Maxine Waters

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I would like to inquire, through the Chair, if my colleague has any remaining speakers on his side. I have no further speakers and I am prepared to close.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chair, I include in the Record a letter from the Americans for Financial Reform and the 85 undersigned consumer, civil rights, labor, and community organizations who wrote to express their support for H.R. 3621, and a letter from the National Association of Realtors. Americans for Financial Reform, January 27, 2020. Dear Representative: The 85 undersigned consumer, civil rights, labor, and community organizations write to express our support for HR 3621, the Comprehensive Credit Reporting Enhancement, Disclosure, Innovation, and Transparency Act of 2020 (Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020). Credit reports and credit scores play a critical role in the economic lives of Americans. They are the gatekeeper for affordable credit, insurance, rental housing, and sometimes unfortunately even a job. Yet they suffer from unacceptable rates of inaccuracy. This bill would enact a sea change that would make the American credit reporting system more accurate and fairer to consumers. The Federal Trade Commission's definitive study showed that 21% of consumers had verified errors in their credit reports, 13% had errors that affected their credit scores, and 5% had errors serious enough to cause them to be denied or pay more for credit. Trying to fix these errors can be a Kafka-esque nightmare in which the Big Three nationwide consumer report agencies (CRAs)--Equifax, Experian and TransUnion-- consistently favor the side of the creditor or debt collector (``the furnisher'') over the consumer. The American credit reporting systems suffers from a number of other flaws and defects. Consumers are unfairly penalized by negative credit reporting when they have been the victim of abusive practices, such as predatory mortgages or student loans resulting from for-profit school fraud, or due to circumstances out of their control, such as temporary job loss, illness, or financial abuse by a family member. Healthcare bills contribute greatly to credit reporting harms, with over 50% of debt collection items resulting from medical debt. Consumers also lack the right to a free annual credit score. Furthermore, many consumers who attempt to obtain a free annual credit report or to obtain their scores are misled into purchasing high-priced credit monitoring or other subscription services. These services are also marketed to prevent identify theft, yet they are far less effective in doing so than a security freeze. This legislation comprehensively addresses all of these abuses, and more. This bill would: Fix the broken system for credit reporting disputes by (1) giving consumers a new right to appeal the results of initial disputes; (2) requiring CRAs and furnishers of information to dedicate sufficient resources and provide well-trained personnel to handle disputes; (3) requiring CRAs to conduct an independent analysis of disputes, separate from that of the furnisher; and (4) requiring furnishers to retain records for the same time period that negative information remains on reports. Improve credit reporting accuracy by directing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to establish accuracy regulations, including requiring CRAs to better monitor furnishers for high error rates and to use stricter criteria to match information from a lender to a consumer's file, preventing the worst type of credit reporting error, the ``mixed file.'' Restrict the use of credit information for employment by limiting it to two narrow instances--when required by local, state or federal law or for national security clearances. This will severely limit a practice that discriminates against the long-term unemployed, has a disparate impact on communities of color, and has very little evidence demonstrating its effectiveness in predicting job performance. Help victims of abusive lending and overly punitive negative reporting practices by (1) reducing the current overlong retention periods that adverse credit information remains on reports to four years (seven years for bankruptcies); (2) allowing borrowers victimized by the unfair, deceptive or abusive practices of mortgage lenders or servicers to have adverse mortgage-related information removed; and (3) requiring the removal of negative information about private education loans that were obtained to attend for-profit colleges found to have engaged in unfair or deceptive practices. Protect consumers from the unfair impact of medical debt by prohibiting CRAs from including medical collections on reports until 365 days from the date of first delinquency and prohibiting the reporting of any debt for medically necessary procedures. This will ensure that consumers have time to resolve their complex, confusing medical bills. The bill also mandates that all paid or settled debt, including medical collections, be removed within 45 days from reports. Help consumers understand their creditworthiness by giving consumers the right to a free credit score at the same time that they obtain their free annual consumer report. The bill also creates several new instances in which consumers are entitled to receive both free reports and scores, including requiring auto, private education and mortgage lenders to provide prospective loan borrowers the same free reports and scores that the lenders used in their decision-making before consumers sign those loan agreements. Address misleading marketing of credit monitoring subscriptions and increase access for security freezes to prevent identity theft by (1) prohibiting the misleading practice of automatically converting free trial periods into paid, monthly subscription services by requiring CRAs to provide explicit opt-ins at the end of the promotions and (2) providing free credit freezes for security breach victims and vulnerable consumers, and capping the cost for all other consumers. Give a second chance to struggling private education loan borrowers by allowing them to rehabilitate impaired credit records through requiring removal of adverse information about delinquent or defaulted loans if they are able to make nine out of ten on-time, monthly payments. Correct provisions in last year's deregulatory law, S2155, that unwisely preempted states from further improvements to the credit freeze laws and provided servicemembers with a credit monitoring right without a remedy. These credit reporting reforms are urgently needed in order to ensure that consumers are treated fairly and that the credit reporting system that underlies so many daily transactions works better for the public. We look forward to working with you to swiftly pass this bill to better protect consumers. Thank you for your attention. Sincerely, Americans for Financial Reform; A2Z Real Estate Consultants; African American Health Alliance; Alaska Public Interest Research Group; Allied Progress; Arkansas Community Organizations; BREAD Organization; CAFE Montgomery MD; Center for Digital Democracy; Cleveland Jobs with Justice; Community Action Human Resources Agency (CAHRA); Congregation of Our Lady of the Good Shepherd, US Provinces; Connecticut Fair Housing Center; Consumer Action; Consumer Federation of America; Consumer Federation of California; Consumer Reports. CWA Local 1081; Delaware Community Reinvestment Action Council, Inc.; Demos; Denver Area Labor Federation; East Bay Community Law Center; FAITH IN TEXAS; Famicos Foundation; FLARA; Florida Alliance for Consumer Protection; Greater Longview United Way; Groundcover News; Habitat for Humanity of Camp Co, TX; Hawaiian Community Assets; Housing Action Illinois; Housing and Family Services of Greater New York, Inc. Mary House, Inc.; Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition; Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc.; Mobilization for Justice Inc.; Montana Organizing Project; Multi-Cultural Real Estate Alliance For Urban Change; National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd; National Association of Consumer Advocates; National Association of Social Workers; National Association of Social Workers West Virginia Chapter; National Center for Law and Economic Justice; National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients); National Consumers League; National Fair Housing Alliance; National Housing Law Project; National Housing Resource Center. National Rural Social Work Caucus; New Economics for Women; New Jersey Citizen Action; New Jersey Tenants Organization; New York Legal Assistance Group; North Carolina Council of Churches; Partners In Community Building, Inc.; PathWays PA; Pennsylvania Council of Churches; People Demanding Action; Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada; Project IRENE; Prosperity Now; Public Citizen; Public Justice Center; Public Law Center; Public Utility Law Project of New York. Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center; SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center; Sisters of Mercy South Central Community; Society of St. Vincent de Paul; St. Paul UMC; Tennessee Citizen Action; The Center for Survivor Agency and Justice; The Disaster Law Project; The Greenlining Institute; The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights; THE ONE LESS FOUNDATION; Tzedek DC; U.S. PIRG; Urban Asset Builders, Inc.; Virginia Citizens Consumer Council; Virginia Poverty Law Center; West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy; Wildfire; Woodstock Institute; WV Citizen Action Group.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Chair, first, I would like to thank all of the participants in this comprehensive package. I would like to thank Ms. Pressley, as the sponsor of this comprehensive piece of legislation, Mr. Lawson, Ms. Adams, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Lynch, and Ms. Tlaib, for all of the work that they put in to ensure that we were covering the years of complaints that we have gotten about our credit bureaus and the mishandling of our consumers and a lack of protection for consumers who have suffered at the hands of our credit bureaus who did not take into consideration these very serious complaints. So, Mr. Chairman, the Comprehensive Credit Reporting Enhancement, Disclosure, Innovation, and Transparency, this act, makes much-needed and overdue reforms to improve the credit reporting system. The issues addressed by this bill are important for the economic well-being of millions of Americans and our economy. As we have discussed, the bill is supported by, again, Americans for Financial Reform, the National Association of Consumer Advocates, and the National Association of Realtors. So, with all of this support, and with consumers who have been waiting for years for their Representatives to do something about the fact that their data is all in the hands of these credit bureaus who are determining whether or not they can acquire credit; whether or not they are going to be able to get a loan; whether or not they are going to be able to have a decent quality of life because they have done everything that they could do to have good credit; and that when they have said to the credit bureaus, there is an error, they have got me mixed up with someone else, and they cannot get this straightened out for them, and they suffer. So the time has come, and I am so very pleased that my committee is answering all of the requests from our constituents and your constituents and all of the constituents of Representatives in this body, to do something. The time is now, and we are doing that. This comprehensive piece of legislation will absolutely deal with these concerns that have been identified for so long. I urge all Members who care about their constituency, who have been hearing these issues for so many years, I urge them to vote ``yes'' on this bill. Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I stand today on behalf of all Californians; certainly, the entire city of Los Angeles; and millions of fans worldwide who are mourning the sudden and tragic loss of one of the greatest athletes we have ever known: Kobe Bryant. Celebrated as a king in Los Angeles, Kobe's death is deeply painful for our city and his millions of fans everywhere. For decades, he dazzled generations of fans and aspiring athletes, leaving a legacy as a prolific athlete, devoted husband, loving father, and philanthropist that will never be forgotten. This tragic event is made worse by the death of his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant, a beautiful young lady who was so full of life and potential. Our hearts go out to his wife, Vanessa; surviving daughters, Bianka, Natalia, and Capri; relatives; teammates; and friends. On behalf of the California delegation, we lift up the names of Kobe Bryant; his beloved daughter, Gianna; and all the victims of this horrible tragedy in prayer and reverence. We send our deepest condolences to their loved ones, now and forever.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding. I thank Representatives Bobby Scott and Susie Lee for their leadership on this important resolution. I rise to support H.J. Res. 76 which blocks Secretary DeVos' attempts to undermine the much-needed borrower defense rule. The original rule was implemented in 2016 to cancel the debt of those students defrauded by their colleges. The Secretary's replacement rule is shameful. It would cancel only 3 percent of the student loans that result from school misconduct. While totally unacceptable, the Secretary's actions are nothing new. The for-profit college industry has been exploiting students for decades, and I have been fighting them back for just as long. As an assemblywoman in California, I authored one of the Nation's first laws regulating for-profit schools. As a Congresswoman, I passed the 85/15 rule, which limited the amount of Federal funding for-profit colleges receive from taxpayers. In 2015, when the for-profit Corinthian Colleges closed down after years of fraud and misconduct, I was one of the Members of Congress to endorse and support the Corinthian 100, a group of former students who refused to pay back loans accrued while attending Corinthian. This Congress, I continue fighting for students. Last year, the House Financial Services Committee held two hearings examining the student loan crisis. Last month, the committee approved three bills that will provide strong student borrower protections, including for those harmed by for-profit colleges. Congress should not stand idly by while Secretary DeVos tries to make it easier for students to get defrauded by for-profit schools. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4841) to require the prudential banking regulators to provide annual testimony to Congress on their supervision and regulation activities, and for other purposes, as amended.

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

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 4841, the Prudential Regulator Oversight Act, which is sponsored by Representative Dean Phillips of Minnesota, one of our new members of the Financial Services Committee. Through Representative Phillips' good work, this is a bipartisan bill. H.R. 4841 would require the prudential regulators, specifically, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration to report semiannually to and testify annually before Congress on their supervisory and regulatory activities. The Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision would continue to testify semiannually before Congress, though the new annual testimony mandate would satisfy one of the semiannual requirements. While the OCC, FDIC, NCUA currently do not have a mandatory testimony requirement like the Federal Reserve, receiving periodic testimony from all four agencies would allow for a comprehensive examination of the state of prudential regulation, supervision, and enforcement with respect to megabanks and other depository institutions. These reports and testimony will enhance the committee's efforts to oversee the regulators' work on a range of issues, including their efforts to hold megabanks accountable and promote diversity and inclusion. I will highlight that Representative Phillips made a few improvements to the bill to ensure that no confidential supervisory information is disclosed. The changes would still ensure Congress gets important aggregate data and general trends on supervisory concerns, like Matters Requiring Attention and Matters Requiring Immediate Attention, that apply to the industry or segments of the industry. It is also worth noting that before Democrats took the House majority in 2019 and provided vigorous oversight of these prudential regulators, it had been more than 3 years since either the FDIC or the NCUA testified before the Financial Services Committee. Congress must not neglect its oversight duties, so H.R. 4841 will help ensure that we have robust and regular oversight of our prudential regulators. Madam Speaker, I urge Members to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips), a valuable member of the Financial Services Committee and the sponsor of this legislation.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Phillips).

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of the time. In closing, it is important that Congress conduct regular oversight of independent regulatory agencies like the OCC, the FDIC, and NCUA to ensure they are fulfilling the mission Congress gave them. Mr. Phillips' bipartisan bill, the Prudential Regulator Oversight Act, will ensure Congress gets periodic updates on a range of issues, including prudential regulator efforts to hold megabanks accountable and promote diversity and inclusion. Madam Speaker, I urge Members to support H.R. 4841, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5315) to amend the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 to establish a Financial Agent Mentor- Protege Program within the Department of the Treasury, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise in support of H.R. 5315, the Expanding Opportunity for Minority Depository Institutions Act, which is sponsored by Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio, who chairs our Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee. The bill is cosponsored by Representatives Gregory Meeks, Al Green, Emanuel Cleaver, David Scott, and Denny Heck. This bill would codify the Department of the Treasury's Mentor- Protege Program, which is designed to encourage large banks to partner with smaller banks and minority depository institutions in enhancing their capabilities. These partnerships can be critical for MDIs, in particular, to have access to the capital and investments they need to better serve their communities. The Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, led by Chairman Meeks, held two hearings on the importance of minority depository institutions in October and November of 2019. We learned that MDIs face several challenges, including the ability to raise capital despite overall strong financial performance and challenges experienced as a result of serving communities that are often the first and the hardest hit in economic down cycles. This decline is contributing to growing banking deserts in minority communities. We discussed the decline of MDIs and how alarming the numbers are. Since the financial crisis, we have seen the numbers of MDI banks decline from 215 to 148; and today, we only have 18 Black-owned banks in this country. It is clear regulators have failed to fulfill their statutory obligations to preserve and promote MDIs and that Congress must act. In addition to Representative Beatty's bill, Representative Meeks has drafted a complementary bill, that is, H.R. 5322, the Ensuring Diversity in Community Banking Act, that will take additional steps to help MDIs. We hope this bill will move to the House floor very soon. We must do what we can to ensure all current MDIs and, hopefully, future MDIs have access to the investments and partnerships they need to thrive while serving the communities that need them the most. Encouraging more partnerships, as H.R. 5315 would provide for, is one important step we can take to ensure MDIs have the support and, eventually, the capital they need to continue their good work of serving their communities. Madam Speaker, I urge all Members to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), the chair of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion and the sponsor of this legislation.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Madam Speaker, we have a crisis with MDIs, and Congress must take action. H.R. 5315 codifies the Department of the Treasury's mentor- protege program which is designed to encourage large firms to assist these small financial institutions, including MDIs, in enhancing their capability. The program has fostered the establishment of long-term business relationships between large banks and MDIs that can be critical for MDIs to have access to the kind of capital they need to better serve their communities. Madam Speaker, the Financial Services Committee approved the bill by a vote of 57-0, and the full House should also unanimously support this important legislation. I urge Members to support H.R. 5315, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2398) to amend the United States Housing Act of 1937 and title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for the HUD-VASH program, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit annual reports to the Committees on Veterans' Affairs of the Senate and House of Representatives regarding homeless veterans, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.R. 2398, the Veteran Housing Opportunities and Unemployment Support Extension Act. Put simply, this bill will help more veterans get out of homelessness without increasing current funding levels. It is a national embarrassment that we still have an estimated 37,000 veterans who experienced homelessness on any given night in 2019. To our credit we have a very successful program that is focused on ending homelessness among veterans. It is called the HUD-VASH program. The HUD-VASH program is largely credited for the nearly 50 percent decrease in the homeless veteran population over the past decade. Unfortunately, many of these vouchers go unutilized year after year due in part to the fact that veterans are not eligible for the HUD-VASH program if they received an other than honorable discharge from the military. Let's be clear, an other than honorable discharge should not be confused with a dishonorable discharge. A servicemember can receive an other than honorable discharge for fairly minor infractions such as lapses in military good order and discipline. Moreover, veterans who are repeatedly deployed tend to suffer more frequently from serious mental health issues. We know that mental health issues are correlated with higher rates of other than honorable discharges as well as an increased likelihood of experiencing homelessness upon leaving the military. H.R. 2398 would correct this injustice by ensuring that veterans who received an other than honorable discharge are not excluded from the HUD-VASH program. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleagues, Mr. Heck and Mr. Peters, for introducing this critical legislation. I strongly support this legislation, I urge my colleagues to do the same, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Peters), who is the sponsor of this legislation.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Madam Speaker, I again thank Representatives Peters and Heck for bringing forth this important legislation. We were reminded only last week of the commitment of those who served in the United States armed services. We must continue to do all we can to ensure that those who have served receive the support they need. The reforms in H.R. 2398 will do exactly that. Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important piece of legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 4458) to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to issue reports on cybersecurity with respect to the functions of the Federal Reserve System, and for other purposes, as amended.

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 this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.