is to bring different ideas and different policy opinions to the floor and debate them, and those ideas and opinions that have the support of a majority of the Members are moved forward. But at some point in the past, we have transitioned beyond just arguing over ideas and we bring rhetoric that is distasteful. We attack the person and their families. I just believe that we can do a whole lot better in this Nation if we, once again, find the ability to agree to disagree and respect the rights, freedom, and the liberty of the other person to have their opinion. If we can do that, then we can engage in discourse and we will lessen the amount of violence that we see that is driven by political rhetoric. That would be the message that I would pass off to America on the anniversary of the shooting because that is the idea that people like John Yates lived their lives for and fought their battles for, was for the freedom that we have in this Nation to continue to exist. I believe America's greatest days are ahead of us, but we have got a little work to do to actually grasp hold of it. Mr. Speaker, I thank you for allowing me to honor the memory of my good friend and colleague, John Yates. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.