Providing for Consideration of H.R. Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act of and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Stress Test Improvement Act of 2017

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. ZELDIN. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado (Mr. Buck) for yielding to me.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of this important rule and in support of the two underlying bipartisan bills that will improve our banking system and help grow our Nation's economy: H.R. 4293, the Stress Test Improvement Act of 2017; and H.R. 4061, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act of 2017.

These are two essential pieces of legislation that cleared the Committee on Financial Services with bipartisan support.

I am the sponsor of the Stress Test Improvement Act, alongside the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott), my Democratic colleague.

Stress tests are one of the aspects of current law that are contributing to the climate of legal and regulatory uncertainty because the Federal Reserve has failed to provide the necessary transparency around this process.

This bipartisan bill will inject transparency, consistency, and fairness into the stress testing process. Without needed reform, rather than ensuring financial stability, the Federal Reserve's stress tests are likely missing real risks while constraining the competitive flow of financial services that is critical to increasing economic opportunity.

While a valuable resource, stress test results may be creating a false sense of security, while at the same time sowing the seeds of financial instability. In order to succeed, a stress test must build from an accurate forecast of the next macroeconomic storm; and even the best forecasts tend to be wrong.

This is a bipartisan bill that was amended in the committee markup with unanimous support of every committee member, including the ranking member. The amendment offered by the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott) that we accepted focused the bill on core reforms to the stress testing process that will make the rules more transparent, effective, and fair.

We are not gutting standards, but making them work for the real world. This bill is a bipartisan team effort to accomplish those goals. So is the other bill covered by this rule, the FSOC Improvement Act.

Madam Speaker, I urge adoption of this rule, and I urge the passage of both of these important bills.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source