Date: 2016-04-14
Speaker: MAXINE WATERS (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: California

Mr. Speaker. I yield myself such time as I may consume. Under Democratic leadership. our country has made tremendous strides in creating jobs. in growing the economy. and in stabilizing the housing market since the depths of the 2008 recession. This was despite significant headwinds from both overseas crises and Republican intransigence. Instrumental to our achievements is the DoddFrank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. which has bolstered our Nations financial stability and has brought accountability to the entire system. Among its many accomplishments. such as protecting consumers from predatory practices. DoddFrank sought to address the excessive risk taking by the largest and most complex financial institutions by creating the Financial Stability Oversight Councilthat is FSOCand the Office of Financial Research. OFR. These two agencies were charged with looking at the big picture and identifying cracks in the system that could cause a breakdown in our economy. They oversee all aspects of the financial system and our largest institutions that can cause systemic risk. FSOC works to identify and to address systemic risk posed by large. complex companies and activities before they threaten the stability of the economy. It provides for the cooperation and information sharing between agencies in order to research and correct threats before they become crises. OFR helps to provide the necessary tools to FSOC by collecting and analyzing data on the health of our financial markets and by conducting research on potential sources of financial instability. It flags emerging threats and shares that information with other regulators so that they can intervene before a crisis occurs. Together. these two agencies have addressed the devastating. widespread failures in supervision and regulation that brought our economy to its knees in 2008. They fill the regulatory gaps to make sure that no institution. however powerful. can circumvent our rules and regulations. This crucial work is supported by a majority of AmericansRepublicans and Democratswho favor DoddFrank and the reforms it has implemented. Yet. instead of recognizing the importance of these institutions and the interests of the American public. House Republicans are undermining our regulators efforts to the benefit of the industries that are lining their own pockets. I am troubled by the amnesia that plagues my colleagues about the causes of the 2008 financial crisis and why Wall Street reform was so critical. We created FSOC and OFR because our fractured regulatory system allowed firms to skirt the rules of the road. This behavior left millions homeless and unemployed. and it plunged us into the worst recession since the Great Depression. What is worse is that hundreds of communities across the country are still struggling to recover. By cutting off FSOC and OFRs independent funding streams. H.R. 3340 will subject the agencies to the volatility of the congressional appropriations process and the same funding uncertainty faced by the SEC and the FCFTC. Make no mistake. The bill before us today is part of a concerted effort by House Republicans to impede the progress of financial reform. Yesterday Republicans passed a bill in committee to repeal the only mechanism to unwind a megabank without destabilizing the economy as well as a bill to eliminate funding for the bureau tasked with protecting consumers from predatory loans. Earlier today and for much of this month. committee Republicans will depose public servants at the CFPB. Treasury. and FSOC. despite agencies providing thousands of pages of documents at the Republicans request. Soon I expect my chairman to bring up bills repealing the rest of our reform. Democrats in the House are all too familiar with these attacks. Are we not? Republicans have proposed $6 trillion in cuts to initiatives like Medicare. Medicaid. and food stamps. They have prevented us from debating Americas sacred right to vote. Most Republicans voted against upholding the full faith and credit of our Nations debt. I could go on and on and on. So. to my colleagues. we have pulled the cover off of them. and we are pointing out to you in no uncertain terms how they are singularly focused on killing DoddFrank reforms. They are not exercising their oversight responsibility. They are determined that they are going to have their way. and they have it under the banner of overregulation. Well. that old argument is tired. ladies and gentlemen. Overregulation every time they want to do something for the big banks. et cetera. I urge my colleagues to oppose this coordinated attack and vote "no" on this harmful bill. I yield back the balance of my time.