Patrick McHenry

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from the great State of North Carolina (Mr. Budd).

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Chair, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. John W. Rose), a new member of the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chairman, I would commend to the House that, when someone gets into fundamental issues of a 5-year term that the only way the Director can be fired is for cause. The Democrats have created an unaccountable bureau of government. Now, I think what we have today is a bit of buyer's remorse by my Democratic colleagues who created the CFPB in order to be this unaccountable bureau, but headed by a Democrat or a Democratic Presidential appointee. Now that we have a Republican appointee in the CFPB, they want to reorder how the Director has her staff report to her. That is what a big chunk of this bill does. They want to micromanage the Bureau because they don't like what the current Director is doing. If we seek to actually have long-term consumer protection within our financial regulators, I think we need a bipartisan board to oversee an agency like this. I think it is a fundamentally different agency when you have a bipartisan board and it looks and acts more like the Securities and Exchange Commission that has long-term, lasting buy-in by both parties and by the American public for the enforcement actions that they take and gives investors confidence in that area. On this side of the ledger, what we said on the Republican side during the Dodd-Frank debate and we have said consistently since then is, if you want a lasting Bureau, you need to have a bipartisan board. And funny enough, I think that was originally a bipartisan idea, and it has now become mostly a Republican idea. What I would commend is, if we want to get into issues of reforming the Bureau, we need to get into the structural reforms about appropriations and a bipartisan board and inspector general to oversee an agency such as this rather than tinkering around the edges about reporting structures within the Bureau or the naming of the Bureau. Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Madam Chair, the gentleman's amendment would reinstate a bad rule by the CFPB that was repealed. The CFPB's own data demonstrates that consumers fare better under arbitration than under litigation. On average, plaintiffs' attorneys account for approximately 31 percent of payments plaintiffs receive from class action settlements. Plaintiffs' attorneys collect, on average, $1 million per case; actual plaintiffs receive just $32 each. If Members want to be consumer friendly, if Members are about consumer protection, let's let the consumers get the benefit if they are wronged rather than trial lawyers and the trial bar. This is a trial lawyer's dream amendment. Madam Chair, I oppose this amendment and ask my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2578, a bill to enact a short- term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. This program has over 5 million policyholders who have come to rely upon it, but it is also a flawed program that is in need of a customer-based set of reforms. Flooding is the most common, destructive, and expensive of the natural disasters we face. I am confident in saying what worked in the Lyndon Johnson administration on disasters doesn't really work this year, in 2019. The Financial Services Committee has held numerous hearings on this matter over the last decade, hearing from dozens and dozens of witnesses from all points of view, including consumers, local communities, and the insurance industry. The data we have accumulated from those hearings, or lack thereof, suggests that there is great need for programmatic reforms, reforms that include better data, increased transparency, better technology, and more innovation. These can be bipartisan reforms. Moreover, the NFIP owes more than $20 billion in debt to the American taxpayer. This is a major issue, despite the fact that last Congress $16 billion of that debt was canceled. So it is a program in need of systemic reforms. So what kind of National Flood Insurance Program do we want to have for Americans going forward? An insurance program that is equipped with the tools it needs to perform its insurance functions, pay claims, incentivize mitigation, and ultimately reduce our Nation's flood risk, or should the NFIP continue the current system of distributing benefits as needed, ultimately requiring annual appropriations as flood risk grows? I hope that Members of this House will choose to support important reforms to modernize an outdated program. There are reasonable steps that we can take to reform and innovate in a bipartisan fashion. Strengthening the NFIP and giving policyholders 21st century options to match their 21st century expectations, I think, should be our outcome. Private insurance, better technology, more mapping data, faster claims processing, and rethinking old underwriting models are just a few of the tools readily available for modernizing the NFIP. At the same time, we must also consider how we can use risk sharing to offload some of the NFIP burdens and the cost savings that come from spreading risk to others who are qualified, capable, and willing to manage it off the backs of the taxpayers and more broadly distributed to those who are willing to take that risk. Building a more resilient and cost-effective NFIP are goals that will benefit all consumers and the American people, but these are long-term goals to which we can only aspire by passing this short-term extension today. Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for Chairwoman Waters' engaging and reaching out to committee Republicans to work together on this measure to give us space and time so that we can have the bipartisan reforms that I think we can come to terms on later this year. But I also want to thank Chairwoman Waters for agreeing to sit down with me as the ranking Republican on the committee and committee Republicans, roll up our sleeves, and get to work over the next few weeks and really collaborate on a full reauthorization bill that addresses her concerns, my concerns, committee Democrat and Republican concerns, and the needs of the public. I think we can come to that conclusion. I think we can bring a bipartisan bill to the floor, and I appreciate that Chairwoman Waters has had that appropriate outreach to committee Republicans. That is a hopeful sign for our opportunity to legislate this Congress. The American people deserve an effective and efficient Flood Insurance Program that they can rely on. By working together in a bipartisan way, this Congress can ensure that that continues to happen, and I am sure we can meet that expectation. Mr. Speaker, I would encourage my colleagues to support this short- term extension with the hope and the goal of our bringing a bipartisan bill back before the House that can get the wide support of this Chamber. Mr. Speaker, I also commend the engagement of Chairwoman Waters on this matter and a number of other matters where we have been able to work together in a bipartisan way. I am hopeful and it is my expectation that we will be able to work together on this matter over the coming weeks. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I stand to recognize the long career and service of Clinton Columbus Jones, the dean of the Republican Financial Services Committee staff. Clinton has been on the Hill for over 23 years, and he is leaving to join the Federal Housing Finance Agency. A native of both Kansas and my home State of North Carolina, Clinton first came to Capitol Hill in 1993, after earning an urban planning degree and then a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. While I don't agree with his choice of university, he is a fine and upstanding human being who has had a fantastic career on the Hill. He has served under seven different full committee chairmen on the Financial Services Committee, eight Republican Housing Subcommittee chairmen or ranking members, and has helped draft some of the most important housing and insurance bills of this generation, including the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016, and the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform and Modernization Act of 2012. In addition to his work on the Hill, Clinton has taught prelaw at Howard University for over 20 years and is a single father to a wonderful 15-year-old son and great student, Clinton Beamon Jones IV. We hate to see him go, but we thank him for his service, not just to this institution, but to the American people. We cherish his friendship and the knowledge he has imparted. With that, I ask my colleagues to give a moment of recognition to Clinton Jones.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gooden), my colleague and a new member of the House Financial Services Committee, for the purposes of a statement.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to note for the House that the original draft of this resolution that was put forward and made public by committee Democrats was not one that committee Republicans had vetted. And, in that conversation, we had revised the text of this resolution. So, out there today is the original text Chairwoman Waters had offered. She undertook, through her staff and through my staff, and we worked out the changes, so the language here is something that should receive unanimous approval of the House of Representatives. In fact, it states some very important things that we find important in the House Financial Services Committee. Now, if there is illicit financing and our laws are not detecting it, that is a problem, is it not? And we should address that problem, however it manifests itself. And we have two examples here, using artwork and using real estate; but we also would use money in order to possess that artwork, that real estate. So we want to make sure that we are getting at that money, that flow, within our financial markets and getting at that. There is bipartisan agreement, and the language here is not the original language Chairwoman Waters offered and maybe, perhaps, the one that she would want to pass. But, in her effort at bipartisanship, she worked with committee Republicans, changed the resolution, and now before us we have a new resolution. This new resolution should meet the approval of everyone in this House. I want to state that very clearly. This is not a Democrat product. Actually, it is because Chairwoman Waters did author it, but she was willing to hear our feedback on the Republican side. That is helpful. What this would be is the fifth bill that we have passed out of the House Financial Services Committee that has received bipartisan support. That is a good sign. That is a good sign, in a broken Washington, that we can actually do some sensible things. And outlined here, this resolution got out of, really, prescriptive positions that we are still negotiating on on this idea of beneficial ownership, which our colleague, Subcommittee Chair Maloney, has been working on intensely, as have French Hill from Arkansas and Blaine Luetkemeyer from Missouri on the Republican side. And they are still working through the contents of that, and we are still not in agreement. So we removed that language, and I think that is a very hopeful thing. I didn't really want to get into the mechanics of how we came to this, but I think it is important for the House to note that that work has been done. Before us is a new resolution that should be able to meet the support of the House. Mr. Speaker, I want to finish by saying this, that Chairwoman Waters said she would work with us on this; she worked with us on this. I am grateful for that. Recognizing that there are more Democrats than Republicans in the House, the gentlewoman could have passed this resolution if she saw fit, on a partisan basis, but she thought it was important to actually have a bipartisan outcome so we can have bipartisan legislating following this. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairwoman Waters of the House Financial Services Committee for offering this resolution. I rise in support of this resolution, and I look forward to working with the gentlewoman from California to incorporate its basic principles into future legislation produced by our committee to tackle the illicit drug trade, international financing that moves around the globe that is illicit in nature, as well as combating human trafficking and using the financial system to traffic in human beings, which I think is absolutely abhorrent. This resolution reflects the Financial Services Committee's longstanding emphasis that we have on protecting our national security and ensuring the integrity of the financial system. The size and scope of that system, along with the preeminent role of the U.S. dollar in global trade, requires us to remain vigilant against illicit finance, money laundering, and other significant threats. Already this Congress, the House has passed several of our committee's bills designed to identify new risks in illicit finance and to strengthen our banks' cooperation with law enforcement authorities. We are also looking forward to addressing a more comprehensive reform of processes under the Bank Secrecy Act in order to crack down on money laundering much more effectively. We believe technology can be a great driver of those reforms and more efficiently and effectively enforce those laws. We are working together to achieve that bipartisan outcome and update to that very important piece of legislation. This, I think, represents a down payment, rhetorically, on that interest that we have of combating illicit finance wherever it may be. I hope that we can continue to engage in a meaningful way in that bipartisan dialogue to achieve reforms to the Bank Secrecy Act, with the understanding it is important to safeguard our national security, while upholding a financial system that is open, transparent, and efficient and that is, in many ways, the envy of the rest of the world, without unduly burdening businesses in a manner that ends up turning away legitimate trade and commerce. Striking that balance is obviously that fine art that this Congress seeks to do, and we hope to do that well coming out of our committee. Now, Republicans and Democrats should also be able to agree that these laws and regulations require us to strike a balance. That has to be a stated objective, and I am hopeful that the chairwoman will continue to work with us based on that principle. I am encouraged by that opportunity on the Bank Secrecy Act and Illicit Finance for us to tackle those items. I thank the chairwoman for sponsoring this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support it, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to reiterate that what my colleague, Mrs. Maloney, the chair of the Subcommittee on Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship, and Capital Markets outlined, outlined is an ongoing conversation we are having on her piece of legislation around beneficial ownership. We are still working through that process. I think the talks have been productive, but there is a lot of work to do. There is not quite consensus yet on how we achieve that right balance. Notwithstanding that, you have to look at the contents of the resolution before us. I think this is, while not perfect--if I had drafted the resolution, I would have also included the international drug trade and human trafficking as two highly important areas that need our attention and focus as policymakers. But that is a sin of omission rather than commission. I would also target a broader set of regimes. ISIS is targeted in this, and I think that is strong. We have bipartisan agreement that we have to fight this terrorism network and evil ideology that they have put upon the world, and how they act out in this, and we have to have a concerted effort, as Americans, in a bipartisan way, to fight them. I would also add to that the regimes in China, Russia, and North Korea as other state actors that are doing really horrible things in terms of cyber threats, but also through money laundering--not just a regime, but there are a lot of regimes around the world. So this is not a complete resolution, but I think it is worthy of our support. I think this is a first step in that longer conversation about modernizing the Bank Secrecy Act and making sure that we are targeting illicit financing. I ask my colleagues to vote for this resolution, and I look forward to continuing the conversation with my Democratic colleagues on more bipartisan outcomes. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Madam Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted: YEA on Roll Call No. 104, and YEA on Roll Call No. 105.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the Republican leader on the Rules Committee for yielding. It is unfortunate we are here today to debate a bill like this. This bill is nothing more than a partisan power grab. That is the sum and substance of what has been offered here as H.R. 1. This is about the priorities of Democrats in the House, and the priorities of Democrats in the House is to change our election laws in such a way as to benefit their party and hurt the American voters and their will at the ballot box. That is the deep problem here with H.R. 1. This is a partisan power grab by one party to seize power by manipulating our laws to get an outcome counter to the will of the people. It is not about fairness. It is just the opposite. This is a problem, the process that the Democrats went through, the majority went through for this bill. We had one markup in one committee even though we had multiple committees, including the House Financial Services Committee. That is how big this bill is. It had multiple committees of jurisdiction that were supposed to have markups on this, and they did not go through that full process. This bill, at the end of the day, seeks to limit free speech. It uses taxpayer dollars to fund partisan campaign efforts, and mandates outcomes designed to get more Democrats into power. This is not about fairness. It is just the opposite. Let's vote against this rule, and let's vote down this bad bill.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I was unavoidably detained. Had I been present, I would have voted ``nay'' on rollcall No. 93. personal explanation

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the former chairman and the ranking member for bringing this package today, and the bipartisan work that we are advocating for here on the House floor. I rise in support of this important bill for two reasons, two reasons directly related to western North Carolina, where I am honored to represent. First, it has a permanent reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. This is a very important program that uses offshore energy resources to fund protected lands that are of national importance: our rivers, our scenic byways, our lakes. Clean water in western North Carolina, access to the great outdoors has been a great driver of our economy, and LWCF has helped fund the preservation and protection of those areas. Second, I stand in support of this important bill because it reauthorizes the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area. These two pieces of legislation, the LWCF reauthorization, and the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, are two items that I have sponsored independently of this package, and I am glad they are a part of this resolution before us. The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area ensures the preservation of the unique cultural history of western North Carolina and provides access to our land surrounding the Blue Ridge Parkway. So those two important areas are just a small part of this larger package that has been hammered out in a bipartisan way. I commit it to my colleagues, and I ask for a ``yea'' vote.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Reclaiming my time, I did not write the legislation. The intention here is the encouragement of Federal regulators to take a new look. I think that is the broad understanding of what this resolution gets to. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. I yield to the gentleman from Maryland.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this House resolution. I think this resolution truly expresses the sense of Congress that we should provide relief that, voluntarily, over 100 financial institutions have already committed to do publicly over the course of the shutdown. But I think it shows that we are a compassionate group of folks here in the House of Representatives and that we want to be sensible in every way possible, even in the midst of these major political fights that do occur from time to time, perhaps, here on this House floor. Those disagreements notwithstanding, what we want to do is work in a proactive way and in a bipartisan way to convey to the public that there are sensible things that we are about, and that Republicans and Democrats still can get things done here on the House floor, here doing the people's business and the people's work. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support Chairwoman Waters' resolution here today, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 800,000 Federal employees impacted by the partial government shutdown and express my sincere agreement that banks and Federal regulators should do the compassionate and the sensible thing, to support customers in need of assistance. Mr. Speaker, whether it was a missed credit card payment or an unexpected medical expense, many furloughed Federal employees have faced economic hardships over the last 35 days, through no fault of their own. A string of dead-end and dead-on-arrival bills and nonstarter negotiations thrust hardworking Federal employees into the middle of a political fight, all over commonsense border security measures that I support, and that many Democrats have supported previously. Our only course of action at that time and now is to try and provide some relief to those who are in need, and most importantly, find a solution to ensure that the government doesn't shut down again on February 15. But those are larger political issues, and we are trying to be of substance as to what we can do to be of assistance to those who were affected by the government shutdown within our committee of jurisdiction, the Financial Services Committee. I appreciate Chairwoman Waters' efforts to provide support for hardworking Federal employees by introducing this resolution and encouraging banks to assist their customers in need. Thankfully, many financial institutions are already doing exactly what is suggested in this resolution, and that, as Chairwoman Waters said in her statement, is at the urging of Members of Congress, but also their understanding of the needs in their communities, like waiving late fees for furloughed employees, or the other over 100 banks that took it upon themselves for loan modifications and payment deadline extension, payroll advances, low-rate and zero-rate loans, as well as other accommodations, and those are wonderful things, positive things. Unfortunately, we now find ourselves in a situation where the financial regulatory regime has left banks trying their best under a cloud of uncertainty on how regulators will react to their efforts during the government shutdown. While I agree with my colleague across the aisle that we should encourage banks to work more proactively with customers affected in the shutdown, we must also encourage our financial regulators to provide clarity to our financial institutions that they are permitted to provide that type of relief. I have no doubt this issue will be a part of a larger conversation I hope that we can have on the Financial Services Committee about what regulators are doing to help individual taxpayers and also what they are doing that hurts the American people as well. Mr. Speaker, I think this is a good bill that I encourage my colleagues to support.

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from West Virginia (Mr. Mooney).

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from West Virginia.

Mr. McHENRY

Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.