Date: 2016-09-09
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. I think I heard my colleague on the opposite side of the aisle reference Main Street. but I did not hear him describe who his Main Street is. and we dont know who he is talking about. Let me just remind the Members one more time who is opposing this billthis is truly representative of Main StreetAFLCIO. American Federation of Teachers. American Federation of State. County and Municipal Employees. Americans for Financial Reform. Communications Workers of America. Consumer Federation of America. Council of Institutional Investors. CalPERS. CalSTRS. Institutional Limited Partners Association. North American Securities Administrators Association. Public Citizen. UNITE HERE. United Automobile. Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America. UAW. and U.S. Public Interest Research Group. We have opposition from working people. from the real people of Main Street. on this legislation. I think. as Members begin to read and look at this bill. they will understand how dangerous it is and how we would be rolling back the clock. jeopardizing the reforms that we have made with DoddFrank. and also taking us back to undermining the SEC in extraordinary ways. Recently. Mr. Speaker. there was an investigative series initiated by The New York Times looking into the operations of private equity firms. I would like to read for you a few key excerpts from the articles which I think might highlight the need for further regulation of private equity and not the rollbacks we see today in H.R. 5424. This is from a June 25. 2016. article titled: "When You Dial 911 and Wall Street Answers." "Since the 2008 financial crisis. private equity firms. the corporate raiders of an earlier era. have increasingly taken over a wide array of civic and financial services that are central to American life. "Unlike other forprofit companies. which often have years of experience making a product or offering a service. private equity is primarily skilled in making money. And in many of these businesses. The Times found. private equity firms applied a sophisticated moneymaking playbook: a mix of cost cuts. price increases. lobbying and litigation. "In emergency care and firefighting. this approach creates a fundamental tension: the push to turn a profit while caring for people in their most vulnerable moments." This article then goes on to describe how response times slowed and lives were put in dangerand I am talking about the response time of fire departments that are now controlled by equity fundswhen these profithungry Wall Street firms took over essential public health services. like ensuring ambulances arrived to victims on time. From an article titled. "How Housings New Players Spiraled into Banks Old Mistakes." dated June 26. 2016: "When the housing crisis sent the American economy to the brink of disaster in 2008. millions of people lost their homes. The banking system had failed homeowners and their families. "New investors soon swept inmainly private equity firmspromising to do better. "But some of these new investors are repeating the mistakes that banks committed throughout the housing crisis. an investigation by The New York Times has found. They are quickly foreclosing on homeowners. They are losing families mortgage paperwork. much as the banks did. And many of these practices were enabled by the federal government. which sold tens of thousands of discounted mortgages to private equity investors. while making few demands on how they treated struggling homeowners. "The rising importance of private equity in the housing market is one of the most consequential transformations of the postcrisis American financial landscape. A home. after all. is the single largest investment most families will ever make. "Private equity firms. and the mortgage companies they own. face less oversight than the banks. And yet they are the cleanup crew for the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression." The article then goes on to describe how private equity firms can squeeze fees out of homeowners during every stage of the foreclosure process. often through conflicts of interest that make foreclosure more profitable than providing sustainable loan modifications. Mr. Speaker. this investigated series by The New York Times exposes practices that I think no credible Member of Congress would want to be associated with. This is horrible that we could even think that we are allowing our citizens to be placed at risk and their lives jeopardized because we have a private equity firm that is brought up and is now in control of critical services to our citizens. and they have to do it and make a profit. The way they make that profit is they cut back on personnel. equipment. machinery. or whatever it takes to turn that dollar. I am absolutely amazed that any Member of Congress would dare to think about supporting this kind of legislation that would allow these practices not only to continue in ways that I have described. and let me just remind you. I dont know how we can soon forget the crisis that this country experienced in 2008 when we had this subprime meltdown and we had so many foreclosures. so many families that were literally put on the streets because they lost their home because of practices that were not regulated by this government. This is amazing. This is absolutely amazing. and it is outrageous. I believe when the Members who come to vote today take a look at the fine print that they will understand what is happening here today. I think even if some Members thought they could. or should. support this bill. I think they are going to change their minds. And while it is being touted as a bipartisan effort. I dont think so. I reserve the balance of my time.