I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2446 

To replace the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

with a five person Commission. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 20, 2013 

Mr. BACHUS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To replace the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection with a five person Commission. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Responsible Consumer 

5 Financial Protection Regulations Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMISSION. 

7 Section 1011 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

8 Act of 2010 is amended— 

9 (1) by striking subsections (b), (c), and (d); 


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1 (2) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub2 section (j); and 

3 (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the fol4 lowing new subsections: 

5 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMISSION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established 

7 a commission (hereinafter referred to in this section 

8 as the ‘Commission’) that shall serve as the head of 

9 the Bureau. 

10 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY TO PRESCRIBE REGULA11 TIONS.—The Commission may prescribe such regu12 lations and issue such orders in accordance with this 

13 title as the Commission may determine to be nec14 essary for carrying out this title and all other laws 

15 within the Commission’s jurisdiction and shall exer16 cise any authorities granted under this title and all 

17 other laws within the Commission’s jurisdiction. 

18 ‘‘(c) COMPOSITION OF THE COMMISSION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall be 

20 composed of 5 members who shall be appointed by 

21 the President, by and with the advice and consent 

22 of the Senate, from among individuals who— 

23 ‘‘(A) are citizens of the United States; and 

24 ‘‘(B) have strong competencies and experi25 ences related to consumer financial protection. 


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1 ‘‘(2) STAGGERING.—The members of the Com2 mission shall serve staggered terms, which initially 

3 shall be established by the President for terms of 1, 

4 2, 4, and 5 years, respectively. 

5 ‘‘(3) TERMS.— 

6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each member of the 

7 Commission, including the Chair, shall serve for 

8 a term of 5 years. 

9 ‘‘(B) REMOVAL FOR CAUSE.—The Presi10 dent may remove any member of the Commis11 sion only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or 

12 malfeasance in office. 

13 ‘‘(C) VACANCIES.—Any member of the 

14 Commission appointed to fill a vacancy occur15 ring before the expiration of the term to which 

16 that member’s predecessor was appointed (in17 cluding the Chair) shall be appointed only for 

18 the remainder of the term. 

19 ‘‘(D) CONTINUATION OF SERVICE.—Each 

20 member of the Commission may continue to 

21 serve after the expiration of the term of office 

22 to which that member was appointed until a 

23 successor has been appointed by the President 

24 and confirmed by the Senate, except that a 

25 member may not continue to serve more than 1 


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1 year after the date on which that member’s 

2 term would otherwise expire. 

3 ‘‘(E) OTHER EMPLOYMENT PROHIBITED.— 

4 No member of the Commission shall engage in 

5 any other business, vocation, or employment. 

6 ‘‘(d) AFFILIATION.—With respect to members ap7 pointed pursuant to subsection (c), not more than 3 shall 

8 be members of any one political party. 

9 ‘‘(e) CHAIR OF THE COMMISSION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—The Chair of the Com11 mission shall be appointed by the President from 

12 among the members of the Commission. 

13 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY.—The Chair shall be the prin14 cipal executive officer of the Bureau, and shall exer15 cise all of the executive and administrative functions 

16 of the Bureau, including with respect to— 

17 ‘‘(A) the appointment and supervision of 

18 personnel employed under the Bureau (other 

19 than personnel employed regularly and full time 

20 in the immediate offices of members of the 

21 Commission other than the Chair); 

22 ‘‘(B) the distribution of business among 

23 personnel appointed and supervised by the 

24 Chair and among administrative units of the 

25 Bureau; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) the use and expenditure of funds. 

2 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—In carrying out any of the 

3 Chair’s functions under the provisions of this sub4 section the Chair shall be governed by general poli5 cies of the Commission and by such regulatory deci6 sions, findings, and determinations as the Commis7 sion may by law be authorized to make. 

8 ‘‘(4) REQUESTS OR ESTIMATES RELATED TO

9 APPROPRIATIONS.—Requests or estimates for reg10 ular, supplemental, or deficiency appropriations on 

11 behalf of the Commission may not be submitted by 

12 the Chair without the prior approval of the Commis13 sion. 

14 ‘‘(f) NO IMPAIRMENT BY REASON OF VACANCIES.— 

15 No vacancy in the members of the Commission shall im16 pair the right of the remaining members of the Commis17 sion to exercise all the powers of the Commission. Three 

18 members of the Commission shall constitute a quorum for 

19 the transaction of business, except that if there are only 

20 3 members serving on the Commission because of vacan21 cies in the Commission, 2 members of the Commission 

22 shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 

23 If there are only 2 members serving on the Commission 

24 because of vacancies in the Commission, 2 members shall 

25 constitute a quorum for the 6-month period beginning on 


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1 the date of the vacancy which caused the number of Com2 mission members to decline to 2. 

3 ‘‘(g) SEAL.—The Commission shall have an official 

4 seal. 

5 ‘‘(h) COMPENSATION.— 

6 ‘‘(1) CHAIR.—The Chair shall receive com7 pensation at the rate prescribed for level I of the 

8 Executive Schedule under section 5313 of title 5, 

9 United States Code. 

10 ‘‘(2) OTHER MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

11 The 4 other members of the Commission shall each 

12 receive compensation at the rate prescribed for level 

13 II of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of 

14 title 5, United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(i) INITIAL QUORUM ESTABLISHED.—During any 

16 time period prior to the confirmation of at least two mem17 bers of the Commission, one member of the Commission 

18 shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. 

19 Following the confirmation of at least 2 additional com20 missioners, the quorum requirements of subsection (f) 

21 shall apply.’’. 

22 SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS. 

23 (a) CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION ACT OF

24 2010.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided under 

2 paragraph (1), the Consumer Financial Protection 

3 Act of 2010 is amended— 

4 (A) by striking ‘‘Director of the’’ each 

5 place such term appears, other than where such 

6 term is used to refer to a Director other than 

7 the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Finan8 cial Protection; 

9 (B) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place such 

10 term appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’, other 

11 than where such term is used to refer to a Di12 rector other than the Director of the Bureau of 

13 Consumer Financial Protection; and 

14 (C) in section 1002, by striking paragraph 

15 (10). 

16 (2) EXCEPTIONS.—The Consumer Financial 

17 Protection Act of 2010 is amended— 

18 (A) in section 1012(c)(4), by striking ‘‘Di19 rector’’ each place such term appears and in20 serting ‘‘Commission of the Bureau’’; 

21 (B) in section 1013(c)(3)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘Assistant Director of 

23 the Bureau for’’ and inserting ‘‘Head of 

24 the Office of’’; and 


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1 (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

2 ‘‘Assistant Director’’ and inserting ‘‘Head 

3 of the Office’’; 

4 (C) in section 1013(g)(2)— 

5 (i) by striking ‘‘ASSISTANT DIREC6 TOR’’ and inserting ‘‘HEAD OF THE OF7 FICE’’; and 

8 (ii) by striking ‘‘an assistant director’’ 

9 and inserting ‘‘a Head of the Office of Fi10 nancial Protection for Older Americans’’; 

11 (D) in section 1016(a), by striking ‘‘Direc12 tor of the Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of the 

13 Commission’’; and 

14 (E) in section 1066(a), by striking ‘‘Direc15 tor of the Bureau is’’ and inserting ‘‘first mem16 ber of the Commission is’’. 

17 (b) DODD-FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CON18 SUMER PROTECTION ACT.—The Dodd-Frank Wall Street 

19 Reform and Consumer Protection Act is amended— 

20 (1) in section 1111(b)(1)(D), by striking ‘‘Di21 rector’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of the Commission’’; 

22 and 

23 (2) in section 1447, by striking ‘‘Director of the 

24 Bureau’’ each place such term appears and inserting 

25 ‘‘Bureau’’. 


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1 (c) ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFER ACT.—Section 

2 920(a)(4)(C) of the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, as 

3 added by section 1075(a)(2) of the Consumer Financial 

4 Protection Act of 2010, is amended by striking ‘‘Director 

5 of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’ and in6 serting ‘‘Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’. 

7 (d) EXPEDITED FUNDS AVAILABILITY ACT.—The 

8 Expedited Funds Availability Act, as amended by section 

9 1086 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, 

10 is amended by striking ‘‘Director of the Bureau’’ each 

11 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’. 

12 (e) FEDERAL DEPOSIT INSURANCE ACT.—Section 2 

13 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, as amended by sec14 tion 336(a) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

15 Consumer Protection Act, is amended by striking ‘‘Direc16 tor of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’’ each 

17 place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Chair of the Com18 mission of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’. 

19 (f) FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINA20 TION COUNCIL ACT OF 1978.—Section 1004(a)(4) of the 

21 Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Act of 

22 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3303(a)(4)), as amended by section 1091 

23 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010, is 

24 amended by striking ‘‘Director of the Consumer Financial 


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1 Protection Bureau’’ and inserting ‘‘Chair of the Commis2 sion of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’. 

3 (g) FINANCIAL LITERACY AND EDUCATION IM4 PROVEMENT ACT.—Section 513 of the Financial Literacy 

5 and Education Improvement Act, as amended by section 

6 1013(d)(5) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 

7 2010, is amended by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place such 

8 term appears and inserting ‘‘Chair of the Commission’’. 

9 (h) HOME MORTGAGE DISCLOSURE ACT OF 1975.— 

10 Section 307 of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 

11 1975, as amended by section 1094(6) of the Consumer 

12 Financial Protection Act of 2010, is amended by striking 

13 ‘‘Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec14 tion’’ each place such term appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau 

15 of Consumer Financial Protection’’. 

16 (i) INTERSTATE LAND SALES FULL DISCLOSURE

17 ACT.—The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act, as 

18 amended by section 1098A of the Consumer Financial 

19 Protection Act of 2010, is amended— 

20 (1) by amending section 1402(1) to read as fol21 lows: 

22 ‘‘(1) ‘Chair’ means the Chair of the Commission of 

23 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection;’’; and 


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1 (2) in section 1416(a), by striking ‘‘Director of 

2 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’ and 

3 inserting ‘‘Chair’’. 

4 (j) REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT

5 OF 1974.—Section 5 of the Real Estate Settlement Proce6 dures Act of 1974, as amended by section 1450 of the 

7 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protec8 tion Act, is amended— 

9 (1) by striking ‘‘The Director of the Bureau of 

10 Consumer Financial Protection (hereafter in this 

11 section referred to as the ‘Director’)’’ and inserting 

12 ‘‘The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’’; 

13 and 

14 (2) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place such term 

15 appears and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’. 

16 (k) S.A.F.E. MORTGAGE LICENSING ACT OF 2008.— 

17 The S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008, as amend18 ed by section 1100 of the Consumer Financial Protection 

19 Act of 2010, is amended— 

20 (1) by striking ‘‘Director’’ each place such term 

21 appears in headings and text, other than where such 

22 term is used in the context of the Director of the Of23 fice of Thrift Supervision, and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’; 

24 and 

25 (2) in section 1503, by striking paragraph (10). 


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1 (l) TITLE 44, UNITED STATES CODE.—Section 

2 3513(c) of title 44, United States Code, as amended by 

3 section 1100D(b) of the Consumer Financial Protection 

4 Act of 2010, is amended by striking ‘‘Director of the Bu5 reau’’ and inserting ‘‘Bureau’’. 

Æ 


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