Maxine Waters

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley), a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Ocasio-Cortez), who is also a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Garcia), a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1017, I call up the joint resolution (H.J. Res. 90) providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency relating to ``Community Reinvestment Act Regulations'', and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.J. Res. 90 and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.J. Res. 90, a Congressional Review Act resolution of disapproval to nullify the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's rule undermining the Community Reinvestment Act. I introduced this resolution with our Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee chair, Representative Meeks, and I am proud we are joined by 70 other Members who have cosponsored the resolution. The Community Reinvestment Act is a civil rights act. It is a law enacted in 1977 to prevent the discriminatory practice of redlining, in which banks discriminate against prospective customers in nearby neighborhoods, often based on their racial or ethnic background. The law requires banks to invest and lend responsibly in low- and moderate- income communities where they are chartered. Unfortunately, implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act has not been robust. Today, 98 percent of the banks routinely pass their Community Reinvestment Act exams. However, research has shown that more than 60 metro areas across the country are now experiencing modern-day redlining today. These findings clearly demonstrate the need to strengthen the implementation of the law. Unfortunately, the OCC's rule would do the opposite. Despite the warnings of a wide range of stakeholders, former Comptroller Otting rushed to finalize this rule in his final days on the job. So, without the support--without the support--of the Federal Reserve or the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the other banking regulators were responsible for enforcing the law. Mr. Otting appears to have been determined to undermine the Community Reinvestment Act ever since the law complicated his efforts to quickly obtain regulatory approval for OneWest Bank, a bank that he ran with Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, to merge with another bank in 2015. I am deeply concerned that the OCC's final rule will harm low-income and minority communities that are disproportionately suffering during this crisis, effectively turning the Community Reinvestment Act into the community disinvestment act. If this resolution is not adopted, we will have different rules for different banks, leading to regulatory arbitrage and a race to the bottom of weaker standards that will only hurt the people the law is intended to help. Notably, the OCC rule was adopted with insufficient and incomplete data, and it incentivizes large deals at the expense of smaller and more continuous financial transactions that truly benefit LMI communities. For example, the OCC final rule allows CRA credit to be given for activities in LMI-qualified opportunity zones, but the rule does not ensure that these activities promote community development that includes affordable housing or small business economic development. This can lead to the unacceptable result of banks receiving CRA funding for building luxury housing in opportunity zones, providing no direct benefit to LMI communities. Additionally, the OCC concedes it does not have all the data it needs to properly implement its new CRA framework, with the rules stating that the OCC will need to issue yet another notice of proposed rulemaking in the future to help set specific benchmarks, thresholds, and minimums. It doesn't speak highly of a rule when the office says it is half baked. A wide range of stakeholders have criticized OCC's efforts. For example, a group of civil rights and consumer groups issued a statement noting: ``The new OCC rules stick with an overly simplistic metrics system that creates a loophole for banks to exploit, allowing them to get a passing CRA rating by making investments in communities where they can reap the largest rewards, while leaving too many credit needs unmet for underserved consumers and neighbors.'' During these difficult times, communities across the country have taken to the streets to demand justice and to tell their elected officials that they can no longer ignore the needs of communities of color. In a letter supporting this resolution from various organizations led by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and National Community Reinvestment Coalition, they wrote: ``In the weeks since the OCC finalized its rule, our Nation has been facing a long overdue reckoning with our troubled legacy of racial and ethnic discrimination. . . . Now is certainly not the time to weaken the most important civil rights laws we have at our disposal to correct those disparities.'' Congress must block any effort by the Trump administration to weaken our civil rights laws and send a strong message to Federal regulators that they should be doing all they can during this pandemic to help, not hurt, low- and moderate-income communities, and especially communities of color. By passing this resolution, Congress will block the OCC's harmful rule so that, once the pandemic passes, banking regulators can renew efforts to collaborate, modernize, and strengthen the Community Reinvestment Act with a new joint rulemaking that truly benefits the community the law was intended to help. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues in the House to vote ``yes'' on H.J. Res. 90. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions and the coauthor of this bill.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on H.R. 5332 and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5332, the Protecting Your Credit Score Act of 2020. I would like the thank Representative Gottheimer, the bill's sponsor, for all of his hard work and leadership on this important and bipartisan legislation. He worked extensively for most of last year to seek the input and support of our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, making improvements along the way. Our credit reporting system is badly broken, and consumers have little recourse. It should be no surprise that consumer complaints regarding credit reporting errors and failed attempts to fix these errors are consistently a top complaint submitted to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. This demonstrates that millions of consumers are frustrated with the current system and need our help. H.R. 5332 would direct the nationwide consumer reporting agencies to create a streamlined, single online portal for consumers to have easy access to free credit reports, credit scores, dispute errors, and place security freezes. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer), author of this bill and a member of the Committee on Financial Services.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I would inquire through the Chair if my colleague has any remaining speakers on his side.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I reserve the right to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1017, I call up the bill (H.R. 5332) to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to ensure that consumer reporting agencies are providing fair and accurate information reporting in consumer reports, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer).

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Casten), a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Gottheimer).

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, which would end centuries of taxation without representation and make Washington, D.C., the 51st State. And nobody is giving back anything. Washington, D.C., is the home to more Americans than two States, and more than 46 percent of its 700,000 residents are Black. Make no mistake, race underlies every argument against D.C. statehood, and denying its citizens equal participation and representation is a racial, democratic, and economic injustice we cannot tolerate. It must be acknowledged that the chance to right these wrongs with today's vote would not be possible without my good friend, Eleanor Holmes Norton. We were both elected at the same time, and she has been dogged and consistent every single year since then in her fight for this bill and D.C. statehood. I am so pleased to join my friend in today's milestone vote, and I am hopeful that Eleanor's long effort will finally give D.C. the rights they deserve.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Scott for yielding to me on this important issue. I rise to override the President's veto of H.J. Res. 76, which undoes a Secretary DeVos rule that would make it nearly impossible for veterans and student borrowers defrauded by their schools to obtain financial relief. Congress voted, on a bipartisan basis, to reject Secretary DeVos' borrower defense rule, which only cancels 3 percent of the student loans resulting from school misconduct, keeping 97 percent of our veterans and student borrowers drowning in debt they only incurred due to fraud and from which they may never recover. If Secretary DeVos' efforts to prioritize profit over education are allowed to stand, then the for-profit industry will continue to do what it always has: exploit veterans, student borrowers, and those trying to better their lives and support their families by obtaining an education. This is a fight with which I am deeply familiar. This Congress, the House Financial Services Committee held two hearings examining the student loan crisis and approved three bills that will provide strong student borrower protections, including for those harmed by for-profit colleges. And during this COVID-19 crisis, I have fought to provide up to $10,000 of relief for private student loan borrowers, and I continue to fight to protect student loan borrowers who should not have to deal with debt collections, negative credit reporting, late fees, and penalties while dealing with this pandemic. With over 200,000 pending borrower defense applications for loan relief, these students desperately need and deserve our help. I urge my colleagues to support veterans and student borrowers by overriding the President's veto of H.J. Res. 76.