Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2018
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of the amendment of my friend from Illinois. The gentleman has shown great leadership on this issue prohibiting the Office of Foreign Assets Control from using funds to issue a license allowing U.S.-made aircraft to be sold to Iran, and also prohibiting OFAC from using funds to authorize U.S. financial institutions to finance the purchase of military fungible aircraft to Iran.
As the chairman of the subcommittee with oversight over treasury implementation of sanctions, it is just unacceptable and unnecessary to expose the
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
U.S. financial system to the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism in a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern.
At a hearing in April, the Committee on Financial Services heard testimony that Iran Air's role in the Syrian conflict continues. That same day, the public received reports of a chemical weapons attack killing dozens of Syrian civilians.
What we know is that there is significant evidence suggesting that Iran Air flights are now being used to transport personnel and material supporting the IRGC and its efforts to assist the Assad regime and Hezbollah.
Mr. Chairman, I applaud the gentleman's amendment and I support it.
We should not be assisting the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism with commercial aircraft.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Chairman, I thank the chairman's leadership on this, and, with all due respect to my friends on the other side of the aisle, this amendment is not about protecting consumers. This amendment is about protecting bureaucrats from accountability from the American people.
You know, I don't know, for the life of me, why Members of Congress would not defend this institution, both Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the aisle defend this institution. Why on Earth would we give away the most complete and effectual power of Congress--as James Madison said, ``the power of the purse''--away to unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in the executive branch? When I asked Chair Yellen whether she approves the budget of the Bureau, she didn't know the answer to that basic question. We know that the CFPB is not accountable to the American people through their elected Representatives in Congress. That is by statutory design. That is what Dodd-Frank says. But we would hope that they would at least be accountable to the source of their funding, and they are not even accountable to the Fed.
Defeat this amendment, support accountability, support the Constitution and restoring the power of the purse to the elected Representatives of the Congress.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, the examples raised by my friend, the gentleman from Minnesota, really have nothing to do with the provisions of the bill that the amendment seeks to strike. What the bill does do, the underlying bill, and I thank the gentleman from Georgia for including this in the Financial Services Appropriations bill--what the bill does is make targeted adjustments so that manufactured home loans are available in the market.
Again, consumer protection is not denying people access to affordable housing, and that is what the gentleman's amendment would do.
The Dodd-Frank Act does prevent predatory lending, but nothing in this language changes that at all. Instead of unrelated stories about consumer protections that the bill's provision will not change, let's get back to talking about how consumers are actually harmed by the rules we are seeking to change.
Look, let's talk about real people who are affected negatively by overreach by the CFPB and Dodd-Frank, people in my district in Kentucky, in rural Kentucky where manufactured housing is one of the best affordable options and less expensive than renting.
Let's talk about the hospital worker in Paducah, Kentucky, who was denied a loan of $38,500 to finance a manufactured home. He had an 8 percent down payment. His monthly income was $2,200 per month, plenty to cover the all-in housing costs of $670 per month.
The payment for his own home would have been less than what he was spending on rent, but he was unable to get financing. Why? Because of the CFPB; because of Dodd-Frank; because of overregulation. He contacted his local banks and credit unions, but they no longer financed manufactured homes because of overregulation.
Those harmed include those who currently live in and those who seek to purchase a manufactured home: retirees, veterans, working families, et cetera.
And the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data is clear. Consumers have been shut out of the market for quality affordable housing because regulations have caused financing to be less available for manufactured homes.
I want to reserve the balance of my time, and I want to give some other Members an opportunity to say something about this, but I do want to just conclude by saying, this amendment, again, is not about consumer protection. The amendment protects consumers right out of their homes. That is not consumer protection. Keeping access to affordable homeownership is the American Dream. We shouldn't be denying that to people, especially in rural America.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time, and may I ask how much time I have left.
Mr. Chairman, just to conclude, this is not about raising costs for people. This is about actually making it more affordable to own a home. There may be, in some cases, a higher interest rate for a manufactured home than a site-built home.
But, remember, a manufactured home can be less than half the cost of a site-built home. So you are talking about overall affordability.
Why would we deny people the opportunity to have overall affordability, as opposed to being forced into higher cost rent where they don't even own the American Dream, or being in a position where they can't afford at all?
The only option available is a site-built home, a nonmanufactured home.
Defeat this amendment, preserve access to rural affordable housing, be pro-consumer, and oppose this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. Chairman, I thank Congressman Jenkins for his leadership on this important issue.
Mr. Chairman, I join my colleague from West Virginia in introducing this amendment, which seeks to increase funding to the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program by $6 million. Frankly, that is not enough, but it is an improvement over the status quo. This program is a proven program, established to help combat the sale and distribution of illegal narcotics.
I am greatly concerned about the current and future well-being of this Nation and States like my home Commonwealth of Kentucky, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control, has the third highest rate of fatalities due to drug overdose in the Nation, falling close behind West Virginia and New Hampshire.
Members of my Sixth Congressional District of Kentucky Drug Abuse Task Force, which is comprised of local, State, and Federal experts in the fields of law enforcement, drug treatment, recovery, education, and prevention efforts, recommended increased funding for HIDTA initiatives to help fight this crisis.
We hear it from our constituents, the heartbreaking stories of loved ones who have succumbed to addiction and the heartbreaking stories of first responders who are called to the scene of overdose deaths.
In 2016 alone, HIDTAs took $17.3 billion of illicit drugs off the streets and out of our communities, which equates to a return on investment of $75 for every $1 in HIDTA budgeted in 2016.
We can prudently use this return on investment to continue to help take narcotic drugs out of our communities while helping to provide funding for treatment and prevention efforts for nonviolent drug abusers.
Mr. Chairman, we all personally know someone who has fallen to addiction by drugs or even fallen victim to a drug overdose. I ask my fellow colleagues to support this important amendment, which would truly make a difference in helping our communities fight this alarming epidemic.
It is a workforce development issue. Many of the employers in Kentucky--and I know, in West Virginia as well--talk about the labor supply difficulties as a result of the addiction crisis, but even worse is the human tragedy.
We know that this works. In Madison County, Kentucky, it has worked.
Many other counties are applying for this money, and with that, there is more demand for more funding.
Please support this amendment.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source