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▶ 0:19:31he's ready are you ready ranking member I think we got a quorum so if you're ready I'm ready if everybody could be seated
▶ 0:20:14the committee will come to order for the first meeting of the 119th Congress a quorum is present and without objection the chair is authorized to declare a recess at any time I want to Welcome All returning and new members of the we have several items on the agenda today first ranking member Waters and I will introduce the new members of the committee on both sides of the aisle we'll approve the Republican and Democratic naming resolutions we'll adopt the committee rules for the 119th
▶ 0:20:44Congress we will authorize our new monetary policy treasury market resilience and economic Prosperity task force and we will finally adopt the committee's authorization and oversight plan for the 119th Congress but first I'd like to take a moment of of of Silence if I could ask all our members to show their respect and uh in a moment of silence for our good colleague Roger Williams who lost his wife of 41
▶ 0:21:14years last week Patty she died over the weekend of geol blastoma a horrible disease and also if we could add into our moment of silence our colleague the conference sherff of the Republicans Lisa mlan who lost her mother-in-law last week so please join me in a moment of
▶ 0:21:46silence thank you for that we will keep uh Lisa's family and Roger and his family in our prayers I recognize myself for five minutes for an opening statement I want to start by welcoming all of our members of the financial services committee as we begin our important work in the 119th Congress to our returning members welcome back we're grateful to have your wisdom and experience for the next two years to our new members welcome the enthusiasm dedication with which you approach your work will
▶ 0:22:16benefit each of us first I want to address what we incorporated in the new house rule authorizing electronic voting in the committee's practice as returning members know the committee entered the 21st century last Congress by voting electronically in our last markup I intend to continue the practice and look forward to working with the ranking member to employ electronic voting as soon as the chairs of the house administration and rules committees promate the rules around the use of
▶ 0:22:46this technology since our founding America is a nation of contrasts and nowhere are those contrasts more apparent or clearly more clearly reflected than in the US House of Representatives this amazing robust people's house is a microcosm of our citizens at large like our constituents who elected us the members of this house love their country and want to ensure that the future is bright and sound for all of us although we may approach solving problems differently
▶ 0:23:17and we may advocate for differing policy Solutions we each are here to do the work of our constituents as chairman it's my job to guide this committee through the work for the American people uh that they have entrusted us with as their representatives I'll enforce the rules of the house and the rules of this Committee in a fair balanced and forthright Manner and as such we will not be voting by electronic device today before the approval of our rules we'll work every day to improve the quality and condition of financial regulation
▶ 0:23:47so that competitive accessible Financial products and services can be successfully used by all Americans to build brighter futures for themselves and their loved ones to start I've laid out an ambitious agenda focused on the issues that will help Americans in all corners of our nation and help them achieve their Pursuit of Happiness their American dream we will focus on building a Vibrant Community banking system to ensure that every family and every town has access to Capital we will bring
▶ 0:24:17legal Clarity to digital assets providing innovators with new tools to build decentralized Financial products and services that can Empower people to help one another and assure that America will remain a leader in this financial technology we'll continue to broaden financial literacy and investment opportunities bringing the potential for wealth creation closer to more Americans we will focus on protecting the global role and value of the dollar by addressing
▶ 0:24:47crushing inflation and cl closely examining the Federal Reserve board's monetary policies we will also protect consumers by enhancing their financial privacy reinvigorate the housing market with common sense reforms and continue to provide strong oversight of how our financial Regulators wield the mighty power that they hold but ultimately the agenda of this committee will be authored in final measure by our members
▶ 0:25:18I will Empower our subcommittees to use their own expertise to develop new ideas and Advance new Solutions as we've demonstrated time and time again last Congress this committee works best when it works in a successful bipartisan fashion and it's my intention that we'll continue that work in this Congress to that end let me allow me to extend my congratulations to ranking member waters for her continued service in leading the Democrats on this committee I know together we have the potential to
▶ 0:25:49accomplish a great deal I look forward to the work that we have in store during this Congress we had the opportunity over the next two years to make meaningful positive changes to the structure and oversight of the US Financial system and bring opportunity and prosperity to millions of Americans and to improve the lives of the men and women who called on us to serve in November the American people entrusted Republicans in the executive and legislative branches to enhance Prosperity improve
▶ 0:26:19access to Capital Empower a technological transformation and demand accountability of their government this committee will will lead the way we must deliver for our citizens let's get to work we have six outstanding new members of the committee this Congress from the Republican side of the aisle and I'd like to uh welcome back I like to introduce them and first welcome back after an eight-year Hiatus
▶ 0:26:49the gentleman from Indiana Marlin stutzman Mr stutzman is a fourth generation farmer and entrepreneur owning several business ventures Congressman stutzman will fall right back into place with his past solid experience on this committee we're excited to welcome another member of the House Republican leadership the gentoman from Michigan congresswoman Lisa mlan Who currently serves as the chairwoman for House of Republicans by Leading our house Republican conference her intensity and passion for her constituents
▶ 0:27:20and more than three decades of successful business experience will help our committee be successful focusing on America's families and businesses next is the distinguished congresswoman from Coral Gables Florida Maria Salazar she's the daughter of Cuban Exiles she's a passionate member of our conference in the fight against communism and authoritarianism in the Western Hemisphere congresswoman Salazar and I served together in the last Congress on the house Foreign Affairs committee and I witness firsthand that she
▶ 0:27:50will bring that talent that expertise to this Committee in our fight against Chinese influence in the hemisphere one of our uh freshman members Troy Downing of Helena Montana joins the committee he's an Air National Guard veteran and served two tours in Afghanistan after his military service Troy was a technology entrepreneur and served as Montana's state auditor Commissioner of Securities and insurance and landboard commissioner that brings a great state perspective to this committee
▶ 0:28:21and his knowledge of a state-based insurance regulation from Florida Space Coast we wel welcome Mike heridos Mr heropoulos served in the Florida legislature for 12 years including two years as the president of the Senate and he has extensive experience in Academia and in business Consulting more importantly I must say this absolutely ranking member Mr heropoulos started uh earned a master's degree from the University of Arkansas so
▶ 0:28:51he's an avid Razorback fan go Hawks and finally Tim Moore from Kings Mountain North Carolina joins us Tim was the Speaker of the House in North Carolina for 10 years until he came to Congress Congressman Moore's career as a lawyer speaker of the North Carolina house will be important as he serves as Vice chair of the committee's oversight and investigations committee so we're truly blessed with talent and experience from our new members joining our very talented group of returning members with that
▶ 0:29:21I'd like to recognize the gentoman from California the ranking members Maxine Waters for a point of personal privilege to introduce to me her members and then for five minutes of any opening remarks that she may have ranking member uh thank you very much Mr chairman good morning everyone before I give my opening statement I'd like to take a moment of personal privilege to briefly introduce our new Democratic members to the committee representative Cleo Fields
▶ 0:29:51is returning to the financial services committee after um I would dare D say a brief Hiatus he Louisiana six congressional district and previously served on our committee in the 103d and the 104th Congress representative phills is an attorney and has also served in the Louisiana state senate next
▶ 0:30:22representative Janelle bham who HS from August 5th congressional district is the first Oregon member to serve on our committee in 28 years she previously served in the argant House of Representatives and in that capacity served as the chair of the house committee on economic development and small business Ms bham also brings a wealth of knowledge as a small business
▶ 0:30:52owner and finally Representative Sam who represents California's 16th congressional district he previously served as the mayor of San Jose in California and as a member of San Jose's city council prior to his election to public office he served as a criminal prosecutor in the Santa claraa County District Attorney's office so I'd like to
▶ 0:31:22welcome our new members to the committee but I also want to welome welcome all of our returning members of the committee and especially congratulate Congressman french hill on his chairmanship I look forward to working with you Mr chair and the members on this committee to address the needs of all people in America and now I'll turn to my opening statement today we're here to adopt the rules and oversight plan
▶ 0:31:53for the financial services Committee in the 119th Congress unfortunately the oversight plan and rules put forward by my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle notably has several critical gaps or changes from prior congresses that exclude urgent and critical matters for the American public chairman Hill as you know the American people have told us time and time
▶ 0:32:23again that the cost of living is too high the oversight Plan before us however does nothing to respond to the needs of American families in fact nowhere in this plan is there any consideration for the costly junk fees that saddle the American public every day for example many Americans have to pay nonrefundable application fees to a prospective landl that may not
▶ 0:32:53even look at their application the oversight plan also does not describe how the committee will consider Federal programs with billions of dollars to help struggling small businesses grow and Thrive the plan is silent about the pain millions of families experience trying to pay their rent or mortgage keep food on the table or save for retirement because of the increasingly
▶ 0:33:23unaffordable cost of living Mr chairman this plan also misses a mark and fails to lay out how this committee plans to work on behalf of the American people it is also troubling that the plan appears silent on several critical issues regarding our national security for example there was a significant amount of effort on both sides of the aisle to work with the Biden Administration on a rule making
▶ 0:33:54over setting guard wells around us firms that invest in our adversaries like China and Russia and yet the plan does not mention outbound investment restrictions not only that the plan omits references to persistent dangers to our financial System including discrimination and climate change we need look no further than current events like the wildfires in Los Angeles
▶ 0:34:24County the snowstorm currently gripping the the Deep South to see the impacts of climate disasters on our fellow Americans This committee should consider how the insurance markets are responding uh to these disasters it is also alarming that the plan leaves out any oversight of big Banks Wall Street firms crypto companies and countless other financial institutions it was not lost on the American public
▶ 0:34:54when Trump moved his inauguration inside there were only a few seats available to attend but the Billionaire Boys Club all got one Mr chairman the mega billionaires like co-president Elon Musk who rode Trump's coils are salivating at the thought of looting our country they would love nothing more than for this committee and Congress to turned a blind eye to what they're doing and finally
▶ 0:35:24while there are several mentions in the plan about how this committee will review the previous administration's safeguards and protections in place for the American public the plan is notably silent about reviewing the actions by the current president including potential conflicts of interest that may put our national security at risk hours before Trump took office and his family launched meme coins
▶ 0:35:55that have shot up in value reportedly increasing his personal wealth and possibly providing a back door for sanctioned persons hostile governments and other Bad actors to give money to Trump directly today the committee Democrats will offer amendments that focus on solutions to the challenges facing America's families and small businesses that hold Corporate America the billionaire class and the federal government
▶ 0:36:25accountable for everyone deserves a safe affordable and decent place to live and an economy that works for all and financial system that no longer benefits Wall Street at the expense of Main Street other than that I look forward to working with you thank you very much the gentlewoman yields back I look forward to our discussion of today let me start by going over the the calendar or the schedule for today we have two vote series planned in the house today one at 1:30
▶ 0:36:56and the second at 4:30 it's the chair's intention to go as far as we can until we need to recess for that first vote series we'll resume immediately following votes and continue to the 430 vote series at which time we recess and uh we'll see how it goes from there and knowing every member wants to make expeditious work of our debate today we will see how it goes uh the first order business is the appointment of members to the subcommittees I
▶ 0:37:26now call up and recognize myself to offer a naming resolution appointing the Republican members to the subcommittee copies of which were distributed in advance the clerk will report the resolution a resolution offered by chairman Hill electing majority members to the subcommittees of the committee on financial services without objection the resolution will be considered as read and the resolution agreed to without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table I now call the resol resolution offered by ranking member Waters
▶ 0:37:57appointing Democratic members to the subcommittees copies of which were distributed in advance the clerk will report the resolution a resolution offered by ranking member Waters electing major minority members to the subcommittees of the committee on financial services without objection the resolution will be considered as read and agreed to without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table pursuant to notice in Clause 2A of the house rule uh 611 I now call
▶ 0:38:27up the resolution providing for the committee rules of the 119th Congress Congress copies of which have been distributed in advance the clerk will report the resolution a resolution offered by chairman Hill to adopt the rules of the committee on financial services pursuant to Clause two of rule 11 of the House of Representatives resolved that the rules of the committee on financial services for the 119th congress with that objection the resolution shall be considered read and open for Amendment at any point
▶ 0:38:57the chair recognizes himself for five minutes to explain the changes that are in this rules package resolution before sday adopts the committee rules from the last Congress as the committee rules for this congress with some differences first we've Incorporated the new house rule authorizing electronic voting into the committee's practice as I mentioned earlier separately members will see in the rules package changes related to the jurisdictions of the subcommittees
▶ 0:39:27let me just say at the outset I have my priorities just as the previous chair of this committee did in the 118th Congress and when the ranking member had her priorities in the 116th and 117th congresses these priorities include ensuring the committee is on top of rapidly advancing technology such as the use of artificial intelligence in the financial system making our community banking companies competitive and great again providing a clear regulatory framework for digital assets and
▶ 0:39:57promoting Innovative consumer products I believe we should take a closer look at the federal reserve's responsibilities when it comes to monetary policy to ensure that we're maintaining the dominance of the US dollar around the world Mr Lucas will talk more about this initiative when we consider of the resolution authorizing the formation of a monetary policy treasury market resilience and economic Prosperity task force the changes to the sub committee's
▶ 0:40:27jurisdictions together with the task force resolution that we will adopt excuse me reflect the committee how the committee will address issues moreover as every member on the committee knows there were several Supreme Court cases issued in the last Congress including the landmark decision in ler brigh Enterprises versus rundo each subcommittee will be empowered to examine those statutes within its jurisdiction to ensure they are consistent with current Supreme Court
▶ 0:40:58finally this rules package includes technical changes to conform with house rules such as restating the procedures around depositions I look forward to working with you in the 119th Congress I yield back the balance of my time is there further discussion or Amendment to resolution Mr chairman I seek recognition for what purpose is the gentleman seek recognition I have an amendment at the desk gentleman from uh Texas is recognized
▶ 0:41:28and we will pause while copies of that Amendment are distributed
▶ 0:42:11thank you gentlem uh thank you Mr chairman I'd like to reserve a point
▶ 0:42:42of order Vice chair of the committee the clerk will report the an amendment offered by Mr Green Mr chairman I ask that the amendment be considered as read without objection amend will be considered as read the gentleman from Texas is recognized for five minutes in support of his Amendment thank
▶ 0:43:12you Mr chairman Mr chairman this is a simple three-word addition to the language that we currently have and it acknowledges the jurisdiction of our committee Mr chairman the the Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination in housing based on race color national origin familiar status disability religion and national origin Mr chairman I would pause for a moment to say this
▶ 0:43:42uh when it comes to disability we have a good many people who are discriminated against when they have animals that are to Aid them with their disability this amendment would Aid those persons and prevent them from being discriminated ated against when it comes to religion there are persons who will wear religious paraphernalia when they are seeking housing and they are discriminated against Mr chairman this amendment is an amendment that is absolutely necessary to ensure
▶ 0:44:13equality of housing for all this committee is responsible for overseeing the Department of Housing and Urban development's enforcement of fair housing yet the committee rules are silent on this key jurisdictional Equity that's why my Amendment adds reference to fair housing enforcement as part of the committee's housing jurisdiction highlighting the committee's ongoing need to monitor these issues
▶ 0:44:43we saw yet another year of record-breaking levels of housing discrimination complaints filed in 2023 indeed housing disparities persist and especially during a a National Housing and homelessness crisis the Ripple effects of discrimination harm communities and our national economy whether it's in the form of increased homelessness unequal pricing neighborhood disinvestment or unhealthy
▶ 0:45:13living conditions in fact major financial institutions like City Bank have estimated that tens of trillions of dollars have been drained from the national GDP due to racial disparities in housing alone but no matter who you are whether you're a person with a hidden or physical disability or a single parent with children or whether you're from another country from the inner city
▶ 0:45:44or Appalachia the Fair Housing Act protects you I do urge members to support this amendment and I do so because I have had literally persons who have complained at my office of being discriminated against when it comes to housing issues I know what can happen when a veteran is attempting to achieve fair housing by simply walking into an office with an animal that is to Aid that veteran with
▶ 0:46:14a movement as uh the person traverses the property there are some people who do not want uh animals on their property and as a result they discriminate we should not not allow our veterans to be discriminated against in this fashion there are some people who don't want persons of a certain religion on their property uh when persons have their religious paraphernalia displayed there are people who will discriminate against them it is up to us Mr chairman to prevent this type of
▶ 0:46:44invidious discrimination from persisting uh we have done it we can continue to do it but I think to do it we have to acknowledge the jurisdiction of the committee over this area of Housing and I will yield back gentleman yields back Is there further debate Mr chairman I move to gentan gentleman from Nebraska is recognized for five minutes to strike the last word thank you Mr chairman now this amendment it relates to the rights protected under
▶ 0:47:14the fair housing act and our shared goal of combating illegal housing discrimination as we all know the Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes it illegal to refuse to sell or rent a dwelling to any person because of their race color religion sex familial status or national origin like ensuring resident safety combating such discrimination is a commitment the committee takes seriously which is why our oversight plan makes that point crystal clear the oversight plan specifically states that the committee will
▶ 0:47:44and I quote ensure housing units are maintained in decent safe and sanitary condition and that no person is subject to illegal discrimination in housing practices end quote in addition to holding responsible parties accountable the committee's oversight efforts will be aided once again uh by receiving testimony from inspectors general of our housing agencies who appeared not once but twice before the committee in the 118th Congress the committee will also continue to welcome the testimony
▶ 0:48:14of Housing Authority whistleblowers as we did at the May 2024 subcommittee hearing so that we can investigate claims of discrimination and other illegal housing practices with that I urge all the members to oppos this amendment now yield back gentleman from Nebraska yields back uh the ranking member from California is recognized to strike the last word thank you very much Mr chairman I stract the last word earlier this week we honored The Life and Legacy of Dr Martin Luther King Jr whose
▶ 0:48:45work led to the historic passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 just 7 days after his assassination while we continue to see illegal housing discrimination On The Rise as Mr Green pointed out we know that this is just a fraction of all of the incidents that go unreported in fact last year zel found that over half of all survey respondents
▶ 0:49:15across 26 major US cities reported having experienced housing discrimination even Starker outcomes among surveyed renters young adults and people of color I want to thank ranking member green for introducing this amendment to ensure our committee rules reflect this body's important fair housing jurisdiction so I urge members on both sides of the aisle
▶ 0:49:45to support this amendment and I yield back Madam chair would you yield to me please I yield to the gentleman from Texas thank you madam chair uh I would point out to my friend that the uh language he has cited is not in the plan it is in the rules package and uh not in the rules package but in the plan and I would hope that we could uh insert jurisdiction where it belongs uh the three words are fair
▶ 0:50:16housing enforcement uh those three words if what the gentleman is saying is correct in no way counteracts anything that he has said in fact they would support what he has said and I would hope that we can uh pass this amendment thank you madam chair Gentleman on y's back uh the chair recognized himself to strike the last word appreciate my friend from Houston on this important Amendment and there's not a person on this committee that doesn't support absolute uh enforcement
▶ 0:50:46of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 which shall remind All The Observers uh as as as the distinguished gentleman from Houston noted it is illegal to refuse to sell s or rent a dwelling to any person because of the race color religion sex familial status or national origin and uh ensuring residents safety and combating such discrimination is a commitment of this committee that takes seriously and the reason why I know it takes it seriously is because in our oversight plan which we will be discussing and
▶ 0:51:16debating in a few minutes specifically States the committee will ensure housing units are maintained in a decent safe sanitary condition and that no person is subject to illegal discrimination housing practices I also would uh say to the to the distinguished gentleman from Texas I started out my modest uh Capitol Hill career as a young staffer on the Senate housing subcommittee in the 1980s and uh one of my boss's priorities a great Texan John Tower
▶ 0:51:46of Texas uh offered an amendment for Section 202 housing uh for the elderly in public housing of the opportunity to have pets in public housing which was prohibited by the federal government at that time knowing that pets can provide Comfort uh and as you noted pets can provide also important uh skills in today's uh uh animal human connection so I I hear what the gentleman says but I believe we have taken into account these key elements and I would urge
▶ 0:52:17my colleagues to reject the amendment uh in light of the fact that we've adequately uh covered it will the gentleman yield I will yield to the ranking member thank you so very much um Mr Green uh can you take a moment to well let me ask the chair yeah if the chair um I'm yielding to you would you take moment to go over specifically each one of the allegations that are being made by Mr Green and speak directly to what he's
▶ 0:52:48requesting well I'll be happy to entertain qu Cy with the gentleman from Texas on the 2 minutes and 45 seconds I have left and so Mr Green I'm happy to to engage in a cqu with you if you'd like sir I thank the chair and the ranking member Mr chairman this language is not offensive this language in no way negates any aspect of what you would have in the oversight plan what it does is confirm in the rules
▶ 0:53:18that this is within the jurisdiction of the committee and I would ask you how is it that this is somehow repulsive if it in fact helps rather than harms repul well uh I appreciate the the gentleman's comment no one has described this language with any uh pejorative adjective whatsoever in fact we I completely agree that there's no role for discrimination at all in housing under the Fair Housing Act of 68
▶ 0:53:48I'm grateful for your comments but our our subcommittee chairman Mr flood of Nebraska and his ranking member Mr I have no doubt have full Authority under our house subcommittee rules to address this issue and that's why I don't believe the amendment is necessary and with that I yield back the balance of my time is there any other uh discussion on this amendment is
▶ 0:54:19not does the gentleman from Michigan insist on his point of order uh no Mr chairman I'd like to withdraw my point of order gentan withdraws his point of order is uh there any other further debate or discussion the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas Mr Green all those in favor of the amendment please say I I I all those opposed please say no no requ vote isest in the opinion of the chair the NOS have it the knows have it in the amendment is not agreed to I ask for a recorded vote uh the gentleman from
▶ 0:54:49Texas and the ranking member have asked for recorded vote it's been requested all those in favor recorded vote please raise your a sufficient number having raised their hand a recorded vote is ordered without objection the further proceedings on this amendment are postponed is there any further debate or Amendment to the house committee rule package Mr chairman Mr Lynch of Massachusetts is recognized a strike the word good morning Mr chairman I have I believe I have an amendment at the
▶ 0:55:19desk we'll pause while the amends amendments from Mr Lynch of Massachusetts is distributed
▶ 0:56:25for e
▶ 0:56:58have all members received the amendment the clerk will report the amendment an amendment offered by Mr Lynch starting on page 18 line six add and Quantum Computing uh without objection the amendment will be considered as red and I call on the gentleman from Massachusetts the ranking member of the digital assets Financial technology and artificial
▶ 0:57:28intelligence committee to be recognized for five minutes good morning Mr chairman I like first of all I want to congratulate my friend and colleague Mr Hill for his selection as chair of the full committee uh and thank you for your your thoughtful gift I was sort of hoping for chocolate this does not look like it will will be chocolate but uh I want to thank you the gentleman may eat it if he would like to though thank you uh but I thank you for your kindness uh to all of us thank you uh I did enjoy working with Mr
▶ 0:57:58Hill last Congress on digital assets Financial technology and inclusion uh on that subcommittee and the working group on artificial intelligence and I do look forward to continuing our work together in this Congress I'd also like to congratulate Miss waters for her continued leadership as ranking member of this committee and I do appreciate the addition I also want to congratulate Mr style uh who is the the new selection as chair chair of the subcommittee on digital assets Financial technology and
▶ 0:58:29artificial intelligence I appreciate the the addition of artificial intelligence to the digital asset and financial technology subcommittee's jurisdiction and I do look forward to continuing the bipartisan collaboration we began last Congress on the working group on intelligence uh my Amendment Mr chairman would add Quantum Computing to the jurisdiction of the digital assets fintech and AI subcommittee Quantum Computing has the potential to be the next great technology of our time and
▶ 0:58:59because of the potential impacts on the financial services sector including for artificial intelligence and crypto uh the financial services committee should I believe stand at the Forefront of studying this technology and exploring important guard rails to protect our national security and our financial system in the past few months uh some of our Tech giants like Google and Microsoft have made huge strides in Quantum Computing and December Google released that uh its
▶ 0:59:29quantum computer was able to perform tasks in less than five minutes that other super computers could not complete in 10 septian years and just last week Microsoft declared 2025 as the year to become Quantum ready at the same time reporting shows that our adversaries are also pushing forward with Quantum Computing technology with China saying it had put more than 15 billion dollars into Quantum research and experts have warned that bad actors could use quantum computers
▶ 0:59:59to De encrypt senses of information which could include the cryptography at the root of our cryptocurrencies the federal government has made important steps toward protecting our nation from Quantum Computing cyber security threats for example last year the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the Department of Commerce released algorithms for encryption that could withstand some Quantum Computing cyber attacks we must continue this important work work we should not pass up this opportunity Mr chairman
▶ 1:00:29to bolster American competitiveness and protect our national security and for these reasons I urge my colleagues to support this amendment in closing I would ask unanimous consent uh for the committee to accept into the record um an August 17th article in Bloomberg law entitled Quantum Computing could threaten blockchain close quote and a January 11th 2024 tic uh Quantum Quantum Computing
▶ 1:00:59what leaders need to know now and that's that's uh produced by MIT uh Sloan School uh with that Mr chairman I'll yield back the gentleman from Massachusetts yields back uh yield such time five minutes to strike the last word to the ranking member thank you I move to strike the last word in the 116th and 117th congresses under my leadership as chair our committee began its leading role in financial technology and artificial
▶ 1:01:30intelligence with the first ever task forces on these issues now committee Democrats are again at the Forefront of exploring new technologies to protect our financial system and National Security so I commend Mr R Lynch for offering this important amendment to add Quantum Computing uh to the jurisdiction of the subcommittee on digital assets Financial technology and artificial intelligence
▶ 1:02:00Mr chairman last Congress you even pointed out Quantum Computing during two subcommittee on digital assets Financial technology and inclusion hearings saying during your opening statement for one hearing and I quote there are many exciting new technologies like digital assets Quantum Computing and the greater use of a artificial intelligence end quote I agree and given our shared
▶ 1:02:31interest in emerging tech technology like Quantum Computing this should be an easy Amendment for our Republican colleagues to support I urge members on both sides of the aisle to support this amendment and I yield back gentleman yields back General woman yields back the gentleman from California uh Mr Sherman is recognized ranking member of the capital Market subcommittee I I would like to speak after we deal with this amendment I have another as you wish and and
▶ 1:03:01let us again say we're thinking about you and all your citizens in the Pacific Palisades Sherman uh who El is there other members seeking to be recognized on Mr Lynch's amendment I recognize myself for five minutes uh uh as always I'm the first to admit when someone is as persuasive as the ranking member uh on this particular Amendment and uh I've had a tremendous
▶ 1:03:31uh partnership with uh ranking member Lynch on our financial technology subcommittee in the 118th Congress and I do I am grateful for ranking member Waters when she served as chair in setting up the task forces on artificial intelligence and financial technology I think she put our committee in a place of uh we we lowered the slope of our learning curve uh due to your leadership I think chairman McKenry was able to build on that successfully
▶ 1:04:01uh I believe that uh Mr Lynch and I saw the power of quantum when we were in MIT together last year we took our subcommittee up to uh MIT and in Boston we talked about financial technology artificial intelligence and the role of quantum I think Quantum Computing is a national security challenge I think it's it's also a commercial business Challenge and I think he's outlined that very well uh
▶ 1:04:32Mr heims who serves as the ranking member on the house intelligence committee knows well uh the challenges of quantum in a national security context so I would accept uh the gentleman's uh Amendment to the financial technology section and I would urge us to consider it by voice if we might I thank the gentlemen for his courtesy thank you there's no further debate or discussion the question now occurs on the amendment offered by Mr Lynch
▶ 1:05:02all those in favor of the amendment please say I I any oppose say no in the opinion chair the eyes have it the eyes have it the amendment is agreed to thank you very Is there further debate or Amendment on the resolution yes move to strike the Le first so I'll recognize gentlem from for I want to
▶ 1:05:32thank the chair for creating the monetary policy subcommittee and thank the ranking member for letting me serve on it I want to thank the chair for his comments on how important it is that we focus on having the dollar be the world's Reserve currency uh I've seen how important this is both in terms of lower interest rates for America because let's face it we have a monetary def a budget deficit that would make Argentina blush
▶ 1:06:02we have a trade deficit would make Argentina blush and in spite of that we have relatively low interest rates compared to the rest of the world and uh our dollar remains strong um I do think that uh and I've seen how important this is in sanctions on Iran uh there was huge division here as to whether the ran deal was a good deal the only thing everybody agreed on was was we had found the right sanction uh some said that sanction was so good we should have gotten a
▶ 1:06:32better deal some said that sanction was so good Obama got us a great deal we all agreed what was the sanction the sanction was we told every country in the world how much Iranian oil they could buy and if they bought any more they couldn't do business in the US dollar that is a very uh uh test testosterone filled approach to telling other countries what they can do and yet we were able to do it because of this role
▶ 1:07:03um I would say that whatever your views on on crypto The Advocates of crypto have said that it was morally wrong for the United States to have the power to tell every other country what they could do uh in terms of buying Iranian oil and that there should be a different International payment system in in an inter in a different uh Reserve currency and U uh if cryptocurrencies
▶ 1:07:34did become a stable store of value and a uh system of uh of payments it may very they might very well emerge as a competitor to the dollar as their Advocates strongly uh uh hope and and tout and so I look forward to the work on the monetary policy subcommittee to make sure that the dollar is as is indispensable for everyone in the world back gentan yields
▶ 1:08:04back Is there further debate or Amendment on the bill uh Miss C is recognized to strike the last word thank you Mr chair um congratulations on your um appointment or your election I look forward to working with all of with all of you as well um I do have an amendment at the desk I believe pause while copies of the amendment are
▶ 1:09:24yeah for
▶ 1:09:57have all members received the amendment the general woman from Michigan's recognized for five minutes to strike the last word thank you Mr chair as the co-founder proud co-founder of the Congressional mam caucus um which all of you do not have to be a mother to join uh but it's very important caucus as we try to make um policies uh that support our mothers uh throughout the country but this amendment I'm offering um uh is important important because members should be able to take care of
▶ 1:10:28our families um and meet their responsibilities to their residents at the same time this amendment would allow members who are about to have or uh have recently given birth or whose spouse has given birth uh to carry out their Congressional D duties by voting by proxy uh last Congress as you all know uh we helped bring this committee into 21st century by adopting electronic voting uh and I believe my amendment is a similar attempt to Modern to modernize uh our approach here in
▶ 1:10:58committee it's also really an opportunity to support our colleagues it's an opportunity to support our families um you know this place can be incredibly dehumanizing Mr chair and these unrealistic expectations on all of us um many of us our own lived experiences is what makes us better Advocates and be effective in representing our constituents and so with that I really uh wholeheartedly hope that you all would consider again uh this amendment that would allow proxy voting so that we can support
▶ 1:11:28our families as well as be able to carry out our Congressional duties this gentoman you back yes I you I thank the gentle woman from Michigan is there additional uh debate uh or comment on the general woman for Michigan ranking members recognize to strike the last word I move to strike the last word I thank representative Tali for raising this important issue with respect to ensuring our voting procedures
▶ 1:11:58are familyfriendly particularly with any colleagues that have a new baby one of our colleagues representative Patterson who is expecting and under doctor's orders not to travel has made a very sensible request to allow members who are expecting our new parents to be able to vote by proxy in the full house if they are unable to travel to Washington DC proxy voting is something that Republicans
▶ 1:12:28and Democratic members utilize during the pandemic allowing members to still represent their districts even if they temporarily came down with covid this is an easy request to support and I'm glad to learn that representative Patterson has been joined by our colleague on the other side of the aisle representative Lawler and others in co-sponsoring a bill to make this rule change for the Full
▶ 1:12:58House to the extent the house rules are updated to allow for proxim voting for expecting parents who aren't able to travel or new parents our committee should allow for proxy voting also while I know representative Lee plans to withdraw this amendment I hope this is something Mr chairman that we can collaborate on and do what we can as a committee to fully support our colleagues when they have children and I
▶ 1:13:28you back would would you would you yield I yield to Mr TB if there's no further discussion it is true I want to withdraw um the amendment in hopes uh that there will be a commitment by um Mr chair and committee members to work on this um this issue and I I think this is going to continue uh be something that is brought up uh and again for us to be effective I think in jobs we also have to be able to support our families at home gent
▶ 1:13:59that I withdraw my am the general woman withdraws her Amendment uh the chair recognizes himself to strike the last word uh Clause 2f of of rule 11 in the house rules specifically prohibit voting by proxy and committee those rules are associated with this clause which is Incorporated in our committee rules which is what Mr Lees addressing and that prohibition has been in place since the 104th Congress but as the rank member noted congresswoman petson including uh 41 co-sponsors
▶ 1:14:30have a bill to uh facilitate uh that change uh and to to allow um young parents to vote by proxy it has five Financial Services committee members co-sponsoring at Lawler Kim T Presley and Cleaver so this is an issue I think that we should you know address at the house level uh I thank the gentlewoman for for her passionate uh advice to us on this point I'm certainly
▶ 1:15:00willing to take it under consideration I understand it young parenting knows no partisan bounds uh so if members are if this is a top issue for our members I invite you to consider co-sponsoring Miss Peterson's Bill and with that I yield back the balance of my time is there any Amendment just a parliamentary inquiry I'm appreciate Mr Le bra in this I would just ask thinking about like you know all of us who at some point we all make sacrifices
▶ 1:15:30to be in this job and I appreciate that the voting rules of the house sometimes what's the gentleman's parliamentary inquiry my my question is can we make accommodations to perhaps have someone participate by Zoom or some other M even if they're not voting we incorporate the house rules in the committee rules and if the house rules change then we're you know we're Bound by those rules which is why I invite uh members consideration of the gentle woman from Colorado's bill I thank the gentleman I guess my parliamentary inquiry is do house rules
▶ 1:16:00stipulate remote participation even if not remote voting they they they do they do so stipulate for for yeah uh the gentleman from Texas is recognized to strike the last word Mr your chair I have an amendment at the desk gentan has an amendment gentle woman has Amendment at the desk we'll wait till it's distributed perfect Le we can store these items you
▶ 1:16:43know thank you ma'am Mr chairman Gman from Michigan uh I would like to reserve a point of order at this point the Vice chairman of the committee has reserved a point of order
▶ 1:17:38have all members receiv received the amendment the clerk will report the amendment an amendment to the resolution containing the house committee on Financial Services rules for the 119th Congress offered by Miss Garcia without objection the amendment will be considered red the gentoman from Texas is recognized for five minutes in support of her Amendment thank you Mr chairman and um I too was expecting chocolate so I guess now I'll have to wait till Valentine's um this is really
▶ 1:18:08a very simple Amendment it would add inclusion uh to the title of the subcommittee on digital assets Financial technology and artificial intelligence again it's just a simple change of adding the word inclusion the amendment would require the subcommittee to work on providing Fair access to new and Innovative Technologies in the financial services sector we must strengthen our financial system to ensure that machine learning and artificial intelligence do not
▶ 1:18:39inadvertently disadvantage historically underserved groups in the financial sector we often hear proponents of these Technologies Market Financial technology and digital assets as tools of empowerment yet many in our communities particularly people of color older Americans rural Americans and those with limited English or limited access to traditional banking are still being left behind without intentional Focus we risk further whing for those who we need
▶ 1:19:09these Innovations the most in other words as I've often said at hearings we will be recreating the problems and challenges of the past so we must make sure that when we say that this is for everybody it is true for everyone and every no one will left behind this is about helping all our constituents and everyday Americans who never must navigate new technologies in making emerging Financial Technologies digital assets and machine learning work for
▶ 1:19:39them instead of against them there is some anxiety and some fear and and the unknown uh by a lot of members in my community wondering how all this will really impact them we need to make sure that we set up a system where they can overcome those fears and become engaged and be a part of it again and not be left behind I urge members who support my Amendment for full inclusion to make sure that this new technology that we're emerging on is truly
▶ 1:20:09for all thank you and I yield back the gentlewoman from Texas yields back is there any further debate Mr style from the great state of Wisconsin the chair of our digital assets Financial technology and AI subcommittees recognized for to strike the last word uh thank you Mr chairman um I appreciate the amendment uh by my colleague Miss Garcia I'd I'd recommend uh a no vote I I don't think it's necessary but I do think uh your your comments uh in many ways are are
▶ 1:20:40well served um because I think we all share a similar goal to make sure that all Americans have access uh to financials Financial tools and services uh and as chairman on the subcommittee I can guarantee that we're going to be looking to make sure that that all Americans have access uh to these tools uh and I look forward to a constructive dialogue with uh you and uh my colleagues across the aisle uh to make sure that that's the case that said I don't think the amendment is actually necessary because we're going to be working
▶ 1:21:10uh in the space to make sure that this technology uh reaches all Americans um and as we have seen uh through technological uh development and Innovation over the years uh all Americans benefit uh by investment and inovation uh in this space and so while I appreciate uh the intent of the amendment i' encourage my colleagues to for to vote no uh because I don't think it's necessary because it is inherent uh as we develop and build out this technology that we're building
▶ 1:21:40this uh with an intent to assist and benefit uh all Americans across the board Mr chairman with that I'll yield back the gentleman from Wisconsin yields back gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized let's track the last word thank you first of lot first of all I want to uh thank the G lady from Texas for offering this amendment I want to point out a couple of things one uh the previous iteration of this subcommittee did have the the word inclusion uh attached to it
▶ 1:22:10and so this would be reverting to the original language uh secondly there's a history in this country uh unfortunately that we all recognize on this committee that there are certain pockets of this country that that remain unbanked and we we struggle mightily to to to fill that Gap uh by by adding inclusion to the title of the subcommittee would I think put a flag on the ground to to demonstrate that with
▶ 1:22:40this new technology with with this new Venture with the approach on digital assets Financial technology and artificial intelligence and and Quantum Computing we won't let that happen again so this is this is uh sort of a like I say planting a flag in the ground that that the intent of the subcommittee is to be Resolute in in our uh insistence on inclusion in the work ahead with
▶ 1:23:10that I I do I do believe the gentleman from Wisconsin is earnest in his assertion that that will be subsumed but I I I also feel that the Gent lady from Texas's request is is entirely reasonable and uh and and and well placed and I I ask members to support her Amendment thank you and I yield back the Gman from massachusett yields back the G uh is there anyone on the majority side uh ranking member your recogniz the strike to last word
▶ 1:23:40thank you very much I move strike the last word I'm pleased that Republicans have chosen to add artificial intelligence as a focus of the subcommittee on digital assets Financial uh technology and artificial intelligence AI is undoubtedly an important and evolving area that deserves our attention however this addition does not have to come at the expense of
▶ 1:24:11inclusion this amendment would help to ensure that inclusion remains Central to our oversight and policymaking particularly as we evaluate the impact of eer Technologies like digital assets Financial technology and artificial intelligence artificial intelligence has the potential to be a transformative tool in addressing Financial disparities AI models can be waited to reverse
▶ 1:24:41historic bias and discrimination providing Fair outcomes and opportunities for underserved communities however unequal access to AI between workingclass individuals and the ultra wealthy can significantly exacerbate wealth and equality and lead to a more divided country by restoring inclusion to the name of this subcommittee we reaffirm our commitment
▶ 1:25:12to making emerging Technologies work for everyone not just for those who have historically held access to wealth and opportunity while I was disappointed uh that Republicans remove the diversity and Equity subcommittee last Congress I believe the committee's support of this amendment today can send a clear message we believe in leveraging technology to close gaps not widen them and to build a financial system
▶ 1:25:42that works for all Americans so I strongly support this amendment and I encourage my colleagues to do the same thank you and I yield back the Goman yields back the chair recognizes himself to strike the last word I appreciate uh the gentoman from Texas uh focus on Fair un nondiscriminatory and and abundant access across Financial Services she uh the ranking member of the full committee and and certainly the ranking member of
▶ 1:26:12the financial technology Committee of last Congress Mr Lynch were all very active participants uh last year in our artificial intelligence roundtables that we had uh which were done in a in a bipartisan way and I appreciate Mrs Waters and Mr McKenry working on those I think it was very clear in those roundtables that we have a shared commitment that artificial intelligence and the use of it by Financial Services players
▶ 1:26:42have to be done absolutely in the context of our regulatory sphere and statute meaning if you're going to use uh machine learning to generate new leads for your company and mortgages or that kind of thing that obviously that use of AI is in full compliance with the fair lending laws for example and that uh the the benefits of financial technology should be more services across Capital markets depository institutions and non-bank access to
▶ 1:27:12more people at hopefully lower prices and and uh more Innovative approaches so I appreciate her raising that and in my view our rules are quite clear there that we remote access and I think the gentleman from Wisconsin um made that point in our rules across the subcommittees uh we have in capital markets uh stated in the rules provide greater access to investment opportunities in our financial institution subcommittee led by Mr bar consumer access to financial services
▶ 1:27:43Etc is a focus and in the digital assets Financial technology firms providing Innovative Consumer Financial products and services is the focus and the reason we added AI into this subcommittee was precisely the intent that we've I've heard on both sides now that we do that in a way that facilitates consumers benefiting households benefiting benefiting through the use of uh adding AI into
▶ 1:28:13the distribution of financial services but do that in a way that is better for consumers that they have more access to more products in a in a more affordable way and so I would I believe our rules are adequate in this regard I believe the charge to the subcommittee chair Mr style and his ranking member Mr Lynch is clear and so I would urge members to reject uh this amendment as just not being necessary and I yield back the balance of my time uh Is there
▶ 1:28:43further discussion or debate on uh the amendment from the general woman from Texas if not does the gentleman from Michigan insist on his point of order uh no Mr chair I would like to withdraw my point Vice chairman withdraws the point of order Is there further debate or discussion if not the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentoman from Texas all those in favor of the amendment please say I I all those opposed please say no no in the opinion of the chair the NOS have it and the NOS have it the amendment
▶ 1:29:13is not agreed to Mr Mr chairman can I ask for General woman from Texas can I ask for a recorded vote sir a recorded vote has been requested all those in favor of recorded vote please raise your hands a sufficient number having done so a recorded vote is so ordered without objection further proceedings on the amendment are postponed is there any other Amendment or debate on the house uh committee rules package hearing none if there
▶ 1:29:44no further amendments I'm sorry okay if not there's no further amendments without objection the previous question is ordered and the rec uh and the record votes on the amendments are postponed once those votes are taken the committee will immediately consider the question to adopt the resolution it's now in order to call up the resolution authorizing the committee's new monetary policy treasury market resilience and economic Prosperity
▶ 1:30:14task force and the members appointed to serve on the task force copies of which were distributed in advance the clerk will report a resolution offered by chairman Hill establishing the task force on monetary policy treasury market resilience and economic prosperity of the committee on financial services without objection the resolution will be considered as read and open for amendment I recognize Mr Lucas the chair of the task force for five minutes to describe the purpose
▶ 1:30:45of the resolution Mr Lucas thank you Mr chairman this new task force is a recognition that monetary policy actions of the Federal Reserve deserve the focus and distinct Detention of this committee the task force on monetary policy treasury market resilience economic Prosperity will give the financial services committee the opportunity to dive deeper into those issues and why they're important the task force is charged with examining issues related to the monetary policy
▶ 1:31:15the Federal Reserve dual Mandate of price stability and maximum employment and the fundamental role that the US treasury debt plays in our economy and the resilience of the treasury market during the past four years the FED has grappled with persistent inflation surpassing more than a 40-year high the task force will evaluate the mechanisms of the FED that the FED uses to Target price stable prices and assess how to achieve economic prosperity for all Americans this year the FED will conduct
▶ 1:31:46its five-year review of monetary policy strategy tools and communication which will provide a valuable opportunity for self-reflection ction the task force will also work to combat attacks on the Federal Reserve Independence and the pressure on the FED to take policy positions outside its Mission the partisan temptation to turn the Federal Reserve into a vehicle for political objectives has only been made worse by the fed's expanded role as a bank regulator this is an
▶ 1:32:16issue the task force will study another important focus of the task force will be on the health of the US Treasury Market we will examine the treasury market resilience treasury auction demand and Market pressure on primary dealers driven by a massive increase in US debt treasury market liquidity is critical to the smooth functioning of capital markets and impacts everything from insurance reserves to Pension funds today the Federal Reserve holds more than $4.2
▶ 1:32:46trillion in treasuries demonstrating the outsized role the FED plays in these markets and the potential disrup disruptions that could occur to liquidity as the Federal Reserve unwinds its balance sheet this is a critical issue to the world economy and to Global markets and will give this issue the attention demanded by its extraordinary impact when I speak about the work of the financial services committee I always bring it back in real terms my home District in Oklahoma is agriculture it's energy
▶ 1:33:17those are very Capital businesses this task force is an opportunity to articulate how the economic prosperity of all Americans is driven by the issues under our committee purview the state of monetary policy the conditions of the US Treasury Market decisions made in Washington DC and New York have a real and profound impact on main streets all over the country I want to thank chairman Hill for establishing this important task force and giving special
▶ 1:33:47attention the issue and I want to thank ranking member waters for her willingness to partner with us in this and I look forward to working with ranking member of the task force Mr Vargas as we examine the policy decisions that affect the financial well-being of all Americans thank you Mr chairman heel back gentleman Ys back thank the gentleman from Oklahoma taking on this leadership task I think it will be a
▶ 1:34:17very important one I want to say how much I appreciate his work already in thinking through the important things to consider under this task force and I too look forward to uh the gentleman from San Diego representing the minority on this task force for far too long we've witnessed too many distracting mandates deluding the fed's core mission of price stability this task force will allow our members to prioritize the exploration of the federal reserve's dual mandate analyze the
▶ 1:34:47role and responsibility of the Federal Reserve and examine the impact of fiscal and monetary policies on treasury debt markets it will also enable our members to focus on Crafting policies that ensure that the US dollar Remains the world's Reserve currency and ensure that price stability can lead to higher productivity less uncertainty and sustained economic prosperity for all Americans congressman Frank Lucas has been representing the people of Oklahoma for over 30 years in Congress where he's demonstrated a deep understanding of
▶ 1:35:17complex topics from the derivatives markets to National Security but an unparalleled ability to lead members and build consensus on critical issues as a former chairman of the house agriculture committee from 2011 to 2015 Congressman Lucas help craft and ultimately passed the 2014 farm bill with bipartisan support more recently in the 118th Congress Congressman Lucas was chairman of the house committee on science space and Technology where he led on issues such as improving access to stem education
▶ 1:35:48as the longest serving member of the House Financial Service committee Frank Lucas possesses a deep knowledge know of monetary policy the interworkings of treasury debt markets and the types of policies that can lead to economic prosperity for American families farmers and small businesses across our nation it's also fitting that a member from Oklahoma uh would serve as the lead on this new task force over a hundred years ago former Oklahoma US senator Robert Owen championed the creation of a decentralized Central Bank in his role as chairman of
▶ 1:36:18the Senate Banking Committee I'm delighted to see Team Lucas and Vargas and I yield back the balance of my time is there any further debate or Amendment Mr Vargas from California the ranking member of the task force is recognized to strike the last word thank you very much Mr chairman again congratulations to you and I moveed to strike the last word um I too would second all the nice things you said about Mr Lucas I was actually on agriculture when he was the chair and it was fabulous to work
▶ 1:36:48with him I still call him Mr chairman whenever I look up to him when we're in the elevator or elsewhere and again all the things you say were true and I'd add even a few more things and again thank you for allowing me to serve on this Task Force ranking member I appreciate it Mr chairman thank you I'm looking forward again to working with my good friend from Oklahoma Congressman Lucas and all the other members of the task force monetary policy is something that impacts all Americans the fed's decision
▶ 1:37:19on how best to carry out the Dual Mandate of Maximum employment and stable prices have a major ramifications making sure working Americans have a job and can purchase groceries at a reasonable price should be a priority for any monetary policy and let's dedicate ourselves to making sure that the FED remains independent and free from outside political pressures while making these decisions I would also point out how important the issue of unemployment is
▶ 1:37:50unemployment holds back disadvantaged communities have suffered as have areas where we used to have a lot of manufacturing so jobs are very very important and to many of us who had parents who worked two or three jobs they know what it's like when you're unemployed so it's not only inflation it's also that job the employment and that's very important I hope we don't lose track of that
▶ 1:38:20in this discussion and this this task force I heard uh I have heard some Rumblings that maybe that part of the Mandate should be withdrawn in 1977 it was when it was placed on it's very important I think it's Central and I hope we give it its due and I certainly will fight for that because I think again having an opportunity have a job it's one of the most important things for a family families families in areas where again manufacturing has been lost and hopefully will come
▶ 1:38:50back so again it's the Dual mandate and I'll be looking at that second part to make sure that in monetary policy and looking at the FED particular that we don't discount the issue of employment thank you and with that Mr chairman I yield back and I thank you again and I look forward to working with Mr Lucas again I enjoyed very much working with him previously and I look forward to it again thank you very much gentleman from California yields back if there's no further debate to remember the questions on the adoption of the resolution establishing the monetary
▶ 1:39:21policy treasury market resil and economic Prosperity task force all those in favor please say I I any opposed say nay in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it and the resolution is adopted a recorded vote uh y now uh we'll turn to the business of the oversight plan pursuant to notice and Clause 2d1 of rule 10 of the rules of the house I now call up the committee on Financial
▶ 1:39:51Services authorization oversight plan for the 119th Congress copies of which were distributed in advance the clerk will read the authorization oversight plan authorization and oversight plan of the committee on financial services pursuant to Clause 2D of rule 10 of the House of Representatives the following agenda constitutes the authorization and oversight plan of the committee on financial without objection the plan shall be considered read and open for Amendment at any point the chair
▶ 1:40:21now recognizes our new oversight and investigation subcommittee chair Mr Muer for five minutes to explain the authorization and oversight plan recognized thank you very much Mr chairman uh the Constitution implicitly grants the legisla the authority to conduct oversight of the other branches of government the house delegates these powers to its committees today we vote to adopt the authorization oversight plan for the 119th Congress
▶ 1:40:52oversight is Cornerstone Z of our legislative duties while individual members can engage with the other two branches it is through committee's compulsary Authority that we deliver meaningful results and fulfill our constitutional responsibilities last Congress this committee tackled several critical issues undermining the Integrity of our financial system and we were successful in pushing back most of the time we exposed the misguided efforts to impose politically driven ESG mandates which truly distorted
▶ 1:41:22Market priorities and Innovation let's be clear Republicans are not against ESG as in as an investment choice if individual investors want to prioritize environmental social or governance factors that's their prerogative that's their freedom what we oppose is when these ideological views are mandated when investors are forced to comply with burdensome regulations that prioritizes political ideology over profitability that harms the economy
▶ 1:41:53and undermines the freedom to invest one's own wealth we saw significant progress last Congress in restoring restoring that freedom to markets we challenged regulatory overreach such as the excessive burdens of Basil 3 which constrained financial institutions these regulations would have crushed multiple aspects of our economy from the largest banks to Community Banks and the small businesses they served it was overregulation we also addressed leadership failures and Scandals that plagued the FDIC
▶ 1:42:23we held chairman gromberg accountable for actions that eroded confidence in the agency as a Prudential regulator these efforts highlighted the vital role of vigilant oversight in protecting our financial markets looking ahead chairman Hill's goal of making Community Banks great again reflects our shared belief of the essential service these institutions provide in supporting small businesses and local economies prioritizing access to Capital ensures our markets
▶ 1:42:53remain vibrant and inclusive creating a clear framework for cryptocurrency and digital assets Fosters Innovation protects consumers and mitigates risks as chairman of the oversight investigation subcommittee I will focus on protecting America First interests in our financial system while addressing waste Fraud and Abuse in government this work will include confronting regulatory abuses like operation chokepoint 2.0 where Regulators targeted Industries they
▶ 1:43:23disfavor from cryptocurrency to coal and shut them out of the financial system such actions disrupt legitimate businesses undermine trust and are unacceptable Regulators that have gone Rogue like the cfpb FDIC OCC and SEC will be held accountable finally it's important to note that this authorization oversight plan is intentionally broad to address the evolving needs
▶ 1:43:54of this committee the goal of the document is to outline the area subject to the oversight jurisdiction of our committee and also to list of programs within our jurisdiction that require reauthorization no issue whether National or local is too big or too small together we will ensure our Focus reflects the concerns of the American people and serves the best interests of our nation in closing I believe the authorization oversight plan chairman Hill has presented equips this committee to achieve its priorities
▶ 1:44:24and reflects its broad jurisdiction I look forward to working with each of you to fulfill this Mission and encourage you to vote and support I yield back the gentleman yields back the chair recognizes the ranking member for five minutes and thank you very much Mr chairman I move to strike the last word and I'd like to just take a moment to sing Mr vargas's phrases for just a moment Mr Vargas has long been a champion for the people of his district in San
▶ 1:44:54Diego he's LED efforts to support reauthorization of the North American Development Bank as well as supported Capital Access for companies like Pharmaceuticals as they try to go public while developing some of the miracle cures he is principal and knows the importance of the employment mandate to the Federal Reserve as it fights inflation I'm glad he will be there as our ranking member on the task force to
▶ 1:45:24highlight its importance and the other important responsibilities of the FED thank you very much I yeld back the gentoman yields back Is there further debate and Amendment on our oversight plan Mr Sherman's recognized the strike the last word I have an amendment at the desk I'll identify this as Sherman two let's pause while the Sherman amendment number two is distributed
▶ 1:46:01chairman uh Mr chairman I'd like to reserve a point of order the Gent from Michigan reserves a point of order on this amendment okay I can start if you like or okay thank you
▶ 1:47:03the clerk will report the amendment Sherman Amendment two stock act 119th Congress house Financial Services committee oversight plan uh the without objection the amendment will be considered as read the gentleman from California is now recognized for 5 minutes in support of his Amendment Mr chairman I use the first couple of minutes to talk about the amendment I don't have at the desk because I haven't had time to write it and that is because my district was hit by these enormous fires
▶ 1:47:34um it looks like the LA fires are at least according to ACU weather going to result in $250 millionar billion dollar in property damage I hope very much that ACU weather is wrong and that that number declines uh we're going to have to rebuild to significant sections of the Los Angeles area one in my district the Palisades the other one in Judy Chu District uh hit by the eaten
▶ 1:48:04fire uh there are a number of areas where I think our uh oversight plan is is is not real specific but it's certainly broad enough to cover what we need to do first as to housing we need resiliency and while tariffs are not within in the exact Ambit of our jurisdiction uh the possibility of enormous tariffs on building materials will have a tremendous effect on the cost of construction
▶ 1:48:35over the next two years as so much Lumber so much uh other building materials are coming uh to Los Angeles straining the ability uh of this country to meet the need for building materials as a reasonable price second insurance is part of our jurisdiction we need to see the effect of uh these enormous fires on uh reserves and uh we need to see whether we need a backup for the insurance
▶ 1:49:06companies uh similar to what we do on flood insurance uh dealing with all of the various disasters that can occur and cdbg-dr we've all heard of cdbg Community Development block grants the disaster relief block grants are the mechanism by which Congress traditionally provides more Aid to home owners who have been wiped out in a disaster uh the federal government will
▶ 1:49:36be picking up many of the local government costs of This Disaster including rebuilding several schools but current law will provide even the completely uninsured homeowner with only $43,000 and that isn't enough to rebuild a home I don't think the federal government can cover all uninsured losses but I think the American people expect the federal government to do more now turning to uh the uh amendment that was distributed
▶ 1:50:06uh we have a balance in Congress uh between allowing members to lead their lives on the one hand and assuring uh our constituents that things are fair and on the up and up on the other one important uh proposal is the stock act which regards uh not investing in individual stocks um while allowing members to invest in mutual funds I think that's a reasonable approach um and
▶ 1:50:37uh I think that it is important that it cover not only stocks but also Commodities and uh cryptocurrencies you a a member of the armed services committee may find out that a particular weapon system is likely to be uh uh funded a uh member of uh uh the a committee may find out uh that a particular commodity is likely to go up or down in price and uh members of a variety
▶ 1:51:07of committees May learn that a particular individual cryptocurrency or meme coin is likely to benefit I'll point out uh an area where it wasn't so much Congress as the transition team everybody know knew not inside information that November 5th was a good day for cryptocurrencies Trump is the most Pro cryptocurrency president in our history what only a few people knew was that a week after he was elected president the transition
▶ 1:51:37team would announce that their new Department was going to be called Doge literally named after a cryptocurrency and it is uh uh uh particularly noteworthy that while all cryptocurrencies increased in the week after after Donald Trump was elected Doge increased five times the rate of other cryptocurrency so investment in cryptocurrencies can be affected by inside knowledge of governmental uh actions some as
▶ 1:52:07trivial as what you decide to name a government department so uh the stock act uh I realize is a part of an an Ethics program but it also is relevant to the jurisdiction of this committee and it ought to apply to individual stocks individual cryptocurrencies and individual Commodities I yield back gentleman's time has expired the gentleman from Wisconsin the chair of the digital assets Financial technology and AI subcommittee Mr Styles recognized for five minutes
▶ 1:52:37to strike the last word thank you Mr chairman uh appreciate the amendment by my colleague uh from California uh and I would Echo one part uh that I do think president Trump as the most Pro crypto uh president of the United States has ever seen I view that as a good thing um the the amendment is offered uh by my colleague uh I think is duplicative uh and unnecessary and I think there's two important points here um the my my colleague raised some important points as it relates to insider trading uh I think it's important
▶ 1:53:08for the record to note uh that insider trading not only by members of Congress but by anyone uh is illegal uh and enforcable under the law uh and I do think that we should work uh to make sure that we're enforcing the law as it relates uh to insider trading so if an individual ual has Insider information uh and he legally uses that uh to trade a stock they should be held accountable uh and the law should be uh enforced in that regard um specifically as it relates uh to the stock act
▶ 1:53:38uh which pertains to members of Congress uh and is slightly separate from the issue uh of insider trading although there's an aspect where it could overlap uh I would note uh that the amendment uh specifically is unnecessary Neary uh and in large part because it may be it may please my colleague to know that both the house and Sen Senate guidance explicitly considers digital assets as covered in the stock act and so last Congress uh some
▶ 1:54:09folks here may know uh that we worked with members to add language uh to fit 21 on the stock act but in working on that language it was actually clear uh that digital assets were already covered uh and so because of this uh I would note that the amendment while well- intentioned uh is duplicative uh I would encourage my colleagues uh to vote no I'll now yield uh to the the gentlewoman uh from Missouri Miss Wagner um I thinkk my friend from Wisconsin
▶ 1:54:39the chairman style for uh for yielding and uh I also want to say at the onset uh how much I look forward once again to working with ranking member Sherman on the capital markets sub committee and am honored Mr chairman to to chair this the uh subcommittee on on Capital markets again in the 119th uh Congress and also U Mr Sherman I I want to send my heartfelt concern and and heartbreak for
▶ 1:55:10uh what your constituents are enduring uh with these wildfires and um and you can I can talk about how we can be helpful in that regard uh offline but I I I agree with chairman sh style I appreciate the gentleman's Amendment and the issue that he's trying to address here however I'd say nothing in the oversight plan precludes the committee from conducting oversight in this space uh page two of the oversight plan specifically
▶ 1:55:40covers the members concerns both in the capital markets and the digital assets sections of the text so for these reasons I would urge members to vote no on this amendment and I yield back time to Mr sh I I thank uh the gentlewoman and always appreciate the proper Luxembourg pronunciation of my last name uh Mr chairman I yield back the gentleman yields back the uh ranking member from California Mr Waters recognized a strike the last word thank you uh Mr chairman
▶ 1:56:11uh I commend my colleague Mr Sherman for offering this important amendment that would require our committee to hold a hearing on the stock act and to consider whether we should expand the laws Provisions to ban members from Trading individual stocks cryptocurrencies and meme coins as we all know trust in Congress is fundamental to the health of our democracy any appearance of a conflict of interest undermines
▶ 1:56:41that trust and erodes The public's faith in our institution while the stock act has provided some transparency the rise of new asset cryptocurrencies and speculative meme coins has created new risks that we must address we cannot afford to allow the perception or the reality that members of Congress should profit from knowledge gained through their official duties if we are to rebuild trust with
▶ 1:57:11the American people we must act decisively the hearing required by Mr Sherman's Amendment will give us the opportunity to take a hard look at the law explore its Effectiveness and determine whether F further reforms are necessary to prevent conflicts of interest now at this point I had not intended to talk about this new coin that we learned about in the last couple of days it is a dollar sign
▶ 1:57:42Trump coin that has been Meed and while we sit here and talk about conflict of interest I can't think of a big conflict of interest and for those of us who sit here day in and day out penalizing ourselves more and more are we going to ignore the president of the United States who's created his own coin what is it
▶ 1:58:12who are uh the uh people who have joined with him and owning 80% of it who are the market makers aside from from who are the suckers who are going to get involved in making sure they give money to the president of the United States I'm told it is not an investment it is not a contribution what is it and I understand that the wife is going to have her own also give me a break
▶ 1:58:42now if we're going to deal with penalizing ourselves those of us who sit here without any raises in our pay those of us who sit here every day trying to afford the expenses of our families and the travel and all of that and yet the president of the United States of America has created the dollar signed cryptocurrency let's talk about this don't close it down come on let's hear some discussion on this because this is outrageous
▶ 1:59:12for this even to talk about us and not mention a word uh and and and join in talking about what the president of the United States of America is doing this is outrageous I don't know if I yield back my time or not I'm going to I'm going to yield to anybody who wants to take it I think Mr C Mr Caston go ahead thank you madam thank you madam chair um mam ranking
▶ 1:59:44member I just want to point out that last ter my colleagues across the aisle spent an entire term Prosecuting a a president's son for sitting on the board of a company that might have a conflict interest Donald Trump Jr has announced he is going to join the board of Keli a stock Betting Company in the in this digital space um another board member of Cal she is on the short list to be considered a cftc chair um that's in addition to the meme coin
▶ 2:00:15that's that's now has made Donald Trump at least on paper one of the richest people in the world if we view ourselves here as members of Congress if we jealously defend our responsibilities as a member of a co-equal branch and making sure we stay co-equal and that we provide the checks and balances this is an easy choice if on the other hand we view ourselves only as partisans who will stand by and do anything
▶ 2:00:45that the leader of our party tells us without consideration for the leadership we told our voters that we would demonstrate then we got here this will be a hard choice I would encourage everybody to take the easy door yield back jman gentleman yields back to the ranking members the ranking member yield back no I'll just use up the other few minutes that I have saying I am outraged uh if we sit here and talk about how we make sure uh that we're
▶ 2:01:15not in Conflict by being involved with stocks Etc and we don't say anything about the president of the United States of America gentlewoman's time has expired the chair recognizes himself for five minutes first uh let me start uh with the substance of uh Mr Sherman's Amendment on the stock I agree with my friend from Wisconsin I thought he said it quite well and what's what's interesting uh about Mr style is he chairs the house administration committee
▶ 2:01:46and uh shares our digital assets and financial technology committee so he's in a quite a strong position to comment on this uh topic and my judgment is for our members is that this mment is unnecessary because the house and Sen Senate guidance explicitly consider digital assets as covered under the stock act as Mr style noted further uh we worked together on a bipartisan basis uh last year in the 118th
▶ 2:02:16Congress to add this specific language to not not allow members to uh trade and cryptocurrencies to our fit 21 bipartisan legislation that we passed out of the house was 71 Democrats and so um I believe that I don't believe that the substance of the amendment is necessary now to the ranking members comments about meme coins as offered by any American uh
▶ 2:02:46if I could ask the ranking member to strongly consider in the 119th Congress working with the the majority on passing a fit 21 type Bill equivalent I think you would find that bill very very happy uh and positive on the points that you rais because it absolutely would craft a regulatory framework about digital assets period full stop uh rather and defined how they're overseeing how they're regulated what's a security what's a
▶ 2:03:17uh a commodity and in my judgment two points one if we pass that regulatory framework it gives Clarity to investors to Consumer Protection to the capital markets to our Market participants and uh that will clearly let the market decide uh who will sink or swim uh in this uh in this space so with that I you back are you raising a question of me now I'm I'm just urging you to consider as we introduce a market structure bill for
▶ 2:03:47digital assets that you will work with well will the gentleman yell I will I will you well thank you very much and I certainly um am appreciative for what you're offering um uh but I can't wait uh and I do want to work with all of us uh to deal with these kinds of issues but I cannot wait because already uh the dollar sign Trump currency is up about 30 billion dollar and suckers
▶ 2:04:18are beginning to get involved in this kind of trading and so I'm going to ask my very very competent capable member whom I love from California to withdraw this amendment at this time until this committee is willing to deal with the president of the United States who no matter what we talk about he's appointing the chair of the SEC this is considered a security and they will be
▶ 2:04:48able to do whatever they want uh under the direction of the president at the Securities reclaiming my time a statement that I enjoyed very much when you were chair that that term reclaiming my time uh let me let me say that uh Market structure legislation will provide the safety and soundness in this Arena I hope we can work on that in the 119th Congress uh does the gentleman from California withdraw his Amendment uh I do indeed although I'd yield to the ranking member
▶ 2:05:18to compliment me even more if she wants to but uh I I'm just asking the gentleman from California does he withdraw his amend I do withdraw the amendment let's all vote no I urge a uh this is withdrawn so the Amendments withdrawn is there any other uh debate or Amendment on the oversight package I have a second amendment at the desk Mr Sherman has a second amendment at the desk we'll wait till the clerk uh reviews and distributes that to all
▶ 2:05:55next Amendment after this well it's really it's really your husband who's a professional in that area it's not her it's you ever met Paul
▶ 2:06:30well I'm considering foror I've been
▶ 2:07:04suppor oh yeah ladies and gentlemen okay have all members received the amendment including Mr Lawler has Mr Lawler received Mr chairman Mr chairman uh the cork will report I'm sorry the gentleman from Kentucky I reserve a point of order a point of order is reserved on this amendment the clerk will report the amendment an amendment offered by Mr Sherman for the 119th
▶ 2:07:34Congress house Financial Services committee oversight plan we'll consider the amendment will be considered as red and the gentleman from California is recognized to strike the last word and on his Amendment first I want to thank the gentle lady from Missouri and so many members who have expressed uh their sympathy and concern for the people of the Pacific Palisades area during these horrendous fires uh the purpose of this amendment is to focus attention
▶ 2:08:05uh of the committee on treasury's outbound investment security program uh a lot of this is focused on American Investment in China this committee has worked successfully and passed into law bills designed to deal with American Investment in Chinese companies particularly assuring that those companies are adequately audited and that the Auditors are audited by the cfpb uh
▶ 2:08:35now uh we our work plan should focus on outbound investment and let me uh comment a little bit about that uh I don't think that we're going to do much to deprive China of so much capital that they'll be unable to fund uh two or three areas that they find particularly important and strategic but I do believe that we should not subsidize the expansion of the Chinese economy by providing a capital
▶ 2:09:06gains allowance to Americas Americans who invest in Chinese stock that is of course the domain of the Ways and Means Committee what is I think in our uh domain is out outbound investment security where we focus on American Investment in particular sectors of the Chinese economy and here my concern is not to deprive those areas of capital although we shouldn't be providing Capital to uh to sectors of the economy
▶ 2:09:36they're dangerous to our national security but to eliminate the uh any incentive to share with a Chinese company um technology patents trade made uh secrets that would help that company succeed in an area that is adverse to our national security we've done this for a couple of decades in one particular area you see there were
▶ 2:10:06American satellites that were put on Chinese Rockets to go into space and there were insurance companies in the United States that ensured the the success of those uh uh uh of those and when a satellite was lost and an insurance company had to pay and the owner of the satellite lost we found that American companies were teaching China how to do a better job next time they send a rocket into space and if it was only sending
▶ 2:10:37Rockets into space that would be fine but it's pretty much the same technology to send a rocket into space as to send one crashing into an American city uh with uh God forbid nuclear weapons so we need to create a in which uh treasury is looking at outbound American Investment in strategic uh uh and National Security relevant areas of the Chinese economy both to make sure that we don't uh subsidize
▶ 2:11:07encourage uh provide the capital for those areas but most especially not to create a circumstance where particular Americans particular companies particular individuals who have a lot of technical knowledge are betting on the success of a Chinese company or company and other uh nation of concern uh that is dealing with uh National Security technology so if you invest in National
▶ 2:11:38in uh Chinese National Security technology you're betting on that technology and God forbid You' to assist that technology uh I would point out that uh uh that uh I think this is is consistent with the uh uh with the role of this committee and uh I will yield to any member or I will back oh I will not yield back I will yield to the ranking member uh repres
▶ 2:12:08representative um you describe uh treasury's outbound investment security program that addresses us investments in a narrow set of Technologies and products under the jurisdiction of adversary countries and you go on uh based on President Biden's August 2023 executive order the program prohibits or reviews
▶ 2:12:38such Investments to determine whether they could contribute to threats against our nation and its security um this goal currently focused on the gentlem the gentleman's time has expired let me come back to you ranking member for your comments let me call on the chairman of our financial institutions uh subcommittee Mr bar of Kentucky who was on the China Select Committee in the last Congress and deeply involved in the analysis
▶ 2:13:09and uh debate around outbound Investments Mr bar has recognized for five minutes to strike thank you Mr chairman strike the last word um let me uh thank the gentleman from California for his amendment in the spirit in which it was offered and invite uh the gentleman the ranking member my colleagues on both sides of the a to join in the conversation which has been ongoing within uh this committee believe me um this majority is on this issue and we've been extremely
▶ 2:13:40active on this issue and that's why I oppose my colleague's Amendment because it's unnecessary the financial services committee has long examined both inbound and outbound investment policy on a bipartisan basis I would direct the gentleman's attention to uh the the oversight plan of the majority uh on page five where the committee will will monitor the implementation of financial sanctions and proposals to expand or remove such sanctions or impose new ones including assessing the effectiveness of
▶ 2:14:10National Security objectives of as part of this oversight the committee will monitor efforts of Treasury treasury's ofac let me also direct the gentleman's attention to page 16 of the rules uh of the of the committee and specifically the subcommittee on National Security uh where the rules provide jurisdiction over International Investment policies both as they relate to the United States investment for trade purposes by citizens of the United States and Investments made by All Foreign entities in the United States I will remind the gentleman that during the
▶ 2:14:40first Trump Administration we held numerous hearings and meetings on the topic culminating in the enactment of the foreign investment risk review modernization Act and the export control Reform Act legislation which passed the house by a vote of 400 to2 and then let me remind also the gentleman of last Congress when this majority on a bipartisan basis with the Democrat majority minority worked uh very closely together on a legislation to impose sanctions on Chinese entities to
▶ 2:15:10uh restrict uh Capital flows into China there is a lot of tough talk on China in Washington but the house Financial Services committee is walking the walk and we walk the walk in the last Congress we Advanced my legislation the Chinese military and surveillance company sanctions act out of this committee last Congress the toughest measure ever considered by the house to Target the Chinese Communist party's military-industrial complex with bipartisan support I urge my colleague from China who has
▶ 2:15:40been uh um from uh from California who has been a leader on these issues with uh uh the threats from China to join in that conversation I inv invite his input as we renew our legislative efforts and to remind all members what we were trying to accomplish in the last congress with legislation uh that resulted in a introduction of a of a of another piece of legislation called the coins act in concert with the Foreign Affairs committee
▶ 2:16:11uh and uh the select committee on China where we were trying to get other committees with jurisdictional engaged uh we were accomplishing some something very important not only getting tough on Chinese entities of National Security concern by restricting Western Capital flows into those into those entities but also providing the clarity and the certainty that private investors need uh to know what is green light and what is red light I I remind my colleagues
▶ 2:16:41that this committee's approach in this conversation should always be that our advantage in the economic competition with the People's Republic of China is that we're capitalists and they're Communists and therefore we should not try to counter China by becoming more like China it is our capitalist free flowing Capital system which gives us our Competitive Edge and so we need to protect that uh as we do this and finally let me just uh flag something for all members
▶ 2:17:11uh and why this amendment is not necessary and that is on day one of this new Administration the Trump Administration uh this administra issued and this president president Trump issued an America First Trade policy and in that executive order uh he uh directed the Secretary of Treasury in consultation with the secretary of Commerce and other relevant agency heads to review whether executive order from the previous administration addressing us investments in certain National Security Technologies should
▶ 2:17:41be modified or rescinded and replaced and strengthened uh pertaining to us investments in certain National Security products and the Secretary of treasury is going to do that review and make recommendations to this committee based on findings of that review including the potential modifications to the outbound investment security program we are engaged with the new Treasury Department on this and we need to work collaboratively in a bipartisan way in a by camera way and with the treasury Department uh to make sure that we
▶ 2:18:12uh not only restrict Investments That threaten our national security stop Americans from unwittingly financing the Chinese industrial military compx but also protect our competitive Advantage which is our capitalist free market system that I yield gentlemen time has expired I now recognize the gentlewoman from California uh for five minutes to strike the last word uh thank you very much uh Mr chairman and I want to tell you uh that Mr Sherman
▶ 2:18:43uh is right on about outbound Investments and basically we're talking about the kind of Investments by private equity and other kinds of uh concerns you know yet um I am concerned about the involvement of President Trump who's made up to 160 million from foreign business dealings during his presidency despite claims of no conflicts of interest
▶ 2:19:13Trump and his family promised to divest from foreign business interests but they continue to profit from International dealings including from the UK Canada Ireland India and Indonesia 58 million from his golf courses in the UK that's Aberdine and Turnberry 36.5 million from his Vancouver Hotel and Tower 24.4 million from his Irish golf course and 9.6 million from India
▶ 2:19:44and 9.7 million from Indonesia Trump's foreign policy often appeared influenced by his business interest notable examples includes alleged legancy towards Saudi Arabia stemming from his business ties and his son-in-laws that wasn't in here but I put it in here the withdrawal of US troops from Syria benefiting turkey where Trump had businesses support for the Chinese company ZTE despite National Security concerns while also earning
▶ 2:20:14income from China delays in tariffs until after receiving approval from trademarks in Argentina Trump allegedly used his position to steer business to his properties such as pushing for the British Open to be held at his Scottish uh golf course and pressuring Irish officials to meet him at his dunberg Resort Trump and his sons repeatedly claim they ceased international business dealings but New Deals continued
▶ 2:20:44including expansions in Ireland and Scotland and revived projects in countries like India Uruguay and the Dominican Republic Trump who has financially was financially struggling before his presidency benefited greatly from being in office using it to revive dormant deals and promote new international Ventures even after leaving office despite halted inquiries there is still potential
▶ 2:21:14for further Revelations about how Trump used the presidency for his personal financial gain now all I want to say is this even though this bill does not get to prohibiting that kind of Investments or those kinds of Investments it does not speak uh to those kinds of efforts specifically I think we ought to expand what we are doing about outward
▶ 2:21:45Investments by certainly the president of the United States of America but even by others I don't know if his daughter still has retail businesses in China we don't know or we don't seem to care a lot about the relationship to this President and other countries where it appears that he's enhancing his own pocketbook and so I'm telling you I'm not going to sit here year after year and allow them to escape
▶ 2:22:16the way that they have defined themselves I'm not going to allow them them to sit here and watch us suffer from inflation while they're making all the money that they want to make no matter whom they're dealing with we've got other kinds of interests we've got interests about climate change we've got interests in other ways uh that I think should be included in how we deal with them and when we talk about outside uh Investments Mr Sherman is right
▶ 2:22:46on and I'm not you know going to say that you know this should be done right away but I will yield uh to the chairman to ask are you interested in this kind of discussion at all I thank the ranking member and I'll strike the last word in a few minutes and and add some comments but look uh we have the strongest thing we have in this committee and I think that's true on the house Foreign Affairs committee I'm going
▶ 2:23:16to ask Miss Wagner just to comment in a minute and also on the house intelligence committee on a bipartison basis is our concern over our adversaries having access to Capital from the United States in identified technologies that we think could be dual use and be turned to harm the us so I think it is important that we talk about it the gentlewoman's time has expired I recognize the gentoman from Missouri for five minutes to strike the last word I I think the chairman I strike the last word and I couldn't agree more
▶ 2:23:46uh one thing that I can say certainly as we saw in the 11 18th Congress as we carry over now into the 119th Congress is a a true bipartisan uh belief agreement uh work product that's coming out of multiple different jurisdictions and committees including both in foreign affairs and Intel in the China select committee that is addressing this adversarial threat from communist
▶ 2:24:16China and uh and it does have to do with uh with with so much of technology uh so much of our military defense base uh so much of our Capital uh it it it spans uh cyber security issues we could go on and on about the list uh of of assaults by communist China uh against uh the United States and their their threat to uh to
▶ 2:24:46to uh take over and hold ostage in many ways many other areas of the globe uh by interference in um uh internationally I'll just say um I will now yield to u a gentleman who knows the most about this in terms of of our uh the work that he's done on China select committee uh and that is a chairman of our financial institutions committee and that is Mr bar well I thank
▶ 2:25:17the gentle lady uh and and I'll be brief let me just say with respect to the ranking members comments about the current president of the United States the 47th president of the United States there is no president in the history of the United States of America who has recognized the China threat more than Donald J Trump in the first term he was the first president of either major political party to finally recognize that the Communists in Beijing had been
▶ 2:25:47exploiting the generosity of thean American system and had stolen our intellectual property had engaged in unfair trade practice practices over the years had exploited access to our Capital markets to fund um the Chinese military industrial complex and to and to finance the Civil military Fusion uh program it was President Trump who first imposed a serious uh trade policy with respect to China to recognize the Chinese threat and this is exactly
▶ 2:26:18why two days ago right after he took the oath of office for the second time he issued an executive order on this very subject and directed his treasury dep part department in within hours of taking the oath of office to reev review what are the what is the right policy with respect to screening of outbound investment into China so I look forward to working with this President I look forward to working with this Treasury Department and I appreciate the comments from my colleagues on the other side of the out to join us in
▶ 2:26:48this exercise this is not a red or blue issue it should be be a red white and blue issue so instead of instead of criticizing this Administration for trying to do the right thing I invite the ranking member the gentleman from California who obviously expressed an important uh interest in this issue and to work with the incoming National Security adviser Michael Waltz who worked with me on my legislation from the last Congress to work with this Administration to get this issue right and to get it right is to certainly stop the flow of capital to
▶ 2:27:18to Chinese entities that threaten our national security but also to get it right in terms of protecting the free market capitalist system that has made us the Envy of the world that I yield I yield to to miss Wagner back to Wagner I'm pleased I'm pleased to to to to to yeld to the ranking member
▶ 2:27:51I do think we can have a bipartisan effort on this issue I think we're all concerned about China uh and we're demonstrating that in so many different ways we've been long concerned I was so concerned about Saudi Arabia and the deal that was made through Trump's son-in-law and what happened with that after the president visited Saudi Arabia and kissed the ring uh and re climing my time let me just close um and
▶ 2:28:21by by saying that uh as as as reiterated uh by my good friend Mr bar there is no one who has been tougher on China than president Trump and he came right out of the gate with an executive order that was very strong and we now are going to codify many of these issues in Congress out of this committee and several others so I hope that we can all work together on that and I yield back my time as chairman gent gentlewoman from Missouri yields back yes
▶ 2:28:52U I don't know if I whether the lady from New York will th the general woman from New York's recognized for five minutes to strike the last I I think we're in significant agreement here we all want the committee to focus on outbound investment particularly uh into uh potential adversaries particularly China and I look forward to uh if if you like the language that have drafted
▶ 2:29:22indicate that we'll adopt it if you don't like that particular language let's work together on other language and then we'll ask the unanimous consent of the committee to adopt that as part of our our oversight plan uh I have a a few more comments one well I will disagree with Mr bar on one thing uh being on the left side of the spectrum I actually know real communist and um uh Frederick Eng Les Carl Marx and Mal seong
▶ 2:29:52are turning in their grave as they watch C-SPAN 3 and are told that this government in ping is a communist government they are many bad things their grandparents were Communists but the way they treat their workers would have caused the robber barons of our history to blush uh and so uh I don't know what they are they uh they got the word communist right there in their name uh but
▶ 2:30:23uh oh my uh they they'd be thrown out of every communist organization in my district um as to uh Capital flows yes in a perfect world weed would provide no Capital to China but keep in mind they provide a lot of capital to us in terms of huge flows of capital they buy a I think it's well over a trillion dollars of our bonds uh and so it's not so much the flow of capital as
▶ 2:30:53providing risk Capital not just debt capital in strategic uh Industries and as I pointed out giving Americans with not knowhow a reason to bet on the success of a Chinese technology and God forbid National Security technology uh uh company so I look forward to either you liking my Amendment or working with you on something that uh f focuses our work plan on uh this important issue
▶ 2:31:23I would point out that I have some bills in this area such as the PRC military and human rights uh human rights and Capital Market sanctions act uh which I look forward to reintroducing perhaps uh with some additional co-sponsors uh and with that I yield back to the lady from uh uh from New York I back gentleman from New York Ys back chair recognizes himself for five minutes this has been such a good discussion of I think a distinctly bipartisan uh agreement
▶ 2:31:54that we believe in this committee that outbound investment for specific dual use uh highly sensitive Technologies uh needs our scrutiny in the 118th Congress uh the Senate offered u a measure that many in the house felt was inadequate and speaker Mike Johnson uh along with the China select committee working with chairman McCall and chairman McKenry
▶ 2:32:24tried to find a balanced approach uh that was led in large part by chairman bar and I think that's where we find ourselves as we begin this new Congress let's take the incredible leadership on a bipartisan basis from last Congress from the Foreign Affairs committee the house Financial Services committee those engaged in the China select committee which as my colleagues on both sides of the Isle know will be uh reinitiated and reactivated in this 119th
▶ 2:32:55Congress let's take that work and work with the incoming Trump Administration about their views as chairman bar just outlined that were essentially announced by President Trump on his first day in office and I believe that's the most constructive excuse me the most constructive way that we can handle this issue I don't believe that the gentleman from California's amendment is necessary because I believe our national security
▶ 2:33:25subcommittee uh has got the full discretion to handle this in the right way under Mr Davidson's leadership and I believe it's a priority of the China select committee on a bipartisan basis and I know it's a top priority for both speaker Johnson and our new president president Trump so I would urge members to vote against the Sherman Amendment and with that I yield back the balance of my time is there any other further debate on this uh Amendment um
▶ 2:33:56I does the gentleman from Kentucky insist on his point of order withdraw the point of order gentleman withdrawals Mr chairman I look forward to working with you and others on this and I withdraw the amendment thank you uh the gentleman withdraws the amendment and I do look forward to working with the gentleman from uh California and the gentleman from Kentucky on this important issue and under uh in our national security subcommittee under Mr Davidson's leadership is there any further or debate or Amendment on our oversight
▶ 2:34:28plan yeah God bless the gentleman from Georgia is recognize he has an amendment at the desk we'll let the clerk distribute the amendment so we'll pause uh Mr chairman I reserve a point of order gentlewoman from Missouri reserves a point of order on Mr Scott's
▶ 2:35:11thanks we got it do both okay do the members have the amendment let me ask the clerk to report an amendment to the oversight Plan offered by Mr Scott financial literacy without objection the amendment will be considered as read the gentleman from Georgia is recognized for five minutes in uh support of his Amendment know
▶ 2:35:42there's a saying that the good Lord opens up a way and a when there are no ways Miss Waters is listen both Donald Trump and
▶ 2:36:13I attended the warden School of finance and i' say that because we studied together in lip andot Library he's a man Trump is and I'm a Democrat and I'm saying so but miss Waters has opened up a almost
▶ 2:36:43a thorough Fair of concerns this isn't about Trump the human being it's about the United States we need no questions or areas of blemish about the security
▶ 2:37:14of the financial system of the greatest nation in this country in the world if what she's saying raises some concerns to her I've been on this committee 22 years and I watched Miss Waters she cares
▶ 2:37:44about this country she loves this country and I do to and each and every one of us on this committee Democrats and Republicans we can't let what she raised though be swept under the rug my first opening statement of how the good Lord open a ways and
▶ 2:38:14a ways in which we can very intelligent L solve this dilemma and I waited here and I was hoping and praying we would get here to me before that window closed this bill that we have before us now that
▶ 2:38:45I'm speaking on opens the window for us I would like to find out I love the guy we went to Warden together we did things we studied together at liing God Library you all that but miss Waters has raised some questions that I want to get answers to and I have an amendment
▶ 2:39:15here that speaks to Financial education and allow me to go through it for a moment or two and maybe my bill can be of help so I want to thank our chairman whom I've served with for 10 years as my partner and I appreciate
▶ 2:39:46the inclusion of financial l ly language in the oversight that's what Miss Waters is asking for can't we shine the light on things there are all kind of things out there that could hurt all of us and not intentionally that the president is doing
▶ 2:40:16I'm offering our plan here and my involvement to work with this committee and getting it done let me share what it is we have here and hopefully you will agree and maybe I can work with you as you know expanding financial literacy and education for our consumers has been the Cornerstone
▶ 2:40:46of my work in financial committee that's what I've been doing here for 22 years and that's what I want to continue do but I can't continue it unless I find some answers to what Miss Waters is saying about what is going on with the president I don't see anything illegal about it but don't we
▶ 2:41:17owe this to the am American people we're not the only ones worried about his picture being on dollar bills and what's going on or crypto let us not let us deal with this give me a for a couple of minutes chairman uh Mr Scott your time's expired I know members will yield to you because of your leadership on this issue when we come back but I'm going to call on the gentleman
▶ 2:41:47from Kentucky to strike the last word Mr bar who chairs the well it took they took up all my time financial institutions committee we'll come back to you sir Mr bar recognize for five minutes I thank you Mr chairman and I want to thank um Mr Scott from Georgia for his uh interest and Leadership on this issue of financial literacy and for good reason uh Mr Scott is right to be focused on this issue uh look Americans owe 17 trillion in household debt $17 trillion the the level
▶ 2:42:17of credit card debt in America is the highest uh in years largely thanks to the inflation crisis that they've experienced over the last four years the gap between what Americans have saved and what they need in retirement is currently estimated to be trillion dollars about one5 of all Americans have nothing saved for retirement and only about a third have less than $5,000 saved so Mr Scott's amendment is
▶ 2:42:47well intentioned and And Timely because of the crisis that Americans face and not having savings for retirement and having to put up with the cost of living crisis um we clearly need better financial literacy in this country but I respectfully will oppose the amendment because it's simply unnecessary chairman Hill has done a great job in listening to members about the importance of financial literacy and in in the oversight plan very clearly on page two within the jurisdiction of uh the subcommittee
▶ 2:43:18on which I chair the committee will review efforts to promote greater financial literacy among consumers in the general public this is very broad language it in it incorporates certainly uh oversight over the financial literacy and education commission um and many members are interested in improving financial literacy in fact as we know from our colleagues right here on this committee the financial literacy caucus is chaired by Representatives Joyce batty and and young Kim in a bipartisan way um so so clearly um
▶ 2:43:48this is is why we have this in our oversight uh plan uh I will point out uh in conclusion that according to the GAO there are currently 24 financial literacy programs throughout the federal bureaucracy think about this 24 different financial literacy programs that are supposedly coordinated by this financial literacy and education commission but I think we should do oversight to see whether or not the the
▶ 2:44:19the programs are actually coordinated or are they giving different messages to the American people and are actually giving conflicting messages clearly these 24 programs aren't working because Americans are suffering from the highest level of debt and the lowest personal savings rate ever right now so whatever we're doing with the $273 million of taxpayer dollars that go to Washington that then supposedly go back to educate Americans on financial literacy not working these are not working
▶ 2:44:49these programs think about the irony of a government that is $36 trillion in debt trying to educate Americans on how to manage their finances it's Insanity so why don't we think creatively in this Congress about how the federal government does financial literacy and let's think about creative ways of maybe saying hey instead of having these government agencies that don't know how to live with in their means
▶ 2:45:20or Congress that doesn't know how to live within its means to lecture Americans about how to save and invest why not instead think about taking some chunk of this money and instead creating a single grant program to organizations that actually know what they're doing like Junior Achievement like the program that Visa is doing like the program that Edward Jones is doing like not for-profits are doing and Foundations are doing programs that
▶ 2:45:50actually educate people about financial literacy instead of instead of taking $27 million away from the American people and giving it to a government that's $36 trillion in in debt and expecting that government to effectively educate the American people how to live within their means I think that's a better approach to this so I respectfully oppose the gentleman's Amendment and I do encourage him to continue to work with those of us in a bipartisan way to think of
▶ 2:46:21better ways to do this and I yield back the gentleman from Kentucky yields back the ranking member from California Miss Waters has recognized the strike the last word I want to thank our colleague Reverend uh representative Scott for his many years of good work on financial literacy and for his work on this amendment which I support as members may know the financial literacy and education commission was created in 2003 and it is an inter Agency Group now led by the treasury Department
▶ 2:46:51and to collaborate on ways that agencies can improve Financial education for the Public's benefit at a time when we are seeing elaborate new schemes where Bad actors use AI to trick people into sending their money or uh political leaders offering worthless meme coins Good Financial education about these schemes would help prevent people losing lot of money this amendment would help ensure
▶ 2:47:21we review what this commission and other member agencies are work are working and explore ways they can improve financial literacy for the benefit of our constituencies uh let me just say as I wrap this up uh that um again I know uh that the members on the opposite side of the aisle uh don't like that I keep pointing out uh the misdirection and the um misdirection of now
▶ 2:47:51the president of the United States of America but I think he increased the debt that uh was being referred to uh in when he served um in his uh first presidency I also know that on the opposite side of the aisle they want to spend more money they're the ones who want to increase the debt limit they're the ones who are holding out for it now wanting to increase that debt limit why when you're cutting some of the basic programs for the least of these in this country
▶ 2:48:22why when you're talking about as 2025 your vision talks about closing down Head Start and the Department of Education and cutting Social Security and on and on and on while you are focused on cutting the taxes for the richest 1% in America what are we talking about here we've got to start talking clear language for people to understand and when it is confusing I'm going to sit here and I'm going to unfold it I'm going to unravel
▶ 2:48:53it I'm going to make it more transparent and so you for your wonderful work and your background from the Wharton School that you brought to this committee thank you for what you've done on financial literacy and now we've got to make sure that those who claim to support you understand that they've got to apply financial literacy to some of the biggest issues that are confronting us where the
▶ 2:49:23American dollar is being misdirected by those who are running the government of this country with that right I yield back the balance of my time the gentlewoman yields back the gentleman from Texas Mr greens recognized the strike the last word thank you Mr chairman Mr chairman I'd like to yield time to the gentleman from Georgia and in doing so I'd like to also acknowledge that I support his Amendment and I understand what the ranking member is
▶ 2:49:53calling to our attention about the appearance of impropriety about how the plutocracy the very wealthy people in this country are now using the federal government as a tool a means by which they can at the expense of many people become even richer uh I don't approve of it I support this amendment to help other persons
▶ 2:50:23avoid some of the pitfalls that they may find themselves having to Grapple with and would hope that others would as well Mr Scott thank you very much uh my friend and my brother Mr Green ladies and gentlemen today too many Americans American families are struggling with decision around financial planning savings investment this
▶ 2:50:54lack of basic financial literacy leaves consumers vulnerable to abortable financial pitfalls this is why I see our Collective work in this space is fundamental please listen to what my Amendment says before you halfhazard say you want support it the President should welcome this we're not
▶ 2:51:24the only ones Mr Waters is not the only one asking questions about the financial ability and activity of the president of the United States and if we're going to be honest we need to put a little meat on these bones that's all I'm offer offering listen to me very clayfully all my Amendment does
▶ 2:51:54is moves us from pitfalls like some of the things she would mention it will be glad I would clap to know my Republican friends would be happy to know that all these questions about what's happening with the president's Financial activities are this lack of basic financial literacy leaves all of our consumers
▶ 2:52:25avoidable and financial pitfalls my Amendment will do this it will simply insert a non-al language that ensures that our committee will also examine the financial literacy and education commission the flat and any potential steps that Fleck and its members agencies take can
▶ 2:52:56take to improve our financial literacy for our traditionally disadvantaged consumer and any those who may unwittingly take advantage unknowingly and come under unscrupulous kinds of behavior this commission is shared by the president it's shared by his treasury
▶ 2:53:26secretary we're not looking for anything to go and bless him all we're looking for that is that our financial system our our economy be clean be there for everybody including the president this is all I'm asking for I hope you all know it'll be chaired by the president's secretary
▶ 2:53:56not me not miss Waters it's task with developing a National Financial Education website and a national strategy on financial educ how the hell can we develop a national strategy on our financial education and leave out the leader the president
▶ 2:54:27and his activities we can't do that folks pass this amendment and let's do it the right way and as the president said screen's time is expired God blessed him to survive his election and I bless the president too thank you Mr Scott Mr Green's time has expired I'll re the chair thank you m the chair recognizes himself for five
▶ 2:54:57minutes once again I think those watching the committee see another point today of extraordinary bipartisan agreement which is the importance of financial literacy I think you heard that clearly expressed in the passionate uh Amendment offered by Mr Scott and by the response by the chairman of the financial institions committeee Mr bar uh and in our oversight plan we are very clear in the oversight plan on page two referen by chairman bar the committee
▶ 2:55:27will review efforts to promote greater financial literacy among consumers and the general public that's a written commitment on a bipartisan basis of our committee and Mr bar as chair of the financial institutions committee outlined can we make uh these programs be more effective uh through the Fleck as referenced in Mr Scott's Amendment so uh I love the fact that uh our Wharton graduate on the committee is synced up with our
▶ 2:55:58Wharton graduate who's the president of the United States on the importance of financial literacy he has my commitment that it'll be a priority for the committee to talk about it but with that said I would urge a no vote on this amendment I don't think it's necessary Is there further discussion or debate on the amend I ask for a recorded vote just a moment Mr just just if if not does the gentleman from Wisconsin insist on his point of no the gentleman from uh Mr style withdraws his point of order
▶ 2:56:28point of order is withdrawn is there if there is no further debate or discussion the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Georgia Mr Scott all those in favor of the amendment please say I I I those opposed say no no in the opinion of the chair the NOS have it the NOS have it and the amendment is not agreed to I ask for a recorded vote the gentlem the gentleman from Georgia asked for a recorded vote all those in favor recorded vote raise your hands a sufficient number having raised their hand of recorded vote is so ordered without objection further
▶ 2:56:58proceedings of the amendment are postponed Is there further Amendment or discussion on the oversight plan uh Mr Green from Texas would like GRE Texas you have an amendment at the desk we'll pause while it's being distributed
▶ 2:57:28the gentl from Oklahoma Mr chairman I reserve a point of order on this amendment gent from Oklahoma
▶ 2:58:13have all members received the amendment Mr Green of Texas your recogniz ask for five I'm sorry I beg your pardon the corkal report an amendment to the authorization chairman I ask that the amendment be considered is read gentleman's recognized for five minutes in support of his amendment I thank you Mr chairman uh Mr chairman I'd like to call to the attention of the committee an article from the Houston Post um it is styled an exclusive justice
▶ 2:58:44department asks to investigate taxes handling of 1 billion and Harvey recovery funds Mr chairman hurricane Harvey hit Houston Texas in 2017 and to this day we have not been able to fairly and equitably distribute the hurricane Harvey funds uh we're talking about more than1 billion dollar that should have gone to persons that has not been delivered because of allegations of discrimination
▶ 2:59:14within the plan that the government land office promoted ated Mr chairman my Amendment would add language to the oversight plan to ensure the committee considers efforts to improve fairness efficiency and expediency within Hud's Community Development block grant disaster relief authorization the CD program is important and unique in that is
▶ 2:59:44the only source of long-term Federal recovery assist assistance that's specifically dedicated to lowincome households and communities who tend to have less resources to move or rebuild and are more likely to be on or underinsured the committee's oversight plan includes a limited section on the authorization of the cdbg
▶ 3:00:14drr program however it focuses narrowly on efficacy issues within the program regarding fraud waste and abuse these issues are important but do not capture the other key issues that the committee has a responsibility to examine there is a robust Congressional record regarding the need to make the CD dbgr program uh fairer and more
▶ 3:00:45efficient and and to ensure that low income and moderate income communities are affected and by disasters but not uh that are affected by disasters do not face uninsured losses and do not benefit from the recovery funds for example as chair of the oversight subcommittee during the 117th Congress I held two oversight hearings on the cdbd gdr fund some of the key issues that
▶ 3:01:15came up in these hearings included legal discrimination and the need for greater program efficiency to get funding out faster and to help communities and households as weather patterns become more forcefully unpredictable and as we see more losses resulting from more frequent major disasters I urge members of the committee to support this amendment uh Mr chairman I would conclude that uh with this that the uh member
▶ 3:01:46of the committee uh representative Wagner and I co-led uh an effort to produce legislation that would have helped persons who are now Savaged by the fires California uh we passed legislation in the house but it did not pass in the Senate I think that this is another opportunity for us to work together so as to produce a product that will allow persons who suffer from these adverse
▶ 3:02:16weather conditions uh adverse climate conditions uh to have a cdb gdr program that actually does not discriminate and will not allow for persons to have suffered since uh 2017 without having received the funding that has been allocated and appropriated but not received by the people who in need of help I yield back gentleman yields back the gentleman from
▶ 3:02:46Nebraska the chairman of the housing and insurance subcommission floods recognized to strike the last word thank you Mr chairman and first I'd like to thank the gentleman from Texas Mr Green for his continued work on the issue of Community Development block grant Disaster Recovery I know that him and uh gentlewoman from Missouri Mrs Wagner have worked on this issue in Prior years prior to my beginning in Congress and know that it is something we take very seriously as the gentleman from Texas knows the cdbg drr program
▶ 3:03:16is clearly within the jurisdiction of this committee and is explicitly addressed on page seven line 18 of the oversight plan as for the gentleman's amendment I would remind him that our oversight plan is not intended to be exhaustive uh there are plenty of important issues that we intend to address that aren't explicitly addressed in the document and the housing and insurance subcommittee will be working on the cdbg drr issue especially in light of what's happened with the LA wildfires and uh you know this
▶ 3:03:46is a fund that the Appropriations Committee chooses to add or subtract resources to depending on the types of disasters we're dealing with and these topics I'm sure and in fact I know will come up in our subcommittee and I'm sure the full committee as well I share Mr Green's interest in making disaster relief and Recovery responsive to the needs of all constituents whether they be in California in Texas Arkansas or Nebraska or wherever they are needed and uh I look forward to working with him I think
▶ 3:04:17because CD dbgr is already clearly addressed within the oversight plan this amendment is unnecessary and I urge my college to oppose it I yield back the balance of my time the gentleman from Nebraska yields back and we I recognize the ranking member from California to strike the last word uh I move to strike the last word Mr Green I'd like to start by thanking you for offering your Amendment today this issue is especially top of Mind as my districts
▶ 3:04:47and others in Los Angeles County face yet another week of ongoing wild fires what we're facing in LA and what families are facing in the aftermath of hurricanes Helen and Milton or the wildfires that hit Miami in 2023 and the Texas panan last year showcases what communities must confront when rebuilding in the wake of a major disaster this is especially true
▶ 3:05:17as the National Housing and insurance crisis add new layers of hardship in fact leading up to the LA wildfires insurance companies had notified households of policy cancellations leaving families uninsured as the wildfires hit cdbd drr funding will be critical to countless families recovering from the wildfires including in communities like Altadena and it is
▶ 3:05:47is our committee's duty to address the need for greater efficiency expediency and fairness in the program I urge members on both sides of the AO to support this amendment and I yo back gent's back uh the chair recognizes himself for five minutes to strike the last word on Mr Green's Amendment first I want to Echo uh the ranking members comments on the leadership of uh members green and Wagner
▶ 3:06:17on working through cdb uh cdbg drr U I guess Congress before last um it was good work both the ranking member Waters and I recall when Jeb hensling uh was chair trying to sort through the aftermath of Katrina and what programs worked effectively and what programs did not work effectively or Ivan in the case of of our South Texans and so I really
▶ 3:06:47appreciate that leadership and because of that frankly on page six and seven of the oversight plan we have specifically referencing this exact topic under authorization of programs within the jurisdiction of the committee on Financial Services Hud's cdbg drr program has never been authorized by the Congress but it frequently receives funding obviously through supplemental Appropriations enacted by Congress for disaster relief the committee will review the efficacy
▶ 3:07:18and of codification of cdbg drr standard procedures to prevent waste fraud abuse by federal agencies grantees and sub grantees so I really hope uh under uh chairman flood's uh leadership that this could be something that we can work on together to have a program that functions that builds on the work of Wagner and green uh but uh could result maybe in a program actually being authorized by this committee since it's uh never been so
▶ 3:07:48authorized so I would urge a no vote on the amendment but be again gratified for Mr Green's work I I would yield to to the ranking member to Mr Green uh I thank you for yielding and I would like to work together to see if we can produce a better product um Miss Wagner and I did enjoy working together and I think we Prov that you can produce a good product
▶ 3:08:18but it can be better and I would uh I would welcome the opportunity to work with you yeah I thank the Gent from Texas and I I have it's my time and I'm yielding to the ranking member would you you're no I think that Mr Green expressed exactly what I wanted to thank you very much I go back with that appreciate the the debate and the discussion I urge no vote on the amendment but pledge to work together on this General topic yield back the balance of my time is there further discussion debate on this amendment Mr chairman uh the the general woman from New York
▶ 3:08:48uh I have an amendment I the this oh just a moment Madam wait Mr chairman if I may uh I'd like to to confir with the ranking member m Madam ranking member would you have me withdraw the uh amendment to work together um I think that we need a little bit of clarification here um the amendment that was talked about by the we don't have anybody's time right now okay well would you would you yield to me so that I may y to the I don't have the time either
▶ 3:09:19the general woman from New York has time and she is yielding time to us for this discussion thank you all right and I'm yielding to the ranking member okay R thank you very much I think there's a little bit of confusion here uh as the chairman spoke about the wonderful work that has been done uh from both sides of the aisle I agree with that but I did not necessarily agree to the fact that we would vote no uh on this bill and so now I'm going to have to um
▶ 3:09:49inquire of Mr Green based on the representations that have been made about the willingness to work together uh um I would like your recommendation on how we move forward at this moment uh with the bill well Madam chair I'm obviously very passionate about this and I I feel the need for us to have some stronger language the language that we were looking at was language that indicated that uh illegal discrimination would not be
▶ 3:10:20tolerated but um given that I know how important the bill is to you uh I'm in a position now such that your wisdom is much more important than mine so I'm going to yield to you and uh trust that you will give some advice as to how we would what M Vasquez it's your time are you
▶ 3:10:50to miss water thank you very much uh Mr Green uh even though uh I'm a little bit concerned about the wording of the bill and I don't want it only Define I mean confine uh to certain things I think with the representation of the chairman uh and his understanding of what took place with tdb grr particular as we look back at Katrina Etc Etc I would I would advise you uh to
▶ 3:11:20withdraw the bill uh at point Amendment to the bill withdraw the amendment withdraw the I'm sorry the amendment uh with draw it at this time and let's look to the cooperation that is being identified and hold them to it in order to uh make the bill exactly what you would have it to I um on recommendation of the ranking
▶ 3:11:51member would withdraw at this time and Mr gentleman is withdraw the gentleman from Oklahoma for procedural purposes I need to withdraw my point of order from the gentleman's Amendment uh the gentleman's point of order is withdrawn Is there further debate or Amendment to the oversight plan now the general lady from New York you have an amendment I have an amendment at the Miss Vasquez has an amendment at the desk we will pause while copies our dist
▶ 3:12:22oh yeah M chairman the gentleman from Texas I I'd like to ask for a point of order on this the the gentleman from Texas reserves a point of order thank you no you're want to speak on my
▶ 3:13:02Amendment you have to go for her Amendment you have to say yes you have to take the word speak to yeah if all members receive a copy of
▶ 3:13:33the amendment clerk will report an amendment to the authorization and oversight plan of the committee on financial services offered by Miss Velasquez of New York without objection the amendment will be considered as R the gentle woman from New York York the ranking member of the small business committee is recognized for five minutes on her Amendment thank you Mr chairman I offered this amendment today to focus on our attention on a topic that I believe must be addressed and one I hope we can tackle this Congress
▶ 3:14:03Mr chairman I know you have proposed a vision for Community banking reform and I hope improvements to the FDIC insurance and Insurance Fund can be made part of this reform forms efforts as a senior member of this committee I witnessed firsthand one of the worst financial crisis in our nation's history and participated in the resolution and restructuring of multiple bank failures and as chair
▶ 3:14:33and ranking member of the House small business committee I have seen how this bank's failures impact small businesses and the communities they serve between 2001 and 2020 there 561 bank failures these failed Banks collectively held 721 billion doll in assets and 522 billion in deposits Washington
▶ 3:15:03Mutual the largest bank failure in our nation's history occurred while I the ranking member and several of us on this diet were on the committee and many of us in the room today were members of this committee and witnessed the second largest bank failure in our nation's history when Silicon Valley Bank with $29 billion in assets and 175 billion doll
▶ 3:15:33in deposits collapsed Signature Bank and First Republic Bank also failed or were absorbed during the banking turmoil in 2023 the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation was established in 1933 and since then all insured deposits have been protected yet the trends in uninsured deposits have increased the exposure of the banking
▶ 3:16:04system to runs at its PE in 2021 the proportion of uninsured deposits in the banking system was 46.6% higher than any time since 1949 large concentrations of uninsured deposits or other short-term demandable liabilities increase the potential for Bank runs and can threaten Financial stability
▶ 3:16:34it was the run on these exact uninsured deposits that helped trigger the failures of Silicon Valley and Signature Bank bank runs by uninsured depositors also transfer losses that must be absorbed by the FDIC and other Market participants and can increase risk to stakeholders at other Banks so Mr chairman I say to my colleagues that if you care about preventing
▶ 3:17:05future bank failures guarding against further consolidation in the industry expanding Community Banking and supporting small businesses in r and under self communities then improving Deposit Insurance and Insurance Fund reform is an issue we need to take off I offer my Amendment today not to offer a specific proposal or set of reforms but to Simply emphasize the need to encourage those of you
▶ 3:17:36interested in this work to join me a few key principles should help guide us in this effort first Deposit Insurance has broad Market effects and these effects must be fully understood before any final policy decision second Deposit Insurance is not free and must be funded through properly tailored assessments on the banking system third each option on reform should be viewed along other policy chains
▶ 3:18:07one such reform that remains outstanding is executive compensation we need to tackle whether incentive based compensation structure at financial institutions can help fuel an institution demise and whether such structure can geopod the Safety and Security of our financial system going forward many executive compensation reforms are not new and have a history of bipartisan support including from the
▶ 3:18:37new chair of the Banking Committee Senator Tim Scott who signal last year that he will support tougher penalties for executive taken by Executives at fail institution Deposit Insurance as well as other policy reforms merits consideration in the wake of failures and banking turmoils of 2023 so thank you Mr chairman I yield back the gentoman from New York yields back the gentleman from South Carolina
▶ 3:19:07Mr Timmons is recognized to strike the last word thank you Mr chairman I thank my colleague for the amendment um this amendment seeks to add greater specificity to the committee's over oversight plan where I don't think it's needed our plan already highlights how the committee will monitor the operations of the FDIC and the ncua as well as the scope and solvency of their respective Deposit Insurance funds all aspects of Bank resolution and the deposit Insurance funds are subject to this committee's oversight whether they're enumerated in the plan or not and a key focus
▶ 3:19:37our committee will be to promote a healthy and competitive banking industry for institutions of all sizes and improve the bank resolution process so I thank the gentoman from New York for her Amendment and I commit to working with her on these important topics in the 119th Congress but I would argue this amendment is unnecessary and urge my colleagues to vote no thank you Mr chairman I yeld back I'd like to strike the last word Mr chair the gentleman from Texas Mr greens recognized strike the last word uh I yield to the gentle
▶ 3:20:07lady from New York Mr vqu thank you uh the gentleman for yielding um so Mr chairman there's nothing in the authoriz reauthorization and oversight plan oversight plan that specifically deal with Ron's uninsured deposits and here we are again and again and again and I do not want to be uh able to say to you I
▶ 3:20:37said so I told you so Mr chairman this is an issue that is not addressed in the reauthorization oversight plan I am willing to work with you on this issue yes I yield back General woman yields back I the general woman from Texas Miss Garcia has recognized the distract the last word Mr chairman I move to distract the last word General woman's recogniz I commend our
▶ 3:21:07colleague in small business committee ranking member Velasquez for offering this thoughtful amendment to ensure a committee considers policy solutions to improve our banking system the unexpected and the rapid failures of Silicon Valley Bank Signature Bank and First Republic raised concerns on a number of fronts including whether our Deposit Insurance framework has become outdated small businesses were worried that lose access to their funds and pay their employees
▶ 3:21:38so many opted to pull their money out of smaller Banks and deposit them with the bigger banks in response making rank member Waters introduced the employee paycheck and small business protection act the bill proposes to update the deposit Insurance framework for Business Payment accounts after the FDIC and ncua do some data collection and Analysis to determine how to best to expand Deposit Insurance to promote
▶ 3:22:08a Level Playing Field in the banking sector while supporting small businesses and their employees the bill also enhances emergenc Mercy tools to allow Regulators to quickly Implement a temporary transaction account guarantee or tag program to prevent contagion and this is a bipartisan issue as several Republicans have also introduced similar proposals including vice president advance and our former colleague representative Luken Heimer
▶ 3:22:39and we look forward to exploring this idea further with the chairman Mr Hill furthermore there's other policy issues that we should explore like improving the bidding process of filling Banks so that the bank Mega Banks don't always win the bid and get even bigger we also look must look at improving the Federal Reserve discount window and expanding access for small Credit Unions to ncua's Central liquidity facility committee Democrats stand ready to
▶ 3:23:09vote with chairman Hill on these important issues and a good way to start would be to support this amendment representative Velasquez amendment I yield back the balance of my time unless Miss Velasquez needs more time for her remarks thank you she does not we yield back gentleman from Texas yields back the chair recognizes myself for five minutes um I really appreciate the gentoman from New York's uh recognition
▶ 3:23:39of this issue and following up to uh the very uh shocking Revelations that we all witnessed in the in the failure of Silicon Valley um on the subject of Deposit Insurance generally I would call the attention of of the gentoman to the oversight plan where I I believe it does actually specifically address the issue of of the deposit Insurance Fund under um Financial supervision and regulation the plan
▶ 3:24:10calls for ensuring The Regulators are able to Define identify and promptly address safety and sound deficiency systemic risk and other structural weaknesses in the financial sector that clearly speaks to what we witnessed at silic Valley where management had taken their eye off the ball and I think in the Judgment of this committee on a bipartisan basis on a bipartisan basis uh we also witnessed the failures of the Sacramento and San Francisco fed
▶ 3:24:40regulatory system secondly under Community financial institutions in our oversight plan we review issues directly related to the health growth safety and soundness of Community financial institutions and the vital role they play in lending to households and small businesses fostering employment and promoting economic growth and finally under Deposit Insurance the committee will monitor the operations of the FDIC and ncua scope and solvency of their respecting Deposit
▶ 3:25:10Insurance funds and I I think really what we saw in the uh after action reports from the Federal Reserve and from the FDIC is the need for that concentration and that's why I think our oversight plan is directly responsive to your amendment I want to thank you and and Mr Williams uh chair of the small business committee for working with us so diligently to make sure that uh access to Capital is addressed by this committee and the small business committee and
▶ 3:25:40that they have access to uh as you say safe and sound depository services that are well insured I'd also add a comment that Mr McKenry and Mrs Waters wrote the GAO in the last Congress on their recommendations on the lessons from Silicon Valley we've gotten an interim report from them but I expect that we will get additional reports on um what lessons from Silicon Valley would lead to reforms in the financial supervisory
▶ 3:26:11process and I appreciate uh Miss Garcia's comments on how the FDIC operates particularly in the case of Bank resolution and I found uh that in that institution the FDIC something that's been so important over the course of my career um it's been sad to see how it's fallen on hard times and I hope that a new leadership on the board of directors of the FDIC will make it a much more robust good partner for this Congress in in identifying how
▶ 3:26:41we should reform the FDIC it's its insurance and its policy and procedures uh I'd like to uh yield some time to the gentleman from Kentucky if he'd like to use the time I have remaining I thank you thank you Mr chairman I just Echo and and fully agree with um the point that you're making that the amendment while well intentioned from M Velasquez from New York is is not necessary because uh the oversight plan has a robust provision for uh review of Deposit
▶ 3:27:11Insurance and let me assure her that uh I'm interested in this topic and um would be happy to work with her or any other member on either side of the aisle to examine how technological changes could increase the risk of Bank runs obviously uh the speed with which information and misinformation can be disseminated and the Advent of digital Banking and the the fact that um faster more costly bankrupts Bank runs can happen uh as a result of electronic transfer of funds
▶ 3:27:42is is worthy of of our oversight I will note that as we look at options of Reform whether it's Depo private Deposit Insurance uh more Deposit Insurance tools like interi uh targeted enhanced coverage for business transaction accounts requiring collateralization of large uninsured deposits any of these things we should always always remember that enhancing Deposit Insurance there's trade-offs with that and the trade-off that I would just submit in the remaining time here that
▶ 3:28:12we should all worry about is the moral hazard that would actually increase Bank risk risk- taking and this is to quote the the uh the Gruenberg FDIC which which in their report post svb said moral hazard is the incentive to take on greater risk as a result of being protected from the consequences of risk-taking since insured depositors face no risk of loss when you have un unlimited Deposit Insurance and little incent to withdraw funds my time as Expos risks can expand so
▶ 3:28:42why I yield back uh the gentleman yields back is there a any further debate on this amendment Mr chair I move to strike the last word gentleman from Michigan's recognized for five minutes thank you my my good friend from Kentucky was on a roll and I wanted to give him a moment to finish that I'll be I'll be brief just in finishing the thought I I I want to finish the gruin quoting the Gruenberg FDIC report about what the risks associated with unlimited Deposit Insurance or increasing depos Deposit
▶ 3:29:12Insurance could be again moral hazard and what the F I said and I think a very well balanced and very excellent report was that since insured depositors face no risk of loss and little incentive to withdraw funds risks and embedded losses can sometimes build over time at Banks funded largely by insured deposits therefore changes to Deposit Insurance must consider both the financial stability benefits of more coverage and the
▶ 3:29:42PO on the downside the possible implications for risk-taking in the banking system so um I will so I but let me just finish the point so while it's important to review this issue and I'm willing to work with the gentle lady on reviewing the issue in our subcommittee especially in the context of svb there are tradeoffs to how we uh consider reforms in this area a y well I I'm not talking just a moment it's it's my time so reclaim reclaiming my time I
▶ 3:30:12don't know if the gentle lady is looking for time for me well uh you can have 30 seconds yeah first I am not uh talking about unlimited uh Deposit Insurance or any specific proposal what I'm saying is that the broad language on the oversight plan on the reauthorization doesn't address runs on uninsured deposits and that we need to look at the failures that led to the
▶ 3:30:432023 uh Bank banking crisis uh so reclaiming my time uh having been chairman of the oversight and investigation subcommittee last Congress which did look into that and now also produced a report alongside with what the FDI C did as my friend from Kentucky was uh was talking about uh here's one problem with this what we're not going to be able to fix which is Silicon Valley Bank was mismanaged but it was the cool place to bank if you were a tech company
▶ 3:31:14that's why you had all of these people move all of their payroll and all of their loans and by the way it wasn't just loans for their tech companies it was the loan so that they could go buy the overpriced Vineyard in Napa Valley and wherever else so that they could have the the cache of having Silicon Valley Bank on their mortgage on their checks on their uh bank accounts on their credit cards uh and that is a problem I I would agree with the gentleman and now being a new member of the financial institutions
▶ 3:31:44uh which I'm very excited to work with my new chairman on um I think this is something that we do need to examine uh I too look forward to working with the chairman and yourself on uh on that particular issue having had Fairly in-depth uh discussions over the last two years about some of those so um unless the chairman uh cares for any more time uh I will yield back Mr chairman Thank You Is there further
▶ 3:32:15discussion or debate on this amendment if not does the gentleman from Texas like withraw my reserve on this point of order Mr session withdraws his point of order there's no further debate or discussion the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from New York all those in favor of the amendment say I I those opposed say no no in the opinion of the chair knows have it and the knows have it the amendment is not agreed to a recorded vote has been requested
▶ 3:32:45on all those in favor of record vote please raise your hands sufficient number having raised their hands a record vote is so ordered without objection further proceedings on this amendment are postponed Is there further Amendment or debate on the oversight plan Dr Foster has got an amendment at the desk we'll wait for it to be distributed yeah yeah I'm GNA let him do this because I'm G to go e
▶ 3:33:15Lucas is thank you so much
▶ 3:34:05have all members received the amendment Mr chairman uh for what purposes the gentleman from Texas he recognition i' like to reserve a point of order against this uh Amendment objection point of order is reserved uh the uh gentleman from Illinois Mr fost sorry the clerk will report an amendment to the oversight Plan offered by Mr
▶ 3:34:36Foster without objection the amendment will be considered as read in the gentleman from Illinois Mr Foster is recognized for 5 minutes in support of his Amendment thank you Mr chair um as many of you know I'm a manufacturer uh when I was a teenager my little brother and I started a company that now manufactures the majority of the electronic stage lighting equipment in the US employs over a thousand uh workers in the Midwest and we export a large fraction of what we um you know so
▶ 3:35:06I spent a lot of my time talking to manufacturers in my district and around the country my amendment is a single sentence that adds a little I believe needed specificity in the subjects to be covered under monetary policy as it relates to price stability uh this is obviously on the top of Mind of the electorate as well as businesses and especially manufacturing businesses around the country um the net effect of tariffs for example is not obvious and it cuts both ways it's well known to the business community at least
▶ 3:35:36that in the previous Republican Administration uh there are tariff policies through the United States into a manufacturing recession over a year before tot before to covid even hit um and it also hammered the farm economy with over2 billion do in taxpayer funded bailouts required just to keep Farmers heads above water uh the second point I think that deserves specific recognition is Central Bank Independence if you look around the world at countries uh which are in macroeconomic
▶ 3:36:07chaos I won't name names but you all know what they are a common threat here is a non-independent federal bank and this is a federal this is a central bank bank that does the bidding of politicians and according to their needs in the next election rather than uh the the independent monetary policy they should be uh following and and this I know has been a in the past a very strong bipartisan issue I know that the the member who uh whose picture is up on the wall there during his time wanted to reduce the federal reserve's
▶ 3:36:37monetary uh role to reading a simple formula which is sort of the ultimate Independence and I think going too far but this is something that is really important um to manufacturers uh specifically um and so I just you know this is a one- sentence addition it's fairly straightforward and I think it would be a mistake for us not to look around the corner at the sort of threats that were that are already um you know being raised against uh what will end up being really important to the performance of our economy
▶ 3:37:08um that's pretty much it and then yield back gentlemen yields back does anybody else seek uh recognition for what purposes the gentleman from Kentucky seek recognition to move the strike strike the last word gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you very much appreciate my friend from Illinois and his focus on monetary policy and price stability I do um uh oppose the gentleman's Amendment just because it's it's really covered by the existing oversight plan and I would uh uh just point
▶ 3:37:38to the the broad language that's in the oversight plan on monetary policy um um that that already exists and then I'd also uh point the gentleman to the uh to the resolution offered by chairman Hill creating the task force on monetary policy and in many respects um because we have this special task force that will be able led by chairman Lucas uh we're going to have even more focus on uh the issues
▶ 3:38:08that representative Foster raises um so looking at the resolution under Section 32 an examination of the federal reserve's dual mandate that's going to be part of the the remit of the task force uh subsection five the impact of the Federal Reserve its monetary policy on all sectors and elements within the economy uh so uh certainly uh the gentleman's the the the the thrust of the gentleman's amendment is certainly encompassed by
▶ 3:38:38both the existing oversight plan would the gentleman yield for a moment I will I will just let me finish the the point point then I will um let me just say one word about the gentleman's focus on Independence of the Federal Reserve I think it's very important in the context of that argument that we uh that we distinguish between the independence of the FED with respect to the conduct of monetary policy and the so-called Independence of the FED when it comes to the supervisory and Regulatory functions of the
▶ 3:39:09FED um Congress did in fact and and Amplified them in the Dodd Frank law give the Fed a supervisory and Regulatory authorities maybe that's appropriate maybe it's not but there should be absolutely definitively no fed Independence when it comes to the conduct of regulatory and supervisory functions of the Federal Reserve it is no different than the OCC the FDIC or any of the other Prudential Regulators that should always always always in a democracy
▶ 3:39:40be accountable to the American people through their elected representatives in Congress the the argument of fed Independence does apply to monetary policy but make it's important for us to make that distinction uh that when it comes to regulatory policies the FED needs to be accountable and transparent and now I'll yield to the gentleman from Illinois yeah certainly yeah I first off I agree with your point that the the supervisory stuff um is intrinsically should be subject to
▶ 3:40:10political um supervision uh monetary policy is what um I was was focusing on this you know I'm I'm frankly very disturbed by some of the comments by our our new president that he believes that he should have a voice in interest rates this is not okay because the if you look at what's happened in countries where the president has ordered the central bank to manipulate interest rates in some way it has been a disaster and so I think that we have to all come together um to uh to make sure that we maintain
▶ 3:40:40that that true independ well I'll reclaim my time and accept the gentleman's point I only thing I would say is that uh the president of the United States was elected in large part because of the inflation crisis and today because of overspending because of unwise fiscal recklessness uh the bond market is telling the American people that uh a higher yield will be required to sell us treasuries
▶ 3:41:10that impacts the very people who elected Donald Trump president the United States mortgage rates are 7% in this country credit card debt is the highest ever and the rates that people are paying with those credit card rates are reflected in that auto loan uh interest is high and so the president and the political leadership in his cabinet that are responsible for economic policy including the treasury secretary have every right to comment on interest rate policy in America
▶ 3:41:42and of of course the Federal Reserve is independent with respect to the conduct of monetary policy but the idea that the American people who elected Donald Trump do not expect Donald Trump to have an opinion about interest rates interest rates that affect their bottom line and the affordability of everything the American people want fiscal responsibility that's what the message of the election was they want inflation to come down they want the cost of credit to come down and so president Trump is merely responding to that electoral mandate
▶ 3:42:12by saying hey let's get our fiscal monetary policies right and bring down the cost of credit so that Americans can once again afford a mortgage I think that is perfectly legitimate and is not in any way compromising of fed monetary Independence y gentleman's time has expired anybody else that seeks recognition for what purposes of ranking member seek recognition yes I move to strict the last word gentle lady has granted five minutes
▶ 3:42:43I want to thank our financial in institution subcommittee ranking member representative St Foster for offering this amendment consumers and small businesses are rightfully concern that the administration's plans for new tariffs could significantly increase the prices they pay for goods small businesses know that these tariffs are not paid by foreign countries as president has claimed but instead function as a tax on them and
▶ 3:43:13their customers the president has indicated new tariffs would kick in as soon as February 1st just a few days from now and they could apply not only to China but to our neighbors in Canada and Mexico too to the extent we have a new task force examining monetary policy we should comprehensively look at tariffs and other policies like mass deportations that could impact
▶ 3:43:44the fed's ability to combat inflation and ensure unemployment stays low for example under Trump's proposed Mass deportations experts have warned that the US rely even more on Imports if those Imports are more expensive cost Skyrocket moreover there have been a lot of threats thrown
▶ 3:44:14around about undermining the independence of the FED we should also examine how fed's Independence has been critical to their ability to fulfill their dual Mandate of promoting price stability and maximum employment indeed the fed's independence has played a central role in promoting long-term economic growth for more than a century in this country given past threats directed at the FED that the president has made and in light of his many misguided policies that
▶ 3:44:44could drive D up the cost of groceries we should serve as a check and balance to the president that the nation's Founders intended and consider these important issues ladies and gentlemen this is serious stuff and all of the experts all of the experts have warned us that if the president moves on increasing the tarff that is going to increase the cost of goods uh and services that we pay
▶ 3:45:15here uh in the United States now you should know the president by now you should know that the president often times make statements that he really perhaps doesn't understand himself or he doesn't really believe remember what he said about Mexico going to make them pay for the wall that was being built but no we're paying for that and so I just use that as a slight example but we're about
▶ 3:45:45to start a trade war with our neighbors with our neighbors Mexico and Canada what is this all about I know he wants to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America he wants to take back the Panama Canal give me a break do you guys really believe all this stuff I tell you the FED is extraordinarily important they do an indepth job of analysis they have all of the information that flows
▶ 3:46:15to them on a daily basis and they know and understand what their job is I want to tell you I know the president would like to take over the fed the Federal Reserve but I want you to know that he cannot do that if we have the members of Congress deciding the mandates that the feds have it would be a total mess for all of us to be involved in what we think about whether or not the interest rates
▶ 3:46:45should go up or should go down it would get political and so members why don't you just on the opposite side of the a put a letter together to the president and ask him to hold off on uh increasing the tariffs on our neighbors and ask him to allow you and the committee here in ways and means and others to take a deep look at this stuff before we get into a lot of trouble with that I yield back the balance of my time ranking member yields back is there any further discussion
▶ 3:47:15on the debate on this amendment sorry Green from Texas if not uh if not does the gentleman from Texas uh insist on his point of order Mr chairman I withw point of order Mr chairman Green from Texas would like to strike the last word uh okay uh I will note that votes have been called but not you have you certainly have your time so with that the gentleman from Texas is recognized thank you I yield to Mr yeah I just wanted to finish quickly a couple of points um it is um my impression that there
▶ 3:47:46that tariffs I think are not mentioned uh in in the the plan and they really should be I mean there is if you look at what's published on the theory of optimal tariffs in macroeconomic policy it is not a small subject and it is very important on this and I think if you get tariffs wrong you can really damage economy i s think we saw that frankly in a big way in the manufacturing and farm sectors in the in the last Republican Administration and I think we want to understand if we're going to repeat those policies we're going to have to defend
▶ 3:48:16ourselves against the same damage that we saw previously um and so that that's and I I believe it's not even mentioned in any of the texts including the the text to form the new uh task force and so I think that's really something that we would make a mistake if we did not focus on and understand particularly if those policies start being implemented um And in regards to Central Bank Independence you know the the explanation that my my colleague gave of how everyone would love low interest rates is a perfect example
▶ 3:48:46of why you don't want politicians deciding interest rates because the way a very common way for economies to go off the rails is that um politicians decide everyone would be happier with low interest rates they Strongarm or or Jawbone the the Fed chair to lower interest rates and then the economy overheats and inflation gets out of control and it doesn't end well for those countries and so we really have to maintain a a really strong firewall um and in in the past we had a strong bipartisan
▶ 3:49:17consensus to do this I you know I was sort of distressed to see my one of the members across the aisle when we had uh chair Powell in front of our our committee um criticized President Biden for not meeting frequently with him uh which sounds like that was Biden behaving himself and giving him free reign to do what he thought was best and the fact that this was a a defect of the Biden presidency as opposed to something that we should be proud of in a president that OD the importance of Independence is I think
▶ 3:49:47it's an important point and um so that that was the the major point of of my simple amendment I urge everyone to support it reclaiming my time I now yield to the ranking member uh thank you very much uh I was trying to make a point about the representations that uh the president makes about um money and revenue and the FED Etc Mr Green has a price of groceries gone down uh as the president promised the
▶ 3:50:17American citizens he was going to make them be reduced has he done that have not gone down and my constituents pay more attention to the supermarket than the stock market i y i yield back chairman gentleman yields back uh I the gentleman from uh Pennsylvania on purpose I'd like to yield one minute to gentleman strikes the last word last gentleman strike the last word is was recognized for five minutes thank you than thank Mr
▶ 3:50:47chairman I'd like to yield one minute to Andy Bar I think my friend from Pennsylvania and I'll be very brief I just want to point out to the gentleman from Illinois who is right to point out the importance of trade policy and the fact that we've been ripped off by some of our adversaries and even uh face some unfair Trade Practices from allies and and and friends in Europe right now that uh that international trade is well within the jurisdiction of our uh committee rules and I would point to page 16 of
▶ 3:51:1726 in our rules where um uh we have jurisdiction over International Trade including but not limited to the activities of the export import Bank uh and rest assured I will be raising the issue of uh the your the proposed Snapback sanctions of the EU on Kentucky bourbon so in our in our committee and so I'll I'll work with the gentleman on trade issues uh in this Congress and and would just just reference the fact that we have that jurisdiction we share that jurisdiction
▶ 3:51:47with the Ways and Means Committee and I'm happy to assert it in a bipartisan way with with my friend from Illinois I yield back I yield the remainder of my time the gentleman from Pennsylvania yields back but the chair will note that anything that messes with Kentucky bourbon definitely has Mr Bar's attention so we we know that um all right uh is there any further debate uh or discussion uh if not the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Illinois Mr Foster all those in favor of the amendment say
▶ 3:52:18I I and those opposed say no and then the opinion of the chair the NOS have it the NOS have it uh and the amendment is not to the gentleman from Illinois requests a recorded vote for all uh all those in favor of a recorded vote please raise their hands seeing sufficient number uh raised hands the recorded vote is order and without objection further proceedings on the amendment are are we gon to go vote um the uh the chair would note that the previous announcement
▶ 3:52:49uh that we do per our previous announcements that the uh committee will recess uh for two votes on the house floor uh that are occurring right now and the chair would encourage members to return promptly and uh the the previous quarter I'm sorry previous question is ordered on the pending uh the Amendments and the committee now stands in
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▶ 4:44:26already so I I I quickly Googled it and then found a report that someone had on then I that information in one of these AI I'm like summarizing all right members we're about to begin the committee comes to order we're going to return to the oversight plan and we are going to consider an amendment
▶ 4:44:57discuss y Is there further Amendment or discussion on the oversight plan Goman from Michigan's recognized uh Mr chair I have an amendment at the desk we'll pause while the copies of the amendment are distributed Mr chairman I reserve a point of order the gentoman
▶ 4:45:27has reserved a point of order
▶ 4:46:09thank you let's pause just uh I believe we've had the wrong Amendment distributed it's debank this one is on uh Deb banking yeah this is represent to Le parentheses Deb banking
▶ 4:46:39is the oversight plan amendment that should have been distributed we'll continue our pause what could go wrong
▶ 4:47:35do members have the proper Amendment the clerk warport an amendment to the oversight Plan offered by Miss TB without objection Amendment will be considered as red the general woman from Michigan Mr Le is recognized for five minutes in support of her Amendment thank you so much Mr chair I'm offering this amendment uh to promote Equitable access to our financial system for people of all faiths and all ethnic backgrounds I know across
▶ 4:48:05the country individuals Charities and businesses have experienced trouble opening a bank account maintaining their account or sending re or receiving payments based on religion or national origin U Mr chair these are Americans and uh you know there are specific categories of people that now are being denied the most basic Financial Services because Banks see them as quote high quote high risk this discri this is discrimination of American people plain and simple
▶ 4:48:35I know um for many of my residents we call it um in many cases ining while Muslim I know Reverend cever and I have been working very hard to try to push back against financial institutions again they're implementing these policies that are discriminatory in practice a recent poll found that one that more than one out of four Muslim Americans reported challenges while banking the oversight plan discusses the potential for Regulators to misuse their authority to
▶ 4:49:05quote de Bank individuals or businesses these are many of them our residents many many of them are longtime business owners in our communities I know digital asset firms are singled out for particular concern however the plan the plan is silent on ethnic racial and religious discrimination carried out by financial institutions who debank individuals or organizations and Mr chair if the committee wants to take de banking seriously I really truly believe it must investigate the issue in full this is
▶ 4:49:35the motivation for my Amendment um and the intent again to make sure that Americans have aable access no matter their faith or ethnic background and I ask that we can explore these debank and abuses by financial institutions um not just Financial Regulators with that Mr chair I yield back the gentleman yields back the gentleman from Wisconsin the chair of the digital assets Financial technology and artificial intelligence sub Mr Styles recognized for five minutes thank you very much uh Mr chairman I thank my colleague Mr
▶ 4:50:06Le for bringing up uh this amendment and let me just say I absolutely share the concern um of Institutions being debanked in particular those by the Biden Administration in choke point 2.0 uh with their aggressive approach uh against financial institutions engaged uh in the digital Assets in crypto space uh as well as the Obama Administration in choke point 1.0 uh which directly went after American second amendment rights the good
▶ 4:50:36news is uh under the leadership of Republicans in this commit committee uh will be able to have a robust oversight plan uh to look at the abuses of not only uh the historical abuses of the Obama Administration choke point 1.0 uh but the the potentially gross abuse uh of the Biden Administration uh in choke point 2.0 uh is related uh to the digital asset space and the good news is uh under the oversight plan as laid out uh we'll
▶ 4:51:06have the robust opportunity uh to explore uh the concerns that my colleague from Michigan has uh but probably more importantly uh an opportunity to really look uh at how businesses uh I think and as noted in the amendment as businesses are denied access or to be debanked from the financial system uh which there is significant evidence uh that that occurred uh under the Biden Administration again as related uh to digital assets in the crypto space just as it occurred in choke point
▶ 4:51:361.0 uh as it related to gross abuses of Americans second amendment that said the oversight plan allows us to do not only that uh but to look further and I think the well-worded uh plan as set forward by the committee uh makes this amendment uh unnecessary although I appreciate uh the concern being raised uh that there were significant uh abuses uh by the previous administration uh and look forward to uh that type of oversight being conducted
▶ 4:52:06uh under Republican uh guidance and the majority uh here in this committee so appreciate the amendment I think it's not needed uh but appreciate the spirit in which it was offered Mr chairman a back jman y's back uh the chair recognizes the ranking member from California Miss waters for five minutes thank you I move to stri the last word uh I want to thank our colleague representative Talib uh for offering this amendment to improve the committee's oversight plan the oversight plan already discusses
▶ 4:52:36concerns about operation choke point so something I'm sympathetic to but this amendment clarifies we should look at all situations where individuals and businesses have trouble accessing banking services or where they have accounts Frozen or closed with little explanation while there are concerns about what Regulators communicate with their banks that we should examine closely we also must consider actions that financial
▶ 4:53:07institutions take on their own unfortunately there's been a long history of discrimination in banking where people of color have had less access or more expensive access to financial products and services this is a multifaceted issue that warrants a comprehensive bipar review so I urge members to support this amendment let me just say uh Mr chairman and members I I I strongly support this legislation and I want you to know that representative KH
▶ 4:53:37is absolutely correct let's look at at other uh instances where um the depositors and citizens of this country are being denied their access to banking services you know I am absolutely join with some of the members on the opposite side of the Alle as we look at choke point I just think chokepoint is awful and that people are denied Services
▶ 4:54:07their banking services are cut off and nobody tells them why you don't have anywhere to go to ask why' you do this but meanwhile people suffer if you're business and uh you can't get banking services and you're a victim of choke point you could lose your business and the other thing is I you know I think some banks on their own having nothing to do with Regulators are holding people's checks far too long and people need that money and so I
▶ 4:54:38agree not only wholeheartedly with this but I really want us to work together to see what we can do to improve banking services to both individuals and to businesses and I yield back gentlem yields back I recognize myself for five minutes want to thank the gentoman from Michigan for her Amendment and for her Focus uh particularly on uh how individuals and businesses may or may not be denied access to financial systems including
▶ 4:55:08in a discriminatory way and I appreciate the ranking member too talking about uh her U agreement with the majority particularly on this de banking issue where people don't even know why they were turned away for financial services and they're really two sides of the same coin but in the ones uh I think highlighted by Mr Lee's uh Amendment we have strict laws prohibiting it and we have strict oversight responsibilities
▶ 4:55:38in this committee to investigate it as we talked about earlier this morning in regard to Mr Green's Amendment race color religion sex familial status and national origin or protected classes she particularly mentioned religion in her uh discussion of her Amendment and uh we have that in my judgment in the oversight plan quite clearly that we are to uh look at that for example access to financial services is a key component of the oversight plan
▶ 4:56:08and it includes uh looking at any issues about the effectiveness of regulators Fair lending oversight and enforcement efforts just to name one of several throughout the document so I I don't believe that the amendment uh is necessary and I would urge members to vote against it but we agree I think ranking member that uh mysterious uh debank is something this committee will definitely look at and has looked at in the last Congress and this committee stands opposed to illegal discrimination
▶ 4:56:39on the basis of uh will the Gent y so I'm going to I will yield for a moment yes all right I'll yield to you for a moment yes uh let me just say this this bill gives us the opportunity to do everything you just said and everything that I'm concerned about this bill I would ask you to reconsider whether or not you can support it because if we really want to get into this area of whether or not we can improve
▶ 4:57:10bank and services we're all concerned about it we're concerned about small businesses we're concerned about chokepoint we're concerned about discrimination why don't we take this bill as a way by which to move forward with it and get into those issues with both sides contributing and working together to get it done so I would simply ask the chair to reconsider your recommendation and let's get this bill passed so that we have something
▶ 4:57:40to work with to get on with what we all care about how you back I thank the gentleman I reclaim my time and I'll say uh just in response let's work together on this effective oversight plan and the charges that we've given these subcommittees to do exactly that our financial institution subcommittee has the full ability to uh assess uh if there's any evidence of discrimination in the financial services space and and to ask our regulators and supervisors what they're doing about it and our oversight committee
▶ 4:58:10led by Mr muser is going to be robustly investigating the whole concept of debank therefore again I urge members to vote no on the amendment but uh we appreciate the partnership on looking at Deb banking from multiple angles now yield back the balance of my time is there any further uh discussion or debate on the amendment if not does the gentleman uh General woman from Missouri withdraw her point of order yes yes uh Mr Wagner withdraws her point of
▶ 4:58:41order uh if there's no further debate or discussion the question now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from uh Michigan all those in favor of the amendment please say I I all those opposed say no no in the opinion chair the NOS have it the knows have the amendment is not agreed to uh a recorded vote has been requested all those in favor of recorded vote please raise your hands sufficient number having raised their hands a a recorded vote is so ordered without objection for the proceedings on Amendment are
▶ 4:59:11postponed Is there further discussion or amendment to our oversight plan the gentoman gentoman from Ohio is uh recognized Mr chairman I have an amendment at the desk Miss batty has an amendment at the desk we'll pause for it to be distributed
▶ 5:00:08Mr chairman uh Mr session i' ask to reserve point of order on the gentlem from Texas reserves a point of order on the batty Amendment do do all members have a copy of the amendment the clerk will report the amendment an amendment to the oversight Plan offered by Mrs batty
▶ 5:00:38without objection Amendment we be considered as red the Goman from Ohio is recognized for 5 minutes to support her Amendment thank you Mr chairman let me first congratulate you as chair and ranking member uh Waters and her position and thank you for the National Security uh committee and my having the honor to serve as ranking member Mr chairman my Amendment to the oversight plan would add a paragraph stipulating that the committee would continue
▶ 5:01:09to monitor fedal Federal Regulations Federal Regulators efforts to implement diversity requirements of the died Frank act as you will recall for two congresses this committee has had a dedicated subcommittee on diversity and inclusion even last congress former chair mchenry's oversight plan actually included this exact same language Mr chairman uh as you opened up the committee you took time to introduce the new members and said
▶ 5:01:39where they were from the diversity of their different geographical uh areas and certainly I appreciate your opening remarks where you said uh we would work in a bipartisan fashion and even your words that said that our work will be authored and measured by the entire uh committee so I am hoping that words matter however as it stands the proposed oversight plan for the 119th Congress strips this provision and makes no
▶ 5:02:09Miss whatsoever of diversity and inclusion in financial services my colleagues on this committee know well the importance of representation from Financial firms access to capital for diverse owned firms and economic opportunities for everyone in America these consequential matters absolutely deserve the time and attention of this Committee in previous years many of my colleagues across the AL were on the record supporting
▶ 5:02:39in congressional oversight efforts to ensure that every American has equal access to financial services and has the tools that they need to build a brighter future for themselves and families there is substantial evidence showing that representation in equal opportunity adds value and improves performance and a proven record of success when conduct when we conduct appropriate oversight of dni in financial services
▶ 5:03:10it is clear that we must continue this effort contrary to the false fear-mongering divisive lies told by our President and Vice President about Dei the point of these programs and initiatives is to ensure that every American has a fair shot at a brighter future that's Rural America that's Urban American that's for Farmers that's for business folks is for everyone it is outrageous
▶ 5:03:40and quite frankly Mr chairman it is unamerican to suggest otherwise facts do in fact matter this country continues to see significant wealth inequities we saw a little bit of that just a few days ago wider gender and racial wage gaps and disproportionately high poverty rates for certain groups relative to others Mr chairman just two days ago
▶ 5:04:11into the new Administration these devastating executive orders are undoing ye undoing years of progress in putting this country on a dangerous declining path a path in businesses many people in here are small businesses people talk about our economy when people are going to get a notice and they're losing their jobs because they provided some diversity that they made us be
▶ 5:04:41the democracy and the America that we are and in this committee when we're talking about access to Capital when we're talking about Freer capital and now we're going to say that because you are female or because you are of color or because you are rural or because you are from a different culture that you lose your job and this is America this is a democracy it is just very hard for me to digest
▶ 5:05:11that in the same breath we will talk about Capital markets in the same breath we will talk about fair housing in the same breath we will be leaders to talk about making sure that we protect our investments and that we are not making an investment in our people so let me say to my constituents and to the individuals across this country because yes America is watching who are disgusted and disappointed by this administration's
▶ 5:05:41actions still know that you have allies in this Congress who will fight for you and will fight for your rights I ask my colleagues to support this amendment and I yield back the general woman yields back uh chair recognizes the Goman from Missouri the chair of the subcommittee of capital markets Miss wagon for five minutes than thank you Mr chairman very much and um I I want to recognize and thank my good friend and colleague from Ohio uh
▶ 5:06:12Miss batty whom I've worked with for uh years on so many uh issues here and let me be very clear that ensuring that all Americans have access to financial products and services is a goal that we all share and and frankly markets naturally produce diversity um they're not centrally planned uh and controll and let me just highlight a few places
▶ 5:06:42where this is already captured U Mr chairman in the oversight plan and I I I want to quote verbatim uh from the oversight plan quote the committee will examine ways to expand access to mainstream Financial Services among traditionally underserved segments of the US population next point the committee will review efforts to promote greater financial literacy among consumers and the general
▶ 5:07:13public next quote the committee will review the existing regulatory framework for licensing and overseeing Innovative products and services and will examine what legislative changes may be needed to promote Financial Innovation and then again directly from the oversight plan Mr chairman the committee will review efforts to achieve greater Innovations and efficiencies in the payments system these ideals
▶ 5:07:44are also embedded in the foundation of our subcommittee jurisdictions and just to highlight a few Mr chairman in our our Capital Market subcommittee and I quote again directly from this package the in um uh initiatives to protect investor interest and to promote investor confidence in Market integrity and provide greater access to investment opportunities in our financial institutions subcommittee and I quote consumers
▶ 5:08:15access consumer access to financial services as well as consumer access to savings accounts and checking accounts in financial institutions in the digital assets the the general lady no I'm going to finish right now thank you very much in the digital assets Financial technology and artificial intelligence subcommittee with a focus on firms providing Innovative Consumer Financial products and services
▶ 5:08:45and given the broad jurisdiction of our remaining subcommittees these ideals Mr chairman are captured this approach I think reflects a forward looking perspective uring that the subc commities are equipped to Foster Financial inclusion we are backing our words with action by embracing the
▶ 5:09:15very technologies that can expand access to financial services at scale this committee is fully committed to ensuring access to financial services for Americans which is reflected in our oversight plan which I highlighted at the very beginning of my remarks and for these reasons uh I urge members to vote no on this amendment
▶ 5:09:46and I believe I was going to yield the rest of my time to uh to Mr Davidson I think the general lady and I think there only lady from Ohio is a great colleague and just a passionate defender of much of the jurisdiction of our committee I do feel she mischaracterized some of the things that President Trump has done with with his executive orders and frankly the intent of our oversight plan uh we clearly want uh A system that treats
▶ 5:10:16everyone fairly and equally under the law and that is the point we've we've decided under this Dei Mantra to frankly discriminate against people and the reality is Donald Trump has undone that decades long bad practice to try to go for something that our country really is founded on is Merit and that's embraced in our national motto one of them anyway urum out of many one and I think my colleague refers to an idea that you just have
▶ 5:10:46urbus pabus out of many many you just stay divided because that's the point of a lot of these things is not to heal Old Wounds not to provide a Sav for Injustice in the past but to keep those wounds raw and unhealed and I hope that we move forward in a way that provides great opportunities for our country and I yield back the I you back Mr Wagner's time has expired the chair now recognizes the general woman from California the ranking member Mr waters for five
▶ 5:11:19minutes thank you very much um Mr chairman and members I am almost speechless and overwhelmed uh by the opposition uh to diversity and inclusion amendment which would allow the committee to monitor Federal Regulators efforts to implement the diversity requirements outlined in the nodf Frank act seeks to restore
▶ 5:11:49a provision that was agreed upon by Republicans just last Congress let's be clear agencies under this committee's jurisdiction are required by law to take affirmative steps to promote diversity in their Workforce Force at all levels it is the responsibility of Congress to ensure proper oversight of this critical work despite the law just
▶ 5:12:20yesterday the Trump Administration required get this all federal employees in diversity equity and inclusion roles must be placed on Leave paid leave by 5:00 p.m.
▶ 5:12:36tomorrow and that all Dei program be removed I don't I don't even know what this means absolutely all federal employees in diversity equity and inclusion roles who are these people that are literally going to be paced on leave furthermore just moments ago Trump signed a third anti- Dei executive order that re would revoke a
▶ 5:13:061936 executive order Banning discrimination in federal hiring this is not just an abandonment of Duty it's a direct insult to the law and to the Committees and the uh communities we serve the do Frank Act was enacted in response to the Reckless banking practices regulatory failures and predatory lending that triggered the United States economic crisis
▶ 5:13:37these abuses dis support proportionately harmed people of color women persons with disability yes and the lgbtq individuals despite the safeguards introduced through dodf Frank systemic inequities persist minority and women-owned businesses for example face disproportionate challenges in securing capital and federal contracts the racial and gender wealth Gap and pay inequities
▶ 5:14:07are Stark reminders that our financial system is far from Equitable last Congress the past chair publicly committed to examining Dei throughout the committee's work unfortunately this commitment proved to be a little more than lip service this Congress Republicans are not even pretending it is clear that they are following marching artist from their bosses president Trump and co-president musk this abandonment sends a dangerous message that
▶ 5:14:37black and brown Americans women lgbtq individuals and people with disabilities do not deserve the same access to Opportunities and resources as their white male counterparts during the ensuring the Federal Regulations fulfill their Dei obligations this is not a partis an issue it is a matter of Justice economic fairness and compliance with the law and so I sit here as an African-American woman an African-American woman with an amendment
▶ 5:15:08talking about getting rid of our families our grandchildren our great grandchildren people in this country who have been a part of slavery helping to build this country who still denied the equal opportunities we don't make as M money as white people we don't own as much as white people we don't have the opportunities things are not open and I'm supposed to sit here and nicely say oh that's not nice this is
▶ 5:15:38hell produced by the president of the United States of America and his co-president this is outrageous this is absolutely outrageous and I've got 30 seconds left and all I can say is I will not sit here day in and day out and listen to this crap without calling it what it is and members that's your president and that's your co-president but I'm going to gear in on
▶ 5:16:09everything that's done with this kind of racism and discrimination while I sit here and the other minorities sit here and listen to this crap gentle lady yields back for what purposes the gentle lady from uh Texas seek recognition Mr chair I move to strike the last word uh the uh uh gentle lady is recognized for five minutes thank you Mr chairman well I too will not just sit here
▶ 5:16:39and listen I think it's important for us to recognize uh that an executive order just because a sign doesn't mean it's going to hold up it doesn't mean anything will happen to it uh the dotf Frank Act is law I think we need to make sure that we continue uh to fight and make sure uh that it is fully implemented as intended uh I want to thank Miss batty for her passion on this issue um I finally remember being your
▶ 5:17:09your um Vice ranking me me uh co-chair of the um diversity inclusion committee you put a lot of time into doing this and I think the bottom line um as chairwoman wat said it's about equality and justice for all it's really very simple I really don't know why three letters d eii just scares people on the other side of the aisle scares the White House it's not even a four-letter
▶ 5:17:40word it's just three letters so with that I I urge my colleagues to vote for this amendment I yield the balance of my time to my colleague and friend representative batty thank you congresswoman uh Garcia uh let me say to uh my colleague on the other side congresswoman uh Wagner um for using her time to actually read me the oversight plan and for the record let me just say clearly I read it uh and let me use my time uh to say
▶ 5:18:10that I read it and that was one of the reasons that I wanted to make sure that we protected diversity let me also give Clarity based on her remarks and others that what this amendment is doing is asking to put diversity uh efforts requirements back into what is already law because it's in the died Frank act and and secondly words matter I say that every day and and Mr chairman I applaud you
▶ 5:18:40for the gift for me to uh chronal lie and and journal my journey here and I'm gonna dedicate this book to writing about Dei every time I come into this committee I'm gonna put you on notice I don't care what the topic is I'm GNA put your districts on notice I'm going to make this my commitment because I get a card here that says to me that we're going to work on policies that will make our nation stronger well this nation was built on
▶ 5:19:10slaves who gave their lives and built many of the buildings that they live in this nation was built on women who breastfed your children and did other thing and you're going to send me a card to say make our nation stronger and then stand here and take exception to putting diversity and equity and inclusion why would you be so afraid it doesn't eliminate anyone we're not picking people people who aren't scholarly
▶ 5:19:41and then you're going to tell me to make Freer Capital markets and then here's the last one to enter into the records I want this document Mr chairman entered into the records that we're going to offer more choices in people's personal Pursuit of Happiness on the same day this President of the United States is laying people off because they were qualified but they happen to be of color they happened to be female well I'm going to tell you that is
▶ 5:20:11not acceptable to me I'm going to say to you that I ask you to take a look at your districts you took the same oath that I took you took a oath of office to serve all of the people we're not asking you to let someone keep their job because they're not qualified if you look at the people who are in these jobs are being laid off some of these folks are making the difference in those departments to
▶ 5:20:42give them lack of notice about their future and put this Mark on their resume how do they go look for another job and then explain I did all this great stuff but what am I supposed to say but because my gender was what it is I got removed look at this room and the people over here you know we got a vice president that got a black or brown wife you know so now when we look at talking about what we're standing for I saw them little pretty brown black
▶ 5:21:12babies that they marched across here so we're talking about our black and brown babies the same way you are destroying the future of our children it is genocide and you're going to hear it repeatedly from me every day I hope I make you as uncomfortable is this makes me and I yield back the gentle ladies time from Texas has expired is there any further discussion or debate on this amendment
▶ 5:21:42gentleman from Illinois for what purposes does he seek recognition comment on the amendment uh to mooves the gentleman moves to strike the last word the gentleman's recognized for five minutes um I guess I just want to I want to offer a little bit of history and maybe a little bit of empathy to my Republican colleagues gentleman suspend we've got to reset the clock okay
▶ 5:22:13the gentleman May resume so I just want my Republican colleagues to to hear me out for a second here um as a white dude as a pretty privileged white dude the there's been a lot of talk on this amendment and others about how of course we're going to uphold the law um this is already coded into place we're going to take care of it but you all got to understand you know I I hear that we were founded on the premise of E B Unum equal protection was not written into our Constitution
▶ 5:22:43that came with the 14th Amendment we were we were founded as a country where most people in this country could not even vote and we are now sitting here today in a world where this supreme court with judges appointed by Donald Trump are deeply hostile to the entirety of the 14th Amendment they nullified section three of the 14th Amendment so that Donald Trump could get on the ballot
▶ 5:23:14this Supreme Court determined essentially gutted the ability to have affirmative action under the provisions of the of the 14th Amendment arguing that it's okay for colleges to seek diversity in terms of regional distribution around the country in terms of academic interests in terms of a mix of jocks versus nerds but God forbid they seek diversity on a racial basis and now this new president has said that he wants to get rid of birth right cert Birthright
▶ 5:23:44citizenship which is the plain text of the 14th Amendment so what are we left with we're left with the equal protection clause in there if they succeed and all those things and you're asking us to listen and say well we're going to honor that we took an oath when we got this job just a few weeks ago to defend the Constitution not just the parts we like the whole thing so if we are going to have a good and constructive bipartisan
▶ 5:24:14term it costs you all nothing to Simply say that in this committee we are committed to equal regardless of what another person in a co-equal branch has to say I don't know why you wouldn't I hope that you will you'll back Mr chairman gentleman yields back for what purposes the gentleman from Texas seek recognition move to strike the gentleman is recognized
▶ 5:24:45for five minutes Mr chairman thank you very much um you know part of part of our responsibility in the majority is to listen but also part of our responsibility is to speak also perhaps to not defend positions but to add some some level of content I'm from Texas
▶ 5:25:15we have people that walk across the border every day just to have children in this country that is against the law we have people that fly to territories of the United States fly in just to have babies to get a an American passport to American whatever is offered I think
▶ 5:25:45what the president of the United States Donald Trump said is that in his executive order he would like to challenge the Congress and government agencies to look at this issue to be thoughtful about it to gather together some what I would call facts of the case what I would call ideas about about perhaps the misrepresentation how people are taking advantage of this I'm sick and tired
▶ 5:26:15of people come to this country and killing our Law Enforcement Officers has happened on to a board patol agent just a day or two ago I'm sick and tired of criminals loopholes in the benevolence that this country has I'm sick and tired of seeing politicians and people who will allow our federal law law enforcement and sheriffs that are isolated in Long in long a long way
▶ 5:26:45from their necessarily work location men and women who are out the beaten path trying to protect this great nation and I think it's worthy to be able to say that a country should be able to decide what its policies are other countries choose not to allow any anyone to become a citizen not allow anybody to come and work in their cities in their countries
▶ 5:27:16and yet others allow anybody to come but they can never become a citizen no matter what the country this country should make its own decision but I think it's a little uh shortsighted simply to take advantage of what I think the president said in his directive and and that was I think the way I read it is he wants us to look at the facts of the case and see what we think about it he's challenging
▶ 5:27:46Congress that's us and that's you too to take a look at the facts of the case and to see what would Merit looking at the policy and see if we need to change it this was done as a result of the Civil War the gentleman is correct but I don't think that it should mean that anybody that comes here under today's measures and conditions just because they step across
▶ 5:28:16the border to have a baby that that should make them an American so I think it's probably something that we need to occasionally stand up and just defend what the president said and also what we think is a good review and I appreciate the gentleman taking his time to uh provide his feedback because that is part of what this is about and certainly Mrs batty has done that
▶ 5:28:46and chair the chairwoman U from California our former chairman has done that same thing and you've articulated carefully and thoughtfully what your ideas are our job is to listen also but I think occasionally good reviews of policies where people take advantage of you is the right thing to do and so Mr chairman that's what I intend to do and I want to thank the gentleman for yielding time to me and I'll yield back my
▶ 5:29:19time the gentleman yields back uh for what purposes uh does the gentleman Mr licardo seek recognition thank you I'd like to move to strike the last word uh gentleman is recognized for five minutes thank you I'd like to yield my time to the ranking member thank you very much Mr Lardo I appreciate that let me straighten out something that the gentleman from Texas just said he kept talking about
▶ 5:29:49he thinks this is something the president of the United States wants us to look at what is he talking about look at this President required that all federal employees in diversity equity and inclusion roles must be placed on leave by 5:00 p.m.
▶ 5:30:10today and that all Dei programs be removed he didn't say he want you to look at it he's done it and and on top of that he went so far minutes ago signed a third anti Dei executive order that would revoke a 1936 executive order Banning discrimination Banning discrimination in federal hiring what are you talking about he wants us to
▶ 5:30:40look at this is no look gentle no I'm not it was to the other gentle not my time and I can't y you anything Mr Lardo don't yield him anything don't yield him a minute talking about look at you know what this says in addition to these people being put out today by 5:00 P p.m this says that my grandchildren my neighbors grandchildren all of my family's grandchildren all of the people
▶ 5:31:10of color all of the um disabled people all of the folk not just people comeing here to have babies stop that quit it this saying that they cannot be considered fairly and equally for a job in the federal government this would revoke a 1936 executive order Banning discrimination and federal hiring he want to do to us what he did he and
▶ 5:31:40his father did in discriminating against people not allowing them uh to rent their apartments in the buildings that they own he wants that kind of discrimination and so that's Miss information uh that he is giving out about wanting uh us to take a look at and I told you for every lie that's told for every attempt to re write history for every attempt
▶ 5:32:10to deny to discriminate I'm going to call it I don't care how much time it takes I'm going to ask the members here to do the same thing because this President and his co-president are about to undo the work of civil rights organizations and people of of good good thoughts and want to do good things correct the wrongs of our society historically they want to do undo all of that this is bold
▶ 5:32:41this is bad uh this is very harmful revoke a 1936 executive order Banning discrimination in federal hiring which means if you're my grandchild my great-grandchild seeks out a job and whomever has the responsibility for determining whether or not no matter what their education is no matter what their qualifications if they just decide that you can't have this federal job you can't have it that's discrimination
▶ 5:33:12and you think that we're supposed to sit here and take this well I hope that they will support your Amendment but they don't have the guts to do it they're going to do what Trump and they're going to do what Elon MOS tells them to do this is what we learned about them looking at all at 2025 which they deny this is what we've learned about what they've been talking about what the plan is and we've got to fight it with everything that we possibly can with every
▶ 5:33:42breath that we breathe we've got to fight it so you go ahead you go ahead and you vote against it you vote against it and to my used to be friend from Texas you're not my friend anymore okay I take it back no what you just did and what you just said and try to describe this as people coming over to have babies this is Hardcore discrimination the the chair will remind that all members MERS to direct their comments to the chair yeah that's it when you play fair
▶ 5:34:12I'll play fair and so I don't take back anything that I've said and I want you to know that I am extremely outraged I am extremely outraged that this would be an attempt just in few days of the inauguration to deny everybody who wants a job and who qualified for it to be Able's time has expired what gent's time has expired for what purposes a gentleman from Tennessee seek recog stri the last word
▶ 5:34:42gentleman's recognized for five minutes Mr chairman uh I would like to yield time to my friend and gentleman of impeccable character the gentleman from Texas Mr sessions uh I want to thank the gentleman and I would like to personally apologize if the gentle woman thought I was in reference to conversation about Dei about the ation of the things she spoke to us about and Miss batty spoke about as I said I think
▶ 5:35:12we have an obligation to listen my conversation was directly related back to the gentleman who spoke about Birthright citizenship and that was it those are two distinctly different executive orders and I I will be the first one to say Maxine Waters is my friend and I in no way intended to impune her nor Miss batty who I like very much and I want to respect them
▶ 5:35:43uh I have a Down syndrome child a disabled young man who's 31 years old I try and be very sensitive to those needs I have others in my family but through marriage that may not exactly correspond to the way I live my life and they live their life but that not what I was in reference to I stated I believe we should listen to the
▶ 5:36:13gentlewoman former chairperson of this committee Maxine Waters I said we should listen to Mrs batty and that I felt like I should but my comments were directly related to the speaker immediately before me about Birthright citizenship which is an entirely separate in my opinion executive order so for the gentle woman from California I will be I will come up to
▶ 5:36:44this bar and I will say if I had misstated something I apologize I admire you I respect you and I like you and you know that I treated you with great fairness respect and dignity every day you came to the rules committee when I was the chairman of that committee and I treated every single person whether I greed with with them or not at the rules committee and chairman for six years with dignity and
▶ 5:37:14with respect and I I'm sorry if I failed that today but I was in reference to the gentlemen and I want to thank the gentleman I would yield back my time thank you very much gentleman yields back to Mr ogles thank you claiming my time I'll yield 30 seconds to the ranking member I do believe she has something to say thank you very much I certainly accept your apology as I'm appreciative for the fact that you seem to understand how hurtful and how
▶ 5:37:45destructive it is what is going on on Dei so I accept that and I urge you to vote for uh Miss thank you Amendment thank you very much for claiming my time Mr chairman and I will say you know we you can agree or disagree with with the president uh he is acting within his prerogative in the same way the previous ad Administration did and what I would encourage is though uh we may disagree you know John Quincy Adams love the House of Representatives because it's
▶ 5:38:15where you argued and debated it was the people's house it was the rockus chamber but that we should as we move forward and continue to work together and achieve the the goals and mission statement of this committee that we treat one another with respect uh versus lashing out at one another I think we'll be far more productive as we move forward and again I thank uh the parties for having a constructive dialogue and uh concluding conclusion on that matter and with that Mr chairman I yield back gentleman yields back is there any further discussion or
▶ 5:38:45debate on the amendment would the gentleman yield 30 second uh the gentleman has yielded back so there is no time to yield is anyone else seeking recognition the the general lady from Massachusetts uh yes Massachusetts seeks to strike the last word so gentle lady is granted five minutes thank you congresswoman Presley
▶ 5:39:15uh let me Echo the words of congresswoman Waters to you Congressman uh sessions and certainly appreciate your comments uh in not making it in reference to uh my statement nor the ranking member statement and I think that also took courage uh courage to share your personal stories and it is with that passion that I say to the last gentleman don't confuse uh my tone or intent with lashing out
▶ 5:39:45personally to anyone other than the person who authored the Dei and you are probably right as the President of the United States he has the ability to do what he's done but as a member of the United States Congress I also have a voice to say and do what I'm going to say um you can disagree uh without being disagreeable I am 100% disagreeing uh with what the president has done and
▶ 5:40:15as ranking members Waters said it's a violation of our civil rights movement we're supposed to be talking about moving forward we're supposed to be talking about as our chair of this committee said working in a bipartisan way well you can't come in here and not expect us as agents of our community to not stand up for our community it's the same way you stand up and it is the same
▶ 5:40:46lashing out that I've heard the gentleman sitting in the chair now do on the areas that he's passionate about in financial services so let me put this disclaimer out here I'm going to come with this same tone of Defending what I believe all of those folks who are being laid off what do they put on their resume because I applied for a job because I had a PhD or a law firm
▶ 5:41:16from a HBCU or an Ivy League school and and made changes that we all agreed on were some of the best changes but today I'm laid off because I took a job that we authorized as government officials and a agents we've had an amwe program thanks to section 39 in the do Frank act that we all voted on and passed and that presidents of the United
▶ 5:41:46States of America put into law you're not punishing me you're punishing our future of our younger folks you're punishing people who might have worked in government for 30 or 40 years and decided to get into a program that we created and today they lose their jobs we're punishing our economy so I'm hoping you understand if you get laid off from your job
▶ 5:42:16and then there is no plan for what happens to this person we're in financial services how are all these folks being paid how long will they be paid what will their references say they are active participants into our economy we talk about Capital markets we talk about making sure that people have access to financial institutions but we know when you are underbanked and unbanked you lose your job any one of us
▶ 5:42:47in here if you don't have another business or job out there or somebody else who has a job and you get laid off you know what that does to your personal ability to advance and to take care of your family what about the single men and women out here who are bringing their children up and and proud that they work for the United States government how do you go back to a community and explain that the president of the United
▶ 5:43:17States thought it was all right to get rid of all these programs to get rid of all these individuals so I only say this as I close to let you know the disdain that I have the anger that I have the disgust that I have is not directed Mr chairman to the chair of this committee but it is the situation we're in here and this is the Avenue that I lend my voice to so I want to just say that we will continue to have this discussion
▶ 5:43:47but thank you so much Congressman sessions and I yield back uh gentle lady yields back to miss Presley yes I have an amendment at the desk oh we're still in this does the gentle lady yield back I'm just eager yes I yield back gentle lady yields back all right is there any further discussion or debate on the amendment uh seeing none if not does the gentleman from Texas insist on the point his point order sorry you withdraw the point
▶ 5:44:17of order okay with that uh if there's no further discussion or debate the question is now occurred on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Ohio all those in favor of the amendment say I I I those opposed no and in the opinion of the chair the NOS have it the NOS have it and the amendment is not agreed to uh a recorded vote has been requested and all those in favor of a recorded vote please raise your hands seeing a sufficient number having raised their hands a recorded vote is ordered without objection further
▶ 5:44:48proceedings on the amendment are postponed Is there further debate on the amendment at the I have an amendment at desk the gentle lady from California has an amendment at the desk we will pause while copies of the amendment are are
▶ 5:45:35distributed for
▶ 5:46:27have all members received the amendment the clerk will report the amendment an amendment to the oversight plan offered by the ranking member without objection the amendment be considered as read The Gentle woman from California is recognized for 5 minutes in support of her Amendment uh thank you very much uh my Amendment would add a new paragraph to the oversight plan to ensure that our committee focuses on financial fraud and policy solutions to better stop it as we all know financial
▶ 5:46:57fraud is on the rise for example a surveying by the Association for financial professionals found that 80% of small businesses and their customers were victims of payment fraud in 2023 which is up from 65% experiencing payment fraud the year before financial fraud can happen through a variety of means including cyber crimes identity
▶ 5:47:27theft point of sale credit or debit card fraud or impostor scams where Bad actors pretend to be a bank government Ben official or trusted person to trick a consumer to send them money or to give them access to accounts this is not only happening with newer payment methods using one's phone we're also seeing a Resurgence of old techniques like check fraud where Bad actors are stealing checks from mailboxes
▶ 5:47:58and altering them to their advantage financial fraud is harming a variety of consumers including older Americans service members small business owners and Community financial institutions Bad actors don't care if their victims are Republicans Independents Or democrats everyone is getting hurt the committee should review these troubling Trends and consider legislation to stop financial fraud and support the harmed consumers
▶ 5:48:29last year I introduce the protected consumers from payment scams act to better protect consumer consumers when they are defrauded into sending a payment to a actor my legislation is based on similar reforms the United Kingdom has implemented to address the rise and payment scams they've seen in their country some of the UK's reforms are being voluntarily adopted by some in the industry
▶ 5:48:59but more is needed for example we should be doing more to encourage information sharing between the government and private sector whenever a bad actor is identified thus potentially preventing them from harming additional consumers we should also make sure Community Banks and Credit Unions have access to Quality technology that can help them better detect financial fraud that may harm their customers as chairs
▶ 5:49:30both I and chairman McKenry held hearings on this issue especially as cyber and able fraud increased during the pandemic given the growth of this issue this is a topic that we should continue to pursue I simply urge members to support this amendment and I yield back the general lady yields back I Reon myself I recognize myself for five minutes and I want to thank my uh colleague and the ranking member for her Amendment and I agree with the urgency of
▶ 5:50:00the topic and I look forward to uh speaking with you madam ranking member and also learning more about your legislation and what the United Kingdom has done to combat this I will tell you I recently had my first meeting of the year with the Kentucky Bankers Association and I asked them what was their number one topic what was their number one issue for Community financial institutions in Kentucky both Urban suburban and and and rural areas and they said fraud check fraud uh payment fraud these very issues
▶ 5:50:30that you uh so rightly raise and uh and so so I do appreciate the amendment what I will say is I I believe that the the oversight plan that has been presented by the chairman I think covers this topic quite well at least in three areas one is the oversight plan with respect to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau what I will say is that obviously there's a lot of disagreement on this committee about how how well the CFB has done
▶ 5:51:00in protecting consumers but I I do think we could all agree that one area where we would like to see the cfpb spend a little bit more time and and focus their energies on is protecting consumers from fraud uh because as the ranking member rightly pointed out we've seen incidents of fraud Skyrocket and increase dramatically the cfpb has been asleep at the switch on this and I would also submit respectfully that this so-called junk fee agenda uh that director Chopra has pursued has
▶ 5:51:31has limited uh the C the capacity of financial firms and credit providers ERS both bank and non-bank credit unions and others to actually be able to combat the very kinds of fraud that Madam ranking member so rightly points out is that is victimizing our constituents so number one uh our oversight plan focuses on fraud and hopefully we will be able to with a new Administration redirect the focus of the CFB to actually protect consumers
▶ 5:52:01um and and focus on fraud more at that agency secondly in the the uh on line 10 of page two improper disclosure of personally identifiable information this obviously encompasses the fraud issues that the ranking member points out and finally on line 15 and 16 of page two on Payment Systems where the committee will examine policies that impact money transmission and payment industry practices to protect consumers that also encompasses the issue so let me assure the ranking member and anyone
▶ 5:52:31else who has interest in this topic the financial institution subcommittee will be laser focused on this agenda I look forward to working uh with uh ranking member waters on her legislation looking at that but having robust hearings about other potential solutions to this issue and giving uh Community financial institutions all financial institutions the tools to combat uh this Rising uh this Rising case of Fraud and one final thing you know this is this extends beyond our jurisdiction
▶ 5:53:01a little bit um my uh colleague from Kentucky uh chairman comr and the over committee he has jurisdiction over the Postal Service I submit that we talk to the oversight committee and talk to him about about the mail the rise in mail fraud and check fraud and talk about the adequacy of the the Postal Service inspectors because uh that's that's something that actually I think we need to do because of all the check fraud that we're seeing the rise of check fraud is uh is
▶ 5:53:31proper Staffing of the postal inspectors and I would submit if the CFB will not do this if they're focused on Banning Financial products that Americans want instead of actually focusing on protecting consumers on fraud maybe we should work with Doge and reassign some of the people at the cfpb who are not protecting American consumers and ask them to join the postal service and actually protect Americans from check fraud the gentleman y please yeah I think I made my point so I'll yield
▶ 5:54:02well you made your point but let me just say uh you certainly putting the emphasis on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau uh you know this President and you know the Republicans don't like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and I think you're all going to go after the ganty killer why don't we just support the Kentucky Bankers Association why don't we just say to them you're right number one issue I'll re I'll reclaim my time and I'll answer the question I I uh the spirit of my comment was I want to work with you and I want to work with you on the California uh
▶ 5:54:32credit providers the Kentucky credit providers all of them this is a big problem we make this bipartisan um I do think that part of the solution is refocusing the the Consumer Protection Bureau on protecting consumers in this area I think they have not done a good job here and I want to work with you on your legislation and also on giving the bureau maybe some some incentives to actually focus on this very important issue my time's expired Is there further debate or Amendment
▶ 5:55:02on this issue on this uh if there is no further debate the question occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman gentlewoman from California all those in favor of the amendment say I I those opposed say no no in the opinion of the chair the NOS have it the NOS have it and the amendment is not agreed to a recorded vote has been requested all those in favor of recorded vote raise your hands a sufficient uh number having raised their
▶ 5:55:32hand a recorded voot is ordered without objection further proceedings on the amendment are Is there further debate or amendments uh the gentoman from Massachusetts has an amendment we'll pause while the amendment is being distributed
▶ 5:56:15do thank you sorry you have to waste the paper for
▶ 5:57:11have all members received the amendment okay the clerk will report the amendment an amendment offered by Miss Presley without objection the amendment will be considered as read the gentoman from Massachusetts is recognized for five minutes in support of our Amendment uh thank you Mr chair my amendment is straightforward common sense and essential to the work of the financial services committee the section of our oversight plan that discusses artificial int deligence on Page 6 line 35 the amendment would add the following quote the committee
▶ 5:57:41will evaluate standards and challenges in assessing identifying and regulating bias and discriminatory effects in artificial intelligence Technologies and systems used by financial institutions including AI utilized in internal operations and consumer facing services and products end quote we need to know if AI is working properly am I Amendment would Empower us to do just that I represent the Massachusetts 7th congressional district
▶ 5:58:11which includes cities like Boston and Cambridge we are already one of our nation's largest Financial Centers and we are shaping up to be a hub of AI Innovation the cuttingedge technology that many of us can trace its roots to my district and when I'm in community I hear from folks about how they're excited for AI but they're also worried about its harm specifically bias and discrimination and they're not alone in fact 83 % of machine learning professionals stated that identifying AI bias is a top
▶ 5:58:41challenge so this amendment should be uncontroversial evaluating and understanding AI bias and discrimination are critical for the jurisdiction of this Committee in banking we need to know if AI is discriminating against first-time entrepreneurs and preventing them from opening a business in capital markets biases and AI can result in the failure to detect inside insider trading and fraud in housing we cannot let AI deny mortgages to fail who are qualified and when it comes to our credit reporting agencies no person can afford to let mistakes in
▶ 5:59:11AI ruin their credit as more and more companies rely on AI it is incumbent upon each of us serving on this committee to do what's best for our constituents what's best for the financial system and what's best for the country when AI works properly it helps all of us but when AI is biased and discriminatory our most vulnerable customers suffer like women people with disabilities the black community and folks living in rural areas this amendment recognizes a widely agreed upon fact that AI is not perfect everyone knows this
▶ 5:59:42from Big Tech CEOs to Everyday workingclass People that is why my amendment is necessary to codify in our oversight plan and let the American public know that we are going to do our job and ensure Economic Opportunity for all I urge my colleagues to support this amendment gentle yelds back the gentleman from Wisconsin Mr style is now recognized uh thank you Mr chairman to strike the last word appreciate it um anytime there's new technology uh that comes online
▶ 6:00:12uh there's benefits and potential uh downside risks uh I often remind myself uh when automatic teller machines uh came online there was headlines in the New York Times that said uh bank tellers would all lose their jobs um and as we look back of course what happened you ATMs became ubiquitous actually a little bit less so now because you can pay for things on your phone uh but the downside risk uh associated with the Dune technology was was managed um
▶ 6:00:42and when we look at AI uh there is great upside potential also some potential um downside risk and my colleague uh recognizes those downside risks um that exist of course the upside um in the good news is if taken um we actually have a real opportunity uh to standardize decision-making process and remove some of the human subjectivity uh and promote better outcomes uh if we use AI um the good news is if we look at page
▶ 6:01:12six of the oversight plan uh where we explicitly address the risks associated with uh AI technology um we can utilize the current um oversight plan uh as already drafted to ensure that AI related discriminations within the scope of the committee's uh oversight work uh and so uh the amendment offered uh I think is reasonable uh in some ways it's just not uh because the oversight plan already accounts her an ability uh to review um such things I think it's also worth noting
▶ 6:01:43uh just more broadly because we speak about this a lot of times with technology um that AI does not absolve Financial companies from their responsibility to comply uh with robust anti-discrimination uh protections uh that are in place so sometimes uh in this committee room um sometimes is as if we skip over the fact um that just because AI in place or any form of Technologies in place it doesn't absolve a company uh from a robust compliance with
▶ 6:02:14anti-discrimination uh policies that are in place uh but the good news is for my colleague that the way uh the Republican majority has drafted the oversight plan uh we've already ensured uh that your concerns are within the scope of the committee's uh oversight work and so as a result um the uh the amendment is not necessary and I would encourage my colleagues as a result to vote no um with that I will yield back uh to the chair the gentleman yields back the gentle woman from
▶ 6:02:44California the ranking member is now recognized I move to strike the last word the gentle woman's recognized I applaud Miss presle for offering this important amendment to include in the committee's oversight plan to direct the committee to examine bias and potentially discriminatory outcomes in artificial intelligence Trump has ended diversity equity and inclusion programs in the federal government and I'm sure he will Target these programs in the
▶ 6:03:14private sector as well Democrats know that even though Trump says he's abandoning efforts to promote Equity discrimination still exist and needs to be rooted out this amendment is a good step forward in ensuring our committee stays focused on AI models and the data and algorithms baked in them and monitors they are being used uh to perpetuate bias and discrimination throughout our housing
▶ 6:03:44and financial systems without the consideration of AI bias and discrimination AI technology and systems cannot be truly safe secure or trustworthy for anyone um listen uh I not only support uh this amendment but I'm realistic and I understand if this committee this committee allows the president of the United States to do what he's doing not only to get
▶ 6:04:14rid of diversity and inclusion but those who work in any way connected to diversity and inclusion and then uh to overturn by executive order a 1936 law Banning discrimination in federal employment I don't expect it anything from this committee I would hope they would do the right thing but they won't I'll still i y i yeld to the general lady General
▶ 6:04:44Ed yields to all right thank you ranky member Waters um I just want to uh address uh to my colleague across the aisle the current uh oversight plan only says risks so that's vague and it ignores the very real concerns and again I I've been in community with constituents who are very you know excited about uh the prospect for um the good things that could come from AI but there are very real concerns around uh algorithm uh bias and discrimination which we have plenty of data to support this
▶ 6:05:15current plan only says risk it's vague it ignores the real concerns our constituents have the Comm committee needs to be clear to the public about our intenance and state plainly that we will tackle bias and discrimination voting against my Amendment would give a free pass to Banks and financial institutions as rank M wat says maybe we don't care about that just going to give a free pre pass to Banks and financial institutions to ignore the potential discriminatory effects of the AI technology that we use and let me also just say this because colleagues across the often talk
▶ 6:05:45about Rural America rural communities in particular are more sensitive to ai's responsible and ethical use the systemic exclusion of rural data makes AI less reliable and less accurate moreover the United Nations agency a study of 133 AI systems across different Industries found that about 44% of them show gender bias and then finally the Pew Center surveyed and found 52% of us adults are more concerned than excited about AI in daily
▶ 6:06:18life I yield General lady yields Is there further debate on the amendment oh General lady yield back yes General lady yields back Is there further debate on the amendment if there is no further debate uh or discussion the question now occurs on the Amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Massachusetts all those in favor of the amendment say I I those no in the opinion of the chair the NOS have it the NOS have it and the amendment is not agreed
▶ 6:06:48to oh yes um move for recorded vote please y recorded vote has been requested all those in favor of a recorded vote please raise your hands a suff a sufficient number having raised their hands a recorded vote is ordered without objection further proceedings on the amendment are postponed Is there further discussion debate or Amendment uh the gentleman from Illinois is recognized finally have an amendment at the desk we will Pause by copies of that Amendment are distributed
▶ 6:07:41thank you yeah thank you yeah great okay thank you
▶ 6:08:43have all members received the amendment the clerk will report the amendment an amendment to the oversight and author plan without objection the amendment will be considered as read the the gentleman from Illinois is recognized for five minutes in support of his Amendment thank you Mr chair um my Amendment would include language to ensure that the financial stability oversight or fso examines the threats that climate change poses to our financial stability fso of course has responsibility to identify any and all potential risks
▶ 6:09:13to financial stability including climate related Financial risks and to push its member agencies to respond to those threats 2024 was the hottest year in history it was the first calendar year when global average temperatures exceeded the Paris agreement's Target of 1 and a half degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels we got to understand that's not just a random number that is the number that climate scientists came to report years ago was the number at which we were going to hit irreversible changes in the climate and accelerating
▶ 6:09:44changes the feedback loops are working in the wrong direction at this point I would remind you all or at least those of you who are my age or older back in 92 when Hurricane Andrew came and it was a big deal that there was a billion dooll weather event um the I think Hurricane Andrew came in a little over 10 billion by the time it was all done um in 2024 climate related disasters resulted in economic losses of more than $80 billion in
▶ 6:10:142025 the preliminary estimates from California is that we are already up to $275 billion in just one the this isn't whether or not you agree with the human causes in in human cause climate change is really not the point here because we have heard on this committee over the last several terms that number one the more likely your property is to be in a flood prone area the more likely the banks are to offload that risk onto Fanny and
▶ 6:10:45Freddy We Have Heard on this committee from Fanny and Freddy that they are aware that they are taking on these risks but they have access to reinsurance markets to cover that risk we have heard or we've seen at least in the recent news Governor DeSantis in Florida saying that their insurer of last resort resort may have to be socialized and I think all of us are anticipating the day when they're going to come asking us to help bail them out we have heard in California questions about the solvency of their insurer of Last Resort um we had heard
▶ 6:11:15recently Mr bar when you and I were in Florida or in Europe I'm sorry meeting with Zurich Insurance and our colleague Mr oberti was pointing out that if his constituents lose their home in a wildfire and the insurance company rates it does that violate some kind of principle of insurance pooling I think he said if we don't allow pre-insurance pre-existing conditions to be uh uh prejudicial in health insurance why should we allow that in home insurance the point is we're all hearing this from our constituents right and as my friend Spencer
▶ 6:11:45Glendon former managing director at Wellington Capital Asset Management has um painfully but accurately pointed out our species has lived when climate was this volatile before but back then we were a migratory species and we now are sitting here in a financial system system where most of American Wealth is tied to a specific location where we know that sea levels are we've locked in two feet of sea level rise in the Gulf Coast which means that
▶ 6:12:15there are huge amounts of of Florida Louisiana Alabama Louisiana and indeed parts of the Eastern seab board where if you buy a house today you will lose it before the 30-year mortgage is paid off that's locked in and so the question becomes if the banks are offloading this risk to insurers if the insurers are choosing to walk out of that if the reinsurers are tentatively there and they're putting it on Fanny and Freddy at some point it's going to come back to the taxpayers and so we have jurisdiction
▶ 6:12:45over Insurance generally we have jurisdiction over the banking sector we have jurisdiction over our banking Regulators I would submit to you that it behooves us to get out in front of this especially since our colleagues and those co-equal branches are walking away Trump has once again pulled out of the Paris climate Accord the FED just pulled out of the ngfs this is not about determining what action we can take this is do we want information or do we want to put our heads in the sand and so this is simply an opportunity to make sure
▶ 6:13:16that we get that information um to make sure that we're informed and I just close by noting that earlier today I was at a a meeting with several folks in the banking industry and they were talking about what room there was for good bipartisan action on this committee and there was a joke made but it's it's only funny because it's kind of true they said the financial services committee seems to be really bipartisan in responding to financial crises and really partisan in trying to prevent them I would just ask us all to
▶ 6:13:46on this one where we are getting information where we have these issues that affect all of our districts and are only getting worse let's try to break that habit let's try to make that joke not so funny um urge support and yield back gemman yields back I recognize myself for five minutes U appreciate my friend always raising these uh issues related to uh climate related Financial Risk it's not just The Regulators that are exiting these International climate focused uh uh agreements it's
▶ 6:14:16not just the fed and uh some of the uh credential Regulators exiting the network for The Greening of the financial system and mercifully so but it's also the private sector and and my friend from Illinois is very good about talking about Market driven demand for this and apparently the market is turned on uh the private sector because all of the major banks in the United States JP Morgan Bank of America Wells Fargo they've all now exited the Net Zero Alliance and the major asset managers of our
▶ 6:14:47country and why are they exiting the Net Zero asset uh uh Alliance well in its annual Securities filings in for 2023 Black Rock acknowledged that mounting scrutiny from stakeholders regulators and clients could adversely impact the company's reputation in business so it does turn out after all that the market is interested in what returns not the politicization of asset allocation but
▶ 6:15:17returns thank goodness that we have returned to the concept that Capital should be allocated based on efficiency based on the highest and best use not based on political fashionable Trends um look climate is a real issue and climate as uh my friend from Illinois points out does carry with it uh and weather carries with it risk it always has been it always has especially in the insurance context as he pointed out and Regulators must be must keep
▶ 6:15:47its their eye on all of these risks including climate risk including weather related risk Bank regulators and fto must not seek to expand though their missions Beyond Congressional authorization especially in the area of climate change attempting to serve as deao climate regulators we have in our oversight plan uh under on page two Financial stability oversight the committee will review the operations activities initiatives of fso and the office of financial research the gentleman from Illinois other members
▶ 6:16:17in our oversight of epso can certainly raise these issues but I do I I would submit that instead of creating separate and unique climate specific regulatory mandates climate should be considered within existing Frameworks such as credit and operational risk ass assessments which prevents the need for overlapping and prescriptive regulatory measures the fact of the matter is to the extent weather changes in the weather pose risks to financial stability they are already
▶ 6:16:48taken into account and by the way not just by Regulators but Banks and insurance companies have always always always taken into for for for centuries taken into account weather related risks and so I I think the gentleman's Amendment while well-intentioned is super and unnecessary and I'll yield back the gentlewoman from California the ranking member is now recognized for five minutes thank you very much I commend our colleague
▶ 6:17:18representative Caston for offering this important amendment that I support the wildfires that have impacted thousands of families in Los Angeles County or just the latest example of climat related events that are happening more frequently across our country and with more devastating impact unfortunately president Trump has already pulled us out of the Paris agreement on climate and I'm deeply concerned
▶ 6:17:49others want to follow his lead and stick their heads in the sand regarding climate regardless of what Trump does our committee needs to do our job of overseeing the financial system and ensure all steps of being taken to Monitor and mitigate all threats to financial stability including climate related risk the treasury Department issued a report last week and the title of their press release
▶ 6:18:19says it all and I quote homeowners insurance Rising availability declining as climate related events take their toll end of quotes having said that I would like to ask the new um if you well let me put it this way did you understand uh what was being said about
▶ 6:18:49these risk always been taken into consideration by insurance companies etc etc did you understand what he was saying are you asking to enter into a CL with me yes about insurance RIS risk as it relates to climate change yes I did understand that well say so well I think that we all understand especially in light of the disaster in your neck of the woods in the state of California that
▶ 6:19:19the wildfires have presenting a real Challenge and that as a member of the financial services committee and as the subcommittee chairman of Housing and insurance I am very passionate about housing I I asked to be on that committee as my first preference when I came to Congress and I think there are things we can work on to help mitigate some of the risk and the disaster and the effects that are affecting so many good people in California right now and I know that chairman Hill and uh subcommittee chairman bar uh are
▶ 6:19:50willing to work with you but as to this amendment I don't think it's necessary um and oh this is your time by the way yeah and claiming my reclaiming my time here uh let me just say that um whether or not climate change is recognized as you care about housing I do very much and you know we can build better housing uh we can reduce the cost of housing we can change the materials in housing etc etc
▶ 6:20:20uh but I suppose the question is do you recognize that the winds that took place 100 miles per hour in LA county and the destruction that took place has to do with clim climate change no matter what you do about housing that climate change is a cause of what happened in LA county well I live a long way from LA County I live in the middle of the nation where we've seen an increase in tornadoes and hail events and certainly
▶ 6:20:50having an impact on the house insurance Market in Nebraska where we've seen our premiums increase 60% which is very difficult um I share a lot of concerns about California's situation uh one of which is forestry management the other one is uh a lot of your insurers have pulled out of your state due to some state laws and state regulation where they're unable to price the risk as it relates to the weather patterns on the west coast I'm no expert uh but I'm certainly not denying the fact that climate change could have played a role in that um and I think
▶ 6:21:20at the end of the day the bigger issue is how do we adequately price the risk around the entire United States and then navigate that and I'm very excited to work on that issue and I know how important housing is to you and uh to the the people you represent and I look forward to working with you on it well thank you very much and I'm very pleased to hear you uh say that you understand that climate change is playing a role and what is happening to be clear I'm from Nebraska I cannot speak to California's no I'm not talking about California I'm talking about the entire country I'm talking about
▶ 6:21:50the world I'm talking about climate change but that's okay I won't press you any further uh thank you very much and Mr Caston thank you very much for the attention that you have paid to this issue and the work uh that you continue to do and the more uh we have uh the kind of incidents it's like is happening in LA county perhaps some more we will have more people agreeing that climate change uh is causing this kind of thank you and I Y back gentleman from Ohio Mr Davidson
▶ 6:22:21is now recognized for five minutes move to Strike last strike the last word um yeah thank you chairman and look I U thank you uh Mr Casten for your passion for this issue and I I just wanted to comment on Mr caston's uh comment that you know when we react to a crisis uh it's often very bipartisan but when we try to prevent it unfortunately sometimes it is partisan and I remember last Congress when we had hearings talking about the insurance Market in
▶ 6:22:51California we were trying to prevent a crisis the market was saying gosh there's an awful big increase in risk of fires there's an awful big increase of the size and scope of those being not a able to be contained the fair plan which is the backup plan for fire Insurance seems to be massively under capitalized and Californians were saying climate change climate change climate change and the insurers are saying
▶ 6:23:22yeah we believe that there's going to be a higher risk of many of the same things that you say or higher risk we just need to be able to price the risk in California is re reaction which is their perview they're a sovereign state uh said well we're going to cap the prices and the insurers said well we're not going to go bankrupt for you well we were trying to sound the alarm and say maybe we should send the message to the Regulators it's not be well
▶ 6:23:52thought out so as we look to come together in respond to this crisis I do hope that we take into account that not every solution that waves the flag climate change is actually meant to address the problem the market is sending signals that yeah there's more risk and some of our colleagues would just say well let's open up the checkbook we'll just keep writing checks and expect you to change nothing about your behavior in reality is we probably should change some things about our
▶ 6:24:22behavior and uh I look forward to working together to prevent more risk you know bipartison way and and I think that the spirit of the amendment might be intended that way but but because of the way uh the gentle it's working out I I do oppose it and I'll yield to the chairman pardon I yeld back gentleman yields back Is there further discussion or debate on the amendment I move to trct the last word Mr chairman General woman is recognized yes thank you
▶ 6:24:53uh let me say that I strongly support this amendment uh coming from Texas and certainly seeing the risk that has been put on is not only in terms of insurance risk but just risk generally from from a lot of different threats that come through the climate related issues uh everything from hurricanes to rains to tropical storms to the snow uh yesterday uh so I think anybody who tries to suggest that there's no um climate related Financial
▶ 6:25:23Risk and that that has not increased the cost of insurance which means it increases the cost of your home just has not been reading the papers has not been reading the tweets has not been reading anything probably been hibernating because it's too cold but I just want to thank Mr uh Caston for this amendment I can tell you that coming from Texas I know we we we need it uh so with that I yield the remainder of my time to you or or the ranking member as you
▶ 6:25:53both decide thank you thank you Miss Garcia um so um first to my friend Mr Davidson I would love to continue the conversation with you about State Insurance markets um I would point out only that there's a um we will irk all of our state friends if we have an honest conversation because every state has different ways that they price Insurance there's a significant concern I have particularly in climate change that we're seeing some cross subsidization between states we have been
▶ 6:26:23pushing F to get the insurance companies to provide the data they have been reluctant to disclose and I think in the interest of making sure that we understand where those risks sit in the system so so that we don't have to bail them out or have the taxpayers bail them out um I'd love to work with you on more disclosure but more broadly that is not a question of markets working efficiently that is a question of markets intentionally withholding data misrepresenting data so that they can profit off risk which is fine
▶ 6:26:53I spent 20 years in the private sector before getting here I raised and deployed a couple hundred million dollars equity and debt spent a lot of time in those markets and to Mr bar and his comment about the private sector responding in certain ways let's be very clear about what the private sector is doing Number One banks who can offload risk before it comes to maturity will that's smart that's why the banks have told us that they're offloading risk on Def Fanny and Freddy because they are confident that we are too stupid to watch and see what they're doing and will take risk that they have priced and decide they don't want to hold to maturity
▶ 6:27:24that is a smart thing for the private sector to do but it doesn't make it an efficient market what we also know as Mr Barb noted is that banks are looking to appease Regulators in States who have said I am not going to allow you to manage my pension if you invest in things like climate change related if you invest in things if you choose not to provide Investments to things that you in your banking view view as risky but me in my view views as anti-woke or whatever nonsense we have and those banks have decided that it is cheaper to appease Regulators
▶ 6:27:54than to manage risk that is not a efficient market the fact that they're doing it is a is an is a sign that markets are not working not that they are number three Banks like every other private sector actor want to sell their assets when it comes time to sell to people who know less about their assets than they do you always make more money selling to an uninformed buyer than to an informed buyer the question of what this amendment is doing
▶ 6:28:24is not saying we got to go get woke it's saying we need to make sure that we have access to that data that nobody in the private sector has an economic interest in providing and we can then decide once we have that data how do we use this data What policies do we make and do we in our commitment to competitive markets disclose this data so that buyers and sellers can make informed decisions in marketplace this is basically a question of Are
▶ 6:28:55We prom Market are we in favor of equal disclosing of risks or have we decided that climate change is so politically toxic that it's better to hide our head in the and knowing full well that the end result of that is that the risks ultimately get PA on put on the taxpayers and we have to bail them out gentleman you uh it's Miss Garcia's time Garcia's time leg General lady you U it's like time and I had uh asked him to to um yield
▶ 6:29:25to the ranking member if she needed more time ranking member 23 let me just say that um I appreciate what Mr Davidson had to say this is not just a California problem of course the wildfires have reaped Devastation on all of uh the the communities that were in the the path uh of the wild this is a national
▶ 6:29:55International problem and it's not management uh by anybody in California uh that could have stopped the winds in the way that they perform thank General woman's time has expired Is there further discussion or debate on amendment if there is no further uh debate or discussion Mr chairman I move to strike the last word gentle woman is recognized thank you Mr chairman um I agree with with ranking M Waters this is not just a California problem I live in
▶ 6:30:25in the Deep South in Georgia in Atlanta and I've talked about this in my committee work here where my insurance company dropped my husband and I homeowners insurance just last year because of our neighborhood and the extreme weather events that we've been experiencing especially with the tornadoes like you see in your part of the world but these are extreme weather events that are go that are across the country and that is exactly one of the reasons that was used when my homeowners insurance said
▶ 6:30:55that they would not be renewing my homeowners insurance last July and so I just want to make sure that we understand that this is not just a California issue this is something that is happening across the board and that is why um I I know Congressman Casten that our colleagues in the state legislature they will be very upset about us talking about this I served in the state legislature as a state senator in Georgia and I was on the insurance committee and it is something that states like to take ownership in but we've got to do something about this and because
▶ 6:31:25we have an entire country that we're peace billing this together and people should not be fearful on what is going to happen if they can ensure their homes their most valued possession for most people and I would yield to the chairwoman if you would like to finish statement ranking member well thank you very much Miss Williams for uh expanding on this
▶ 6:31:56discussion uh one of the things that we've got to realize is the role that the financial institutions play in helping us to get to the point uh where everybody are participating and doing what we can uh to control climate change what can we do with our financial products what can we do with the financing of certain materials uh for the construction of homes and businesses it goes on and on and
▶ 6:32:26on and to the degree uh that we get the recognition that has been denied for far too long about about the role that climate change is playing in the devastation of not only California uh but all over this country and all over the world then I think we will be able to save homes uh that we're so concerned about uh people being able to own and to purchase and to
▶ 6:32:56be able uh for our young people the Millennials Etc uh to be able to have safe and secure places uh that uh they can have so if you're concerned about housing if you're concerned about uh Financial Services if you're concerned about so many things you've got to be concerned about climate change again Mr Casten thank you so very much for your interest and for your work and despite the fact that we still have a long way to go to
▶ 6:33:26absolutely convince people of the role that Financial Services play in all of this we have to keep pushing we have to keep working we have to get make sure that the information is available not only to other members uh but to the constituents that we all say that we serve and we want to make sure that they have safe decent and secure environments and safe decent and secure living uh we've got to do the work no matter how hard it is no matter
▶ 6:33:56how difficult it is and the more we bring our resolutions and our bills the more we're going to have to do discuss it still there may be those who are not thoroughly convinced but that's our job to make sure that we do everything that we can so that no one can say oh I didn't know I didn't understand I didn't hear I didn't know that there was legislation I didn't know that there were things we can do it's those managing people it's
▶ 6:34:26the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau it's everybody but climate change we've got to do whatever we need to do to ensure that those who don't yet join us in our efforts to save our country and to join with others in the world who are already moving forward dealing with climate change we've got to make sure that we do our work and I welcome the opportunity uh because
▶ 6:34:56that's why we're elected we're elected to represent we're elected to lead we're elected to make sure that we disseminate the information and we make sure that our constituents understand to the best of our ability what we can do for a decent quality of life a secure quality lifestyle for everybody i y back gentle Le's time has expired Is there further discussion or debate on the amendment seeing none
▶ 6:35:26uh there is no further debate or discussion the question is now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Illinois all those in favor of the amendment say I I those opposed no no in the opinion of the chair the NOS have it the NOS have it and the amendment is not agreed to what purpose does the gentleman want to be recognized a recorded vote has been requested all those in favor of a record vote raise your hands a sufficient number having raised their hand a record vote is ordered without objection further proceedings on the amendment are
▶ 6:35:57postponed Is there further debate or uh amendment Mr chairman I have a Amendment at the desk okay Miss Garcia uh we will pause while copies of the amendment are distributed thank you
▶ 6:36:55toe keep bringing candy to he said I this was candy would open my heart to you but app
▶ 6:37:29okay have all members received the the clerk will read the amendment an amendment to the authorization and oversight Plan offered by Miss Garcia without objection the amendment will be considered as read the general woman from Texas is now recognized for five minutes in support of her Amendment thank you Mr chairman my Amendment would require the committee to examine policy options to improve language access and mortgage servicing and processes for borrowers with limited
▶ 6:38:00English proficiency expending access to mortgage services will help more people reach the American dream Mr chairman currently there there are approximately 25 million people 25 million people that's 8% of America's population that have limited English proficiency so we're not talking about one group or two groups we're talking about 25 million people from firsthand experience I have seen the uphill battle
▶ 6:38:30language barriers create for residents across my district Texas and the country if anyone here has ever tried to take out a mortgage or buy a home you know how difficult it can be lots of paper to review lots of things to sign ensuring fair and equal access to home buying for everyone regardless of their primary language must be a priority for this committee it's about making sure that everyone can say Mikasa sucasa this is about helping
▶ 6:39:00all our constituents make home home Orin ship a reality and equi them to better navigate the financial sectors and all related agencies I urge my members to please support this amendment it's very similar to a bill that I had uh it really is about making sure that everyone gets a shot at the dream thank you Mr chair I yield back thank you I'm going to recognize myself for five minutes while
▶ 6:39:30I appreciate the spirit of this amendment I know this amendment has been offered in the past and I appreciate the general lady's passion on the issue as the general lady may recall in 2021 the cfpb put out guidance encouraging lenders to make their documents legible to those with limited English proficiency doing so where possible can be a helpful thing for many people encouraging that is a good thing but perhaps something that is not applicable to the oversight plan we are discussing today still I applaud the general lady's effort and commitment on this
▶ 6:40:00subject even if I feel the amendment is unnecessary necessary I urge my colleagues to oppose the amendment and I yield back is there any other debate ranking member is recognized for five minutes I want to thank my friend and colleague representative Garcia for offering this amendment which will strengthen the committee's review of the mortgage Market there's more than what we should be doing uh to ensure all Americans whether they speak English fluently or
▶ 6:40:30not have the information they need when making what may be the largest financial decision they will make in their life which is to take out a mortgage loan as homeowners know there are a lot of documents and various rights you have as a bar and that information should be conveyed in a language of understands furthermore there can be circumstances La a pandemic or Wildfire when a borrower might be eligible
▶ 6:41:01for forbearance on their mortgage and those options should be conveyed to a bar in a language that they understand so this amendment will help ensure we examine these language access issues building off legislation that representative Garcia has introduced and that the house passed in 2022 as part of my comprehensive Bill to advance racial economic equity ladies and gentlemen this is very
▶ 6:41:31very important for so many reasons I can recall when we were confronted with the loss of so many homes uh during uh 2012 and when uh we had uh the occurrence of the forclosures on so many homes um by the Banks from these faulty mortgages that they had taken out and I can recall that most of the members had not understood
▶ 6:42:02the mortgage very well that they had taken out and a lot of those was due to language barriers so this is very important and I would hope uh that uh our members of this committee on both sides of the aisle with support of this amendment and I yell back gentlewoman yields back is there a further debate or any amendments seeing none Mr chairman I have an amendment at the desk General oh if there's no further debate or discussion the question
▶ 6:42:32now occurs on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas all those in favor of the amendment say I I all those opposed no in the opinion of the chair the NOS have it for is not Mr chairman what purpose do you want to be recognized as for a recorded vote a recorded vote has been requested all those in favor of a record vote raise your hands a sufficient number having raised their hand a record vote is ordered without objection the proceedings on the amendment are postponed for what
▶ 6:43:02purpose does the General lady from Georgia seek recognition Mr chairman I have an amendment at the desk we'll pause while the amendments are being distributed
▶ 6:44:02and have all members received the amendment clerk will report an amendment to the authorization and oversight plan offered by Miss Williams of Georgia without objection the amendment will be considered as red the gentoman from Georgia is recognized for five minutes in support for thank you Mr chairman back imagine for a moment that you're going to go and buy your first home let's say you've had an apartment where you've always paid your rent on time and you have decent income from a steady job and your bank
▶ 6:44:33bank account is rising because you've been saving your money for this first home you're certain that you have everything that it takes to get your mortgage and finally have a house of your own the American dream home ownership but now you show up to the bank and your lender tells you that none of that matters why because whether or not you qualify for a mortgage comes down to a number a credit score that's based on past credit history and unfortunately this is your first loan your credit
▶ 6:45:03invisible but y'all let's be real you could probably pay your mortgage if you've been paying your rent just as well as anybody else has been paying bills every month so what are you supposed to do how are you supposed to get ahead how are you supposed to achieve the American dream how are you ever going to qualify to buy a home when you can't get there after doing everything right everything you've been told to do y'all for far too long credit scores haven't painted the full picture when it goes to someone buying their first home and we need to fix
▶ 6:45:33that and we can several years ago I introduced the expanding access to credit through consumer permissions data act my bill which is supported by a number of consumer groups would increase access to home ownership by tasking lenders at the request of applicants to consider additional financial data such as rental payment history bank statement information and pay stubs that may not show up in a credit score considering this additional data would help individuals who are credit invisible to have a fairer opportunity at home
▶ 6:46:03in 2022 this committee marked up and approved this bill and I know there have been other proposals that have advanced as well including one from representative green on an FHA pilot and also with you cheer Hill you have a bill on alternative data as well this is an area that I'm hopeful that we can all work on together so let's make this an official bipartisan priority we can pass this amendment today which would clarify that as the committee considers ways to expand access to financial servic for underserved
▶ 6:46:34communities that we will examine proposals that will do so through the use of data that historically has not been included in credit scores such as rental payment history or a borrows transaction data in the words of chairman hill we should all work to offer citizens more choices in their personal Pursuit of Happiness and this amendment does just that and I Y back gentlewoman Ys back uh is there any further Amendment debate Mr Davidson of Ohio has recogniz the strike the last word uh chairman I oose this amendment I encourage all
▶ 6:47:04our colleagues to oppose this amendment uh nearly every single Amendment offered today as the our colleague referenced is from a bill from a previous con Congress this is legislating in the rules I think it should be just out of order in the event it's not we should just vote no y back gentleman y's back is there additional debate on this amendment uh ranking members recognize to strike the last word I move to stract the last word I want to commend our colleague representative Williams for her work on this amendment which I urge
▶ 6:47:34my colleagues to support for far too long too many Focus too much Focus has been given to credit scores that had many shortcomings and errors and do not accurately access a borrower's credit worthiness this amendment directs the committee to consider reforms that will expand access to credit by ensuring lenders consider additional information like rental payment history or transaction history when underwriting
▶ 6:48:04a potential bar this amendment Builds on legislation that representative Williams previously introduced and we passed through the committee when I was chair that allows borrowers to request alternative data not typically included in a credit report to be considered ladies and gentlemen uh this is very important uh these credit scores determine whether or uh you can
▶ 6:48:34purchase what is need for a decent quality of life most people don't have money uh that they can pay for everything outright uh they have to have credit we have to have credit we know uh that now that the billionaires are in charge of our country uh that they don't need to care about credit scores and perhaps Trump will not support this and they will take take his lead but I want you to know
▶ 6:49:05that Americans trying to have a decent quality of life who are purchasing things they need uh to own a home uh purchasing uh you know goods and services paying the rent all of that depends on credit scores so I would urge members on both side of the aisle to support this amendment gentleman yields back Is there further debate I recognize myself for five minutes well first I of course
▶ 6:49:35empathize with Miss Williams position here because I've introduced this bill for 10 years in the Congress to use alternative data uh for credit score purposes and it has been marked up in this committee many times uh but that is uh I think a good concept so I'm I want to say I'm always happy to work with members on both sides of the a to have alternative data included in consumer reporting appreciate her Keen interest in this but I agree with my friend from Ohio that we are proposing a legislative
▶ 6:50:06idea as opposed to just simply an oversight plan we have plenty of coverage on this particular item on consumer access to financial services in our oversight plan therefore I urge my colleagues to reject the amendment and I yield back the balance of my time
▶ 6:50:40I Mr chairman I asked for a recorded vote I asked for a recorded vote thank you Mr chair uh I have an amendment at the table I
▶ 6:51:10understand
▶ 6:51:41thank you have all members received the amendment the clerk
▶ 6:52:11will report an amendment offered by Mr Lardo without that objection Amendment will be considered as R the gentleman from California is now recognized for five minutes to support his Amendment thank you Mr chair for considering my amendments to expand this committee's oversight plan discuss the housing Choice Voucher Program commonly uh known as Section 8 and on the availability and affordability of insurance since my proposed amendment on the insurance issue is relatively minor I'll simply summarize it by saying
▶ 6:52:41I believe it would be helpful to better understand the extent to which decisions made by this Congress in the 1945 act uh may have had impacts on affordability and availability of insurance today and I associate myself with the earlier remarks of Mr cassen I'd like to focus my statements today though on the first proposed amendment which is relating to housing Choice vouchers uh for purpose of this amendment I'll put us side my strong view uh that we need to quadruple the appropriation of funding for housing Choice vouchers to address the enormous gap between the 2.3 million households
▶ 6:53:12uh with vouchers and the remainder of the 11 million extremely low-income families who need them I'd like to instead focus on how the housing Choice Voucher Program could be improved within its existing budget uh and specifically I like the committee to explore how we can eliminate obstacles to the deployment of vouchers uh for example most public housing agen genes understandably impose a use it or lose it deadline for families and individuals secure an apartment with a voucher typically within 180 days a 2021
▶ 6:53:42HUD study showed that only 61% of people who received a voucher in 2019 were able to secure housing within 180 days leaving too many extremely low-income families who waited years in line for voucher uh they remain unserved often losing that voucher as a result a more recent study in December 24 by Freddy concluded that despite concerted efforts to encourage more deployment of Housing Opportunity vouchers in high opportunity areas bearers continue to impede their utilization
▶ 6:54:13in those neighborhoods and instead remain disproportionately concentrated High poverty neighborhoods uh these obstacles may include restrictive source of income standards lack of provisional approvals of Apartments where local Housing Authority inspections are delayed uh and a balkanized and inefficient uh voucher delivery system that often has multiple agency serving the same regional market creating conflicting mandates for landlords and for tenants the area of my greatest concern however arises from barriers that prevent the Nimble deployment of vouchers from
▶ 6:54:43with more Innovative approaches to reduce Street homelessness this grows out of my experience as mayor of San Jose and out of the frustration frustrations of many of my mayoral colleagues of both parties in other cities San Jose is a city of a million residents and one of 44 cities in this country with at least 1,000 unhoused residents uh and in case you're wondering a great majority of those 44 cities are outside of the State of California they in cities like Miami and Dallas and Las Vegas homelessness
▶ 6:55:14is a national crisis growing at 18% last year and afflicting 770,000 Americans the conventional approach to building housing in many major US metros is too slow and too costly to address this crisis for reasons we're all familiar with among other reforms we must use more innovative housing models and construction methods to bend the cost curve and build housing at a speed that the homelessness crisis demands some of those approaches including the use of pre-fabricated Housing and modular housing can
▶ 6:55:44be deployed with a unionized Workforce cities and counties throughout the nation are launching Innovative housing models to address homelessness but because their access to vouchers is often precluded by rigidities in existing federal law they cannot pay for the operations and maintenance of those developments nor pay for Supportive Services such as mental health and job placement uh Section 8 is often interpreted tarily to prevent the use of housing Choice vouchers for those pioneering approaches to moving people off the street
▶ 6:56:14in San Jose for example in only 30 months we constructed five communities of more than 500 units prefabricated modular dormitories on public land at on/ Tenth the cost and oneth the time of constructing conventional apartment buildings these dorms provided residents with private bedrooms and private bathrooms utilities hot water services for mental health and job placement by the time I left office at the end of 2022 unsheltered homelessness had dropped nearly 11% that year despite going up elsewhere in the state and many
▶ 6:56:44other cities started to adopt this model and launch similar projects in their cities one obstacle halted our progress and the progress of all those other cities however prevented the scaling of these Innovative models and that is that housing Choice vouchers could not be deployed at any of these projects as a result city stopped building new prefabricated dorms because they could not bear the additional cost of operations maintenance and services without the help of vouchers which typically would have paid for those services with any nonprofit
▶ 6:57:14or for-profit building owner uh including local housing authorities we should understand how we can enable greater flexibility in deployment of housing Choice vouchers to combat our homelessness crisis thank you very much of the housing subcommission thank you motion to strike the last word this amendment uh Mr chairman would seek to add greater specificity to the committee's oversight plan where in my opinion none is needed the largest agency under the jurisdiction
▶ 6:57:44of the financial services committee is the Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD currently administers 100 active permanent and temporary major mortgage Grant assistance and Regulatory programs and employs over 8,600 full-time employees in the us all all aspects of Hud including every one of those programs and its employees are subject to oversight by our committee whether enumerated enumerated within the oversight plan or not nevertheless the oversight plan
▶ 6:58:15specifically makes mention of several HUD programs including Federal rental assistance public housing homelessness Community Development block grant Native American housing assistance and the self-determination act blot Grant and other Housing Programs the committee intends to oversee all existing HUD programs as well as any related housing program of other agencies like the department of eggs rural housing service to ensure they are moderate relevant and effective at their mission of serving those most
▶ 6:58:45in need of federal assistance Additionally the committee's oversight will be aided once again by receiving testimony from the inspectors General as we did in the last Congress regarding our housing agencies uh in fact they appeared twice last Congress to provide periodic updates on the performance of our hous programs additionally as it relates to the gentleman from California's second uh part of his Amendment uh regarding Insurance our oversight plan already includes language regarding affordability
▶ 6:59:16I would call the committee's attention to page four of the oversight plan beginning in line 24 specifically stating and I quote this includes monitoring the developments affecting the affordability and availability of insurance to Consumers at the state level the impacts of natur natural disasters and other weather related phenomena the benefits of expanded use of reinsurance in the ongoing actions of the treasury Department's Federal insurance office uh with that Mr chairman I urge us to oppose
▶ 6:59:46this amendment and I yield back thank the gentleman from Nebraska Is there further discussion or debate on the gentleman from California's Amendment ranking member from California Miss Waters is recognized to strike the last word move to exract the last word I thank Mr Lardo for his Amendment today uh committee Democrats have given great strides to improve the housing Choice voucher program and famili Family's ability to use them quickly and effectively for example
▶ 7:00:17during the height of the pandemic I successfully secured $5 billion through the American Rescue plan act for the first of its kind emergency housing vouchers to provide vouchers targeted exclusively to to people experiencing homelessness part of what has made the ehv program so successful is the administrated flexibilities we provided to get people off the streets and into housing as quickly as possible additionally
▶ 7:00:47Mr Cleaver has led bipartisan legislation known as the chice and affordable housing act which removes bureaucratic barriers within the housing CHS voucher program to help encourage landlord participation in the program and finally Mr lardo's Amendment raises an important issue around State regulation of insurance pursuing to the macaran Ferguson act each and every one of our districts are experiencing Insurance related
▶ 7:01:17issues whether it's the rising cost of insurance or the dwindling availability of robust insurance coverage options given the worsening insurance crisis and the effects of it having it is having on households the ability to secure a mortgage loan an affordable housing developers ability to get housing built in fact the affordable housing sector has shared that they are facing rate increases upwards of
▶ 7:01:48300% which is stalling Development Across the country it is critical that this committee committee not only uphold the premacy of the mcaren Ferguson act but we should also ask ourselves whether the federal government has a role to play in helping States stabilize weakening Insurance markets and so for our newest member this is very important Amendment and I certainly hope uh that the Opposites out of the
▶ 7:02:18aisle will take it into consideration and support this amendment and I thank you for introducing it uh thank the general woman from California she yields back Is there further debate or discussion on the gentleman from California's Amendment if none all those in favor of the amendment please say I I all those opposed please say no no opinion of the chair the NOS have it and the NOS have it the amendment is not agreed to May request
▶ 7:02:48gentlem from California has requested a recorded vote all those in favor of recorded vote please raise your hands a sufficient number having raised their hand or record vote is ordered without objection further proceedings on this amendment are postponed per the chair's previous announcement we will now recess for floor votes we'll resume immediately after those votes finish Amendment debate on the one remaining amendment that we have proposed and move directly to votes without objection the previous question is ordered on
▶ 7:03:18the pending amendments the committee stands and recess for
▶ 7:07:30for for
▶ 7:13:30for for
▶ 7:16:59e e
▶ 7:18:59for for
▶ 7:21:59e e
▶ 7:27:29e e
▶ 7:31:28e e
▶ 7:32:58for for
▶ 7:35:21committee will come to order pursuant to the chair's previous announcement the committee will now take the votes on the proposed amendments to the rules of the committe committee for the 119th Congress the question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Texas Mr Green the clerk will call the role Mr hazinga no Mr hazinga votes no Mr Lucas no Mr Lucas votes no Mr sessions no Mr sessions votes
▶ 7:35:51no Mrs Wagner Mrs Wagner Mr bar bar Mr Williams Mr Williams Mr emmer Mr emmer Mr Loudermilk Mr
▶ 7:36:23Loudermilk Mr Davidson no Mr Davidson votes no Mr Rose no Mr Rose votes no Mr style Mr style votes no Mr Timmons Mr Timmons votes no Mr studman Mr stutzman Mr Norman Mr Norman votes no Mr Muer Mr muser votes no Mrs Kim Mrs Kim votes no Mr Donald's
▶ 7:36:54Mr Donalds Mr Garbarino Mr Garbarino votes no Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald Mr flood Mr flood votes no Mr Lawler Mr Lawler votes no Miss De La Cruz Miss de Cruz votes no Mr ogles Mr ogles votes no Mr nun
▶ 7:37:24Mr nun votes no Mrs mlan Mrs mlan votes no Miss Salazar Miss Salazar votes no Mr Downing Mr Downing votes no Mr heropoulos Mr heropolis votes no Mr Moore Mr Moore votes no ranking member Waters I ranking member Waters votes I Mrs Velasquez I Mrs Velasquez votes I Mr Sherman I Mr Sherman votes I Mr Meeks
▶ 7:37:54I Mr Meeks votes I Mr Scott I Mr Scott votes I Mr Lynch Mr Lynch Mr Green Mr Green votes yay Mr Cleaver Mr Cleaver you can do it Mr Hees hi Mr heims votes I Mr Foster hi Mr Foster votes I Mrs batty Mrs batty votes I
▶ 7:38:25Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes I Mr gimer Mr God Heimer Mr Gonzalez Mr Gonzalez votes I Mr Casten Mr Caston votes I miss Presley Miss Presley votes I miss TB Miss TB votes yes Mr
▶ 7:38:55Torres Mr Torres Garcia Miss Garcia votes yes Miss Williams of Georgia I miss Williams of Georgia votes I miss Pon Miss Pon Mr Fields Mr fiels votes I miss bham miss bham votes I Mr Lardo I Mr Lardo votes I Mr chairman Mr chairman
▶ 7:39:25votes no Mrs Wagner no Mrs Wagner votes no Mr bar Mr bar Mr bar votes no Mr Williams Mr Williams Mr emmer no
▶ 7:39:56Mr emmer votes no Mr Loudermilk no Mr Mr louder milk votes no Mr stutzman Mr stutzman Mr Donald's Mr Donald's Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald votes no Mr Lynch Mr Lynch votes I Mr Cleaver Mr cleever
▶ 7:40:26Mr gimer Mr God Heimer Mr Torres Mr Torres Miss Patterson Miss Patterson clerk will
▶ 7:40:58report for
▶ 7:41:49stutzman how do you wish to be recorded Mr stman votes no Mr stman votes no gimer Mr God Heimer votes I Mr God Heimer votes I
▶ 7:42:33Torres how do you vote Mr Torres Mr Torres votes I Mr Torres votes I
▶ 7:43:09Mr Donald's votes no
▶ 7:43:56clal report Mr chairman on this vote the eyes are 22 and the Nay are 29 a majority having voted against the amendment the amendment is not agreed to the question now is on the amendment offered by the gentoman from Texas M Garcia amendment number two the clerk will call the role Mr hazinga no Mr hazinga votes no Mr Lucas Mr Lucas votes no Mr sessions
▶ 7:44:27Mr sessions votes no Mrs Wagner Mrs Wagner votes no Mr bar Mr bar votes no Mr Williams Mr Williams Mr emmer Mr emmer votes no Mr Loudermilk Mr louder milk votes no Mr Davidson Mr Davidson votes no Mr Rose Mr Rose votes no Mr style Mr style votes no Mr Timmons Mr Timmons
▶ 7:44:57votes no Mr Mr stutzman votes no Mr Norman Mr Norman votes no Mr Muer Mr Muer votes no Mrs Kim Mrs Kim votes no Mr Donalds Mr Donald's votes no Mr Garbarino Mr Garbarino votes no Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald votes no Mr flood Mr flood votes no Mr Lawler Mr Lawler votes no Miss DEA Cruz Miss
▶ 7:45:27DEA Cruz votes no Mr ogles Mr ogles votes no Mr nun Mr nun votes no Mrs mlan Mrs mlan votes no Miss Salazar Miss Salazar votes no Mr Downing Mr Downing votes no Mr haridopolos Mr heropoulos votes no Mr Moore Mr Moore votes no ranking member Waters ranking member Waters votes I miss Velasquez Miss Velasquez votes I
▶ 7:45:57Mr Sherman Mr Sherman votes I Mr Meeks I Mr Meeks votes I Mr Scott I Mr Scott votes I Mr Lynch Mr Lynch votes I Mr Green Mr Green votes yay Mr Cleaver Mr cleever Mr heims Mr heims votes I Mr Foster Mr Foster votes I Mrs batty
▶ 7:46:28Mrs BTY votes I Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes I Mr God Heimer Mr gimer votes I Mr Gonzalez Mr Gonzalez votes I Mr Casten Mr Caston votes I miss Presley Miss Presley votes I miss TB Miss TB votes yes Mr Torres Mr Torres votes I miss Garcia I miss Garcia votes I miss Williams of Georgia I miss Williams of Georgia votes I miss pon
▶ 7:47:02Patterson Mr Fields Mr Fields votes I miss bham miss bham votes I Mr Lardo Mr Lardo votes yes Mr chairman Mr chairman no Mr Williams Williams
▶ 7:47:32Mr Cleaver Mr Cleaver Miss Pon Miss Patterson is there any member who wishes to change their vote cler roll report
▶ 7:48:15Mr chairman on this vote the eyes are 22 and the Nays are 29 is not agreed to now is there further discussion on the resolution if not the question now occurs on approving the resolution all those in favor of the resolution say I I all those opposed to say no no in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it the eyes have it and the resolution is agreed to uh Mr chair I request
▶ 7:48:45a recorded vote the gentleman from Michigan requests a recorded vote all those in favor of recorded vote raise your hands a sufficient number having raised their hand a recorded vote is so ordered the clerk will call the role Mr hazinga I Mr hazinga votes I Mr Lucas I Mr Lucas votes I Mr sessions I Mr sessions votes I Mrs Wagner Mrs Wagner votes I Mr bar Mr bar votes I Mr Williams Mr
▶ 7:49:16Williams Mr emmer yes Mr emmer votes yes Mr Loudermilk Mr Loudermilk votes I Mr Davidson Mr Davidson votes I Mr Rose Mr Rose votes yes Mr style Mr style votes yes Mr Timmons Mr Timmons votes I Mr stutzman Mr stman votes I Mr Norman Mr Norman votes I Mr Muer Mr muser votes I Mrs Kim Mrs Kim votes I Mr Donalds
▶ 7:49:47Mr Donalds votes yes Mr Garbarino Mr Garbarino votes yes Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald votes I Mr flood Mr flood votes I Mr Lawler I Mr Lawler votes I miss Tor Cruz Miss Tor Cruz votes I Mr ogles I Mr ogal votes I Mr nun Mr nun votes I Mrs mlan Mrs mlan votes I miss Salazar Miss Salazar votes I Mr Downing Mr Downing votes I Mr heropoulos
▶ 7:50:22haridopolos Mr Moore Mr Moore votes I ranking member Waters ranking member Waters votes no Miss Velasquez Miss Velasquez votes no Mr Sherman Mr Sherman votes no Mr Meeks Mr Meeks votes no Mr Scott yes Mr Scott vote Mr Scott Mr Scott votes no Mr Lynch
▶ 7:50:52Mr Lynch votes no Mr Green Mr Green votes nay Mr Cleaver cleever Mr heims no Mr Hees votes no Mr Foster no Mr Foster votes no Mrs batty Mrs batty votes nay Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes no Mr gimer Mr gimer votes no Mr Gonzalez Mr Gonzalez votes no Mr Caston Mr Caston votes no
▶ 7:51:23Miss Presley Miss Presley votes no Miss TB Miss TB votes no no Mr Torres Mr Torres votes no Miss Garcia no Miss Garcia votes no Miss Williams of Georgia no Miss Williams of Georgia votes no Miss patteron Miss Patterson Mr Fields Mr Fields votes nay Miss bham Miss bham votes no Mr Lardo Mr Lardo votes no Mr
▶ 7:51:53chairman Mr chairman votes I have all members voted is there any member who wishes to change their vote the cork will go back and call the names of the members who are not recorded Mr Williams Mr Williams Mr haridopolos Mr heropoulos votes yes Mr Cleaver Mr Cleaver Miss Pon Miss
▶ 7:52:25Pon clerk will report Mr CER how would you like to be recorded Sir Mr Cleaver votes no
▶ 7:53:06Mr chairman on this vote the eyes are 29 and the Nays are 23 majority of the members having voted for the resolution the resolution is adopted the resolution establishing the rules of the committee for the 119th Congress are approved without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table staff are authorized make necessary Technical and conforming changing to the resolution under consideration consistent with Clause 282 of rule 11 of the rules of the house
▶ 7:53:36the committee will make these rules publicly available no later than 60 days excuse me pursuing to an agreement with the ranking member our first vote will be on block the following amendments Mr Scott number one miss Vasquez number two Dr Foster number three M TB number four
▶ 7:54:07M Presley number seven Miss Williams number 10 Mr lero number 11 the question is now on the on block the clerk will call the role Mr hazinga no Mr hazinga votes no Mr Lucas no Mr Lucas votes no Mr sessions Mr sessions votes no Mrs Wagner Mrs Wagner votes no Mr bar Mr bar votes no Mr
▶ 7:54:38Williams Mr Williams Mr emmer Mr emmer votes no Mr Loudermilk Mr Loudermilk votes no Mr Davidson Mr Davidson votes no Mr Rose Mr Rose votes no Mr Style no Mr style votes no Mr Timmons Mr Timmons votes no Mr Mr stman Mr stman votes no Mr Norman Mr Norman votes no Mr muser Mr muser votes no Mrs Kim Mrs Kim
▶ 7:55:08votes no Mr Donalds Mr Donald's votes no Mr Garbarino Mr Garbarino votes no Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald votes no Mr flood Mr flood votes no Mr Lawler Mr flood votes no Miss De La Cruz Miss De La Cruz votes no Mr Mr votes no Mr nun Mr nun votes no Mrs mlan Mrs mlan votes no Miss Salazar M Salazar votes no Mr Downing
▶ 7:55:39Mr Downing votes no Mr heropoulos Mr heropoulos votes no Mr Moore Mr more votes no ranking member Waters ranking member Waters votes yes Miss Velasquez rank Miss Velasquez votes yes Mr Sherman Mr Sherman votes yes Mr Meeks yes Mr Meeks votes yes Mr Scott yes Mr Scott votes yes Mr Lynch Mr Lynch votes yes Mr Green
▶ 7:56:09Mr Green votes yay Mr cleever Mr cleever votes yes Mr heimes yes Mr Hees votes yes Mr Foster Mr Foster votes yes Mrs batty Mrs batty votes yes Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes I Mr God Heimer Mr goder votes I Mr Gonzalez Mr gon all votes yes Mr Caston Mr Caston votes I miss Presley Miss Presley votes I miss TB Miss TB votes yes Mr Torres I Mr
▶ 7:56:39Torres votes I miss Garcia I miss Garcia votes I miss Williams of Georgia I miss Williams of Georgia votes I miss Pon Miss Pon Mr Fields Mr Fields votes I miss bham miss bham votes I Mr Lardo Mr Lardo votes yes Mr Mr chairman Mr chairman votes no call the names of the members who are not yet
▶ 7:57:09recorded Mr Williams Mr Williams Miss Pon Miss Pon is there any member who wishes to change their vote the clerk will report
▶ 7:57:45Mr chairman on this vote the eyes are 23 and the Nay are 29 a majority having voted against the on block the on block is not agreed to the question is now on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Ohio Miss batty the clerk will call the role Mr hazinga Mr hazinga votes no Mr Lucas Mr Lucas votes no Mr sessions Mr sessions votes no Mrs Wagner Mrs
▶ 7:58:15Wagner votes no Mr bar Mr bar votes no Mr Williams Mr Williams Mr emmer Mr emmer votes no Mr Loudermilk Mr Loudermilk votes no Mr Davidson Mr Davidson votes no Mr Rose Mr Rose votes no Mr style Mr style votes no Mr Timmons Mr Timmons votes no Mr stutzman Mr stutzman votes no Mr Norman Mr Norman votes no
▶ 7:58:45Mr Muer Mr Muer votes no Mrs Kim Mrs Kim votes no Mr Donalds Mr Donald's votes no Mr Garbarino Mr Garbarino votes no Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitz Gerald votes no Mr flood Mr flood votes no Mr Lawler Mr Lawler votes no Miss deor Cruz M T La Cruz votes no Mr ogles Mr ogles votes no Mr nun no Mr nun votes no Mrs mlan Mr mlan votes no Miss
▶ 7:59:16Salazar M Salazar votes no Mr Downing Mrs Downing votes no Mr heropolis Mr heropoulos votes no Mr Moore Mr Moore votes no ranking member Waters ranking member Waters votes yes Miss Velasquez Miss Velasquez votes yes Mr Sherman Mr Sherman votes yes Mr Meeks Mr Meeks votes yes Mr Scott yes Mr Scott votes yes
▶ 7:59:46Mr Lynch Mr Lynch votes yes Mr Green Mr Green votes yay Mr cleever Mr cleever votes yes Mr heimes Mr Hees votes yes Mr Mr Foster yes Mr Foster votes yes Mrs batty Mrs batty votes yes Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes I Mr gimer Mr goheer votes I Mr Gonzalez Mr Gonzalez votes yes Mr Casten Mr Casten votes I Mr Miss
▶ 8:00:16Presley M Presley votes I miss TB Miss TB votes yay Mr Torres Mr Torres votes I miss Garcia i m Garcia votes I miss Williams of Georgia I Miss Williams of Georgia votes I miss peton miss Pon Mr Fields Mr Fields votes I miss bhum m bham votes I Mr Lardo Mr Lardo votes I Mr chairman Mr chairman votes
▶ 8:00:52no Mr Williams Mr Williams Pon Miss pon
▶ 8:01:29Mr chairman on this vote the i's are 23 and the Nays are 29 is not agreed to question now is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from California Mrs Waters the clerk will call the role Mr hazinga Mr hinga votes no Mr Lucas Mr Lucas votes no Mr sessions Mr sessions votes no Mrs Wagner Mrs
▶ 8:02:00Wagner votes no Mr bar Mr bar votes no Mr Williams Mr Williams Mr emmer Mr Emer votes no Mr Loudermilk Mr Loudermilk votes no Mr Davidson Mr Davidson votes no Mr Rose Mr Rose votes no Mr style Mr style votes no Mr Timmons Mr Timmons votes no Mr stman Mr stutsman votes no Mr Norman Mr Norman votes no Mr muser Mr Muer votes no Mrs Kim
▶ 8:02:30Mrs Kim votes no Mr Donalds Mr Donald's votes no Mr Garbarino Mr Garbarino votes no Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald votes no Mr flood Mr flood votes no Mr Lawler Mr Lawler votes no Miss De La Cruz Miss De La Cruz votes no Mr ogles Mr ogles votes no Mr nun Mr nun votes no Miss Mrs mlan Mrs mlan votes no Miss Salazar M Salazar votes no Mr Downing
▶ 8:03:00Mr Downing votes no Mr heropoulos Mr heropoulos votes no Mr Moore Mr Moore votes no ranking member Waters ranking member Waters votes yes Miss Velasquez Miss Velasquez votes yes Mr Sherman yes Mr Sherman votes yes Mr Meeks yes Mr Meeks votes yes Mr Scott yes Mr Scott votes yes Mr Lynch Mr Lynch votes yes Mr Green Mr green votes a Mr
▶ 8:03:31cleever Mr cleever votes yes Mr Hees Mr Hees votes yes Mr Foster yes Mr Foster votes yes Mrs batty Mrs batty votes yes Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes I Mr gimer Mr gimer votes I Mr Gonzalez Mr Gonzalez votes yes Mr Caston Mr Caston votes yes Miss Presley M Presley votes I Miss TB Miss TB votes yes Mr Torres
▶ 8:04:01Mr Torres votes yes Miss Garcia yes M Garcia votes yes Miss Williams of Georgia yes Miss Williams of Georgia votes yes Miss Pon Miss Pon Mr Fields Mr Fields votes I miss bham miss bham votes I Mr Lardo Mr Lardo votes I Mr chairman Mr chairman votes no
▶ 8:04:34Williams Mr Williams Miss Pon Miss Pon clerk report Mr chairman on this vote the i's are 23 and the Nays
▶ 8:05:04are 29 a majority having voted against the amendment the amendment is not agreed to the question is now on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Illinois Mr Caston the clerk will call the role Mr hazinga no Mr hazinga votes no Mr Lucas no Mr Lucas votes no Mr sessions Mr sessions votes no Mrs Wagner no Mrs Wagner votes no Mr bar Mr bar votes no Mr Williams Mr
▶ 8:05:34Williams Mr emmer Mr emmer votes no Mr Loudermilk Mr Loudermilk votes no Mr Davidson Mr Davidson votes no Mr Rose Mr Rose votes no Mr style Mr style votes no Mr Timmons Mr Timmons votes no Mr stutzman Mr stman votes no Mr Norman Mr Norman votes no Mr muser Mr Muer votes no Mrs Kim Mrs Kim votes no Mr Donalds Mr Donald's votes no Mr Garbarino
▶ 8:06:05Mr Garbarino votes no Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald votes no Mr flood Mr flood votes no Mr Lawler Mr Lawler votes no Miss Tor Cruz Miss Tor Cruz votes no Mr ogal Mr ogal votes no M nun Mr nun votes no Mrs mlan Mrs mlan votes no Miss Salazar Miss Salazar votes no Mr Downing Mr Downing votes no Mr heropoulos Mr haridopolos
▶ 8:06:36votes no Mr Moore Mr Moore votes no ranking member Waters ranking member Waters ranking member Waters votes yes Miss Velasquez Miss Velasquez votes yes Mr Sherman Mr Sherman votes yes Mr Meeks yes Mr Meeks votes yes Mr Scott yes Mr Scott votes votes yes Mr Lynch Mr Lynch votes yes Mr Green Mr Green yay
▶ 8:07:06Mr Green votes yay Mr cleever yes Mr cleever votes yes Mr Hees yes Mr Hees votes yes Mr Foster yes Mr Foster votes yes Mrs batty Mrs batty votes yes Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes I Mr goder Mr goder votes I Mr Gonzalez Mr Gonzalez votes I Mr Caston Mr Caston votes I miss Presley Miss Presley votes I miss TB Miss TB votes yes Mr Torres I Mr Torres votes
▶ 8:07:37I miss Garcia I miss Garcia votes I miss Williams of Georgia I miss Williams of Georgia votes I miss peton miss Pon Mr Fields Mr Fields votes I miss bham miss binam votes I Mr Lardo Mr Lardo votes yes Mr chairman no Mr chairman votes no gloral report Mr Williams Mr Williams
▶ 8:08:07M Pon Miss Pon Mr chairman on this vote the eyes are 23 and the Nays are 29 the majority having V voted against the amendment the amendment is not agreed to the question now is on the amendment offered by the gentlewoman from Texas Miss Garcia the clerk will call the role Mr hazinga
▶ 8:08:38no Mr hazinga votes no Mr Lucas no Mr Lucas votes no Mr sessions no Mr sessions votes no Mrs Wagner no Mrs Wagner votes no Mr bar Mr bar votes no Mr Williams Mr emmer no Mr emmer votes no Mr Loudermilk no Mr Loudermilk vot votes no Mr Davidson Mr Davidson votes no Mr Rose Mr Rose votes no Mr style Mr style votes no Mr timans Mr Timmons votes no Mr stman Mr
▶ 8:09:08stman votes no Mr Norman Mr Norman votes no Mr Muer Mr Muer votes no Mrs Kim Mrs Kim votes no Mr Donalds Mr Donald's votes no Mr Garbarino Mr Garbarino votes no Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald votes no Mr flood Mr flood votes no Mr Lawler Mr Lawler votes no Miss De La Cruz Miss De La Cruz votes no Mr ogal Mr ogles votes no Mr nun Mr nun votes no Mrs mlan
▶ 8:09:38Mrs mlan votes no Miss Salazar Miss Salazar votes no Mr Downing Mr Downing votes no Mr heropoulos Mr heropoulos votes no Mr Moore Mr Moore votes no ranking member Waters yes ranking member Waters votes yes Miss Velasquez Miss Velasquez votes yes Mr sh shman Mr Sherman votes yes Mr Meeks Mr Meeks votes yes Mr Scott yes Mr Scott votes yes Mr Lynch Mr Lynch votes yes Mr Green Mr Green
▶ 8:10:09votes yay Mr cleever Mr cleever votes yes Mr heims Mr heims votes yes Mr Foster Mr Foster votes yes Mrs batty Mrs batty votes yes Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes I Mr gimer Mr gimer votes I Mr Gonzalez Mr Gonzalez votes I I Mr Caston Mr Caston votes I miss Presley Presley votes I miss TB Miss TB votes yes Mr Torres M Torres votes I miss Garcia i m Garcia votes I
▶ 8:10:39miss Williams of Georgia i m Williams of Georgia votes I miss patteron Mr Fields Mr Fields votes I miss bham m bham votes I Mr Lardo Mr Lardo votes yes Mr chairman no Mr chairman votes no have all members voted is any member wishes to change their vote the clerk will
▶ 8:11:12report Mr chairman on this vote the eyes are 23 and the Nays are 29 a majority having voted against the amendment the amendment is not agreed to Is there further discussion on the authorization and oversight plan if not the question now occurs on adopted the authorization oversight plan for the 119th Congress all those in favor of the authorization oversight plan say I I all those oppose say no no in the opinion of the chair the eyes have it the eyes have it and the plan is agreed
▶ 8:11:42to Mr chairman uh the vice chairman uh I respectfully request the A and nays uh the gentleman from Michigan requests a recorded vote all those in favor of recorded vote please raise your hands a sufficient number having raised their hand a recorded vote is is ordered the clerk will call the role mringa I Mr re hazinga votes I Mr Lucas I Mr Lucas votes I Mr sessions I Mr sessions votes I Mrs Wagner I Mrs Wagner votes I Mr bar I Mr bar
▶ 8:12:12votes I Mr Williams Mr emmer yes Mr emmer votes yes Mr Loudermilk yes Mr Loudermilk votes yes Mr Davidson Mr Davidson votes I Mr Rose yes Mr Rose votes yes Mr styles Mr style votes yes Mr Timmons Mr Timmons votes yes Mr stutzman Mr stman votes I Mr Norman Mr Norman votes I Mr Muer Mr muser votes I Mrs Kim Mrs Kim votes I Mr Donalds
▶ 8:12:43Mr Donald's votes yes Mr Garbarino Mr Garbarino votes yes Mr Fitzgerald Mr Fitzgerald votes yes Mr flood Mr flood votes yes Mr Lawler yes Mr valer Mr Lawler votes yes Mr La Cruz yes Mr La Cruz votes yes Mr ogal Mr ogal votes yes Mr nun Mr nun votes I Mrs mlan Mrs mlan votes yes Miss Salazar Miss Salazar votes yes Mr Downing Mr Downing votes I Mr heropoulos
▶ 8:13:13Mr heropoulos votes yes Mr Moore Mr Moore votes I ranking member Waters ranking member Waters votes no Velasquez Miss Velasquez votes no Mr Mr Sherman votes no Mr Meeks no Mr Meeks votes no Mr Scott no Mr Scott votes no Mr Lynch Mr Lynch votes no Mr Green Mr Green votes nay Mr cleever Mr cleever votes no Mr Hees Mr Hees
▶ 8:13:44votes no Mr Foster no Mr Foster votes no Mrs batty Mrs batty votes no Mr Vargas Mr Vargas votes no Mr gimer Mr gimer votes no Mr Gonzalez Mr G G alz Mr Gonzalez votes no Mr Caston Mr Caston votes no Miss Presley Miss Presley votes no Miss TB Miss TB votes no Mr Torres Mr Torres votes no Miss Garcia this
▶ 8:14:14say yes no no Miss Garcia votes no Miss Williams of Georgia no Miss Williams of Georgia says no Miss Pon Mr Fields Mr Fields votes no Miss Miss bham votes no Mr Lardo Mr Lardo votes no Mr chairman Mr chairman votes yes out the clerk will
▶ 8:14:50report Mr chairman on this vote the i's are 29 and the Nays are 23 Congress the plan is adopted without objection the motion to reconsider is laid on the table the staff has authorized to make any necessary Technical and conforming changes to the plan considered today pursu it to room rule uh pursued to Clause 2D of rule 10 the authorization oversight plan will be submitted to the committee on oversight and government reform
▶ 8:15:21and the committee on house administration no later than March 1st is the ranking member seek recognition uh thank you Mr um Mr chair I strick the last word for purposes of entering into a call with you uh the ranking members recognized thank you Mr chairman as has been the practice of your predecessor and myself when I served as chair we abided by a number of informal agreements uh in addition to
▶ 8:15:51those described in the rules package before us today I'm pleas uh that our staffs have worked together to present us with this set of informal agreements and I'd like to ask unanimous consent that this list be inserted into the record without objection so ordered thank you Mr chairman I'd also like to ask whether you intend to abide by this set of informal agreements well I appreciate the ranking member bringing these informal agreements to our attention
▶ 8:16:21I would just add that additional contacts for our members that these requests represent long standing staff agreements that help facilitate committee operations to ensure that members are better served like to say to my friend the ranking member as we have in the past that we will continue to ensure that the minority staff has accessed information in a timely manner and to that end to the greatest extent practical we will continue these practices in the 119th Congress thank you very much uh Mr chairman I'm pleased that our staff have um
▶ 8:16:52i' I'd also like to ask whether you intend of course thank you finally it is my understanding that while we will be adopting rules that will permit electronic voting we will not be using our EV voting system of course today I would like to ask that prior to using EV voting in the committee our staffs can meet to discuss how we will use it going forward so as not to disadvantage any member of the committee would you agree to doing this well that's why we put in consultation with the ranking
▶ 8:17:22member in our package today well thank you Mr chairman I appreciate your willingness to Cooper op at on these matters I yield back Goman yields back as most of you know the practice of our subcommittees is to permit any member of the full committee to sit in on hearings and ask questions of witnesses even when the member is not a member of a particular subcommittee we've done it in various ways for example in the 109th Congress the chairman made a blanket unanimous consent request at the beginning of the Congress to make the subcommittees more efficient
▶ 8:17:52the UC request today will not address the question of opening statements which will still be subject to individual unan unanimous consent requests but only to the questioning of witnesses this reflects the routine committee practice therefore without objection any member of the committee who does not sit on a particular subcommittee may be recognized by the chair of that subcommittee to question Witnesses under the five-minute rule so long as all members of the subcommittee who are present have already been recognized for their round of questioning
▶ 8:18:22is there an objection Mr chairman Green from Texas uh Mr Green of Texas is recognized yes um you indicated as long as the members have had an opportunity to be recognized if a member chooses to pass I assume that that will be in order notwithstanding the member being present if the yes if the member was present and chose to pass I would assume they've uh given up their their right in that instance thank you Mr chairman uh without objection
▶ 8:18:53then uh this is unanimous consent request is so ordered and the chair chair thanks the members without objection the staff are authorized to make necessary Technical and conforming changes to all the matters approved by the committee today if there's no further business to come before the committee without objection the committee stands
▶ 8:19:25right e