Date: 2016-02-04
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Chairman. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me draw Members attention to what is being attempted on the opposite side. They keep talking about Choke Point and how they want to save payday lenders and renttoown and pawnshops and all of that. I may have some issues with some of that. but that is not what this is about today. Today. this is about the fact that they refuse to tell you what is really in this bill. They cannot stand up and defend why in the world they would be taking away the Justice Departments ability to investigate bad banks. They cannot tell you why they are ignoring the lessons of 2008 and predatory lending and what the Justice Department has been able to do using FIRREA and investigating and fining and getting settlements. They cannot tell you why they would ignore the fact that many innocent middle class folks who work every day and who fought hard to make down payments and signed on the dotted line for mortgages didnt know that they were being tricked into signing mortgages that they could never really keep up with and that the interest rates would reset and go higher and higher and they were going to lose their homes. They cannot defend the predatory lending practices. They cannot defend the fraud. They cannot defend the undermining of the average American family. They cannot defend the fact that Americans lost their homes. So they are going to keep talking about Choke Point and how they have got to protect payday lenders and how they have got to protect pawnshop owners and how they have got to protect renttoown and all those businesses they hold so dearly and want to protect. This really doesnt have anything to do with that. If they want to have a real discussion about Choke Point. we are willing to do that. but. this is not the time to do it. This is not the time to use this to hide behind the fact that you want to protect the big banks. As a matter of fact. this is so outrageous. it basically says that. instead of the Justice Department or anyone going after the banks. it would protect the banks by saying that you cant go after the banks and you have to protect them and you cant go against them. I am simply saying over and over again that I dont care how many Members they call up and I dont care how many Members come and talk about Choke Point. somebody needs to tell us why they cant talk about taking away the investigatory powers and the power to subpoena from the Justice Department. a Justice Department that has proven that it is willing to use its investigatory powers in order to deal with these big banks. So listen very carefully and listen to all this Choke Point stuff that they are trying to ram down your throats. Listen and look them in the eye and see if they can look you back in the eye and defend what they are doing. Dont allow them to mislead you. Members of this Congress. into thinking that this bill is all about protecting payday lenders and renttoown and pawnshop owners and all these businesses that they care so much about. This is about stripping the Department of Justice of their power to investigate and subpoena. This is about pulling the rug out from under the citizens of this country who have tried to own homes and who have not been protected by their own government until we had reform. This is about saying they dont care what the Justice Department has been able to do to rein in these practices. They are going to come here today with a bill and tell you it is all about Choke Point. I reserve the balance of my time.