Maxine Waters

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Wisconsin (Ms. Moore), who is the ranking member of the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I have just got to stop some of this misrepresentation. Exempt from CFPB's supervision and enforcement, Wall Street reform-- that is Dodd-Frank--recognizes community banks and credit unions have a small number of employees and a better consumer protection track record; thus, they are carved out from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's supervision. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's supervision and enforcement focuses on the largest banks that they won't talk about here today and non-banks that compete with small banks and credit unions. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott), the ranking member of the Education and the Workforce Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, continuing to remind Mr. Duffy who opposes this bill, the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States of America opposes this bill. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished Democratic whip.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Capuano), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Delaney), a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty), a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, we have already debunked what we have been told by the opposition about the oversight, CFPB's supervision and enforcement. Of course, we have told you about that. Let's take a moment to tell you that community banks have showed strength in residential, commercial, industrial loans, and small- business lending. In fact, overall loan growth at community banks has been faster than at bigger banks. In the fourth quarter of 2016, lending was up 8.3 percent for community banks and 4.8 percent for larger banks. Mr. Chair, with that, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster), a member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire as to how much time I have remaining?

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, since it has been asked about who opposes this bill, I wanted to make sure that we include in our information to them the religious organizations. The Congregation of St. Joseph, the Seventh Generation Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investment, the Dominican Sisters of Houston, the Sisters of Mercy, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, the Christian Brothers Investment Services, the National Association of Evangelicals, the American Baptist Home Mission Society, and the Mercy Investment Services all urge a ``no'' vote on this terrible bill. Mr. Chairman, with that, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck), a senior member now--he has been there for a while--of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, the Members on the opposite side of the aisle have come here talking about what they are doing for small banks and how they are against the big banks. Let me tell you about a letter that was sent yesterday, June 7, from the American Bankers Association. They said: ``We are pleased that this legislation contains provisions that ABA and our member banks have long supported.'' Who are their members? JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America. Wall Street loves this bad bill. I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Minnesota (Mr. Ellison), a senior progressive champion of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Gonzalez), a new member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crist), a new member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Nevada (Mr. Kihuen), a new member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Florida (Mrs. Demings).

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Cartwright).

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky).

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Bonamici).

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. H.R. 10 is being called the ``Wrong'' CHOICE Act by the American public because this bill is truly the wrong choice for all of us. Indeed, this is one of the worst bills I have seen in my time in Congress. This bill is a vehicle for Donald Trump's agenda to deregulate and help out Wall Street. It destroys nearly all of the important policies we put in place in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to prevent another financial crisis and protect consumers. This bill would create vast harm and lead us right back to the bad old days. We all remember the suffering that resulted from the Great Recession: $13 trillion in household wealth was lost; 11 million people lost their homes; the unemployment rate hit 10 percent. The impact was enormous and felt by all. This bill would pave the way back to economic damage of the same scale--or worse. The ``Wrong'' CHOICE Act guts the highly successful Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which works to make sure that hardworking Americans are not subjected to predatory practices in the financial marketplace. Since its creation, the Consumer Bureau has returned nearly $12 billion to more than 29 million consumers who have been ripped off by financial institutions. This bill would foolishly put a stop to the Consumer Bureau's good work and once again leave consumers vulnerable. That is not all. Across the board, the ``Wrong'' CHOICE Act removes essential Dodd-Frank protections for consumers, investors, and our economy. Despite what Republicans will tell you, banks large and small are doing just fine since the passage of Dodd-Frank. Last year, they posted record profits. Here is the bottom line: Donald Trump and Republicans want to open the door to another economic catastrophe like the Great Recession and return us to a financial system where reckless and predatory practices harm our families and communities. We cannot allow that to happen. Mr. Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this catastrophically bad bill. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, the Speaker and Mr. Hensarling would have you think this is all about community banks being hurt, but let me tell you what this is all about. U.S. and foreign banks have paid more than $160 billion in penalties to resolve cases brought against them by the Justice Department and Federal regulatory agencies for cases involving collusion, fraud against consumers, bribery, and other abuses. There were 144 major cases of $100 million or more against 26 large U.S. and foreign banks. Just look at this: Bank of America, $56 billion; J.P.Morgan, $28 billion; Citigroup, $15 billion; Wells Fargo-- and you know about Wells Fargo and what they did--$11 billion; Goldman Sachs, $9 billion; Morgan Stanley, $5 billion. This is about rip-offs, so this bill will prevent us from being able to assess these kinds of penalties on those who are ripping off the American public. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Missouri (Mr. Clay), ranking member of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Perlmutter), ranking member of the Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade Subcommittee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Kildee), the vice ranking member of the Committee on Financial Services.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott), one of our senior members of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, I will include in the Record a letter from the Association of American Medical Colleges which states: ``Treatment of essential health benefits and health status underwriting dilutes protections for many Americans and would leave individuals with preexisting conditions facing higher premiums and reduce access to vital care.'' Mr. Speaker, I rise to caution those Republicans who have allowed themselves to be persuaded by this President into supporting this terrible bill which would leave millions of Americans without health care and raise the cost of care for millions more. You are going to pay a terrible price for not protecting your constituents. TrumpCare will cause 24 million Americans to lose their health coverage and slash Medicaid by $880 billion; for older Americans, premiums, deductibles, and copayments will skyrocket. Those between the ages of 50 and 64 will be forced to pay premiums five times higher than what others pay for the same coverage. This crushing age tax will fall on some of the most vulnerable members of our society, elderly people on fixed incomes who often have serious health issues. Meanwhile, hidden in this bill is an outrageous tax break for billionaires. TrumpCare gives $600 billion in tax cuts to large corporations and wealthy people, including $2.8 billion to the 400 richest families in America. The MacArthur amendment made this bill even worse by jettisoning protections for people with preexisting conditions.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, Donald Trump promised American voters he would drain the swamp of special interests in Washington. Instead, he is swimming in it. He has filled his administration with billionaires, Wall Street operatives, special interest lobbyists, lawyers, and consultants who are drafting policies for the very industries they came from, and he refuses to release the White House visitor log so we have no idea what special interest lobbyists he is meeting with. Trump has refused to release his tax returns or divest his business interests. Can you believe the State Department posted a blog advertising his exclusive Mar-a-Lago resort? Since becoming President, he increased the fees for that resort from $100,000 to $200,000. He has both close allies, Cabinet appointees, and other appointees with questionable ties to Putin and Russia. His swamp is getting bigger and bigger.