Providing for Congressional Disapproval of A Rule Submitted By Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection

Floor Speech

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Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding. I rise in strong support of this important resolution, S.J. Res. 57.

I am the House sponsor of the companion legislation to this Congressional Review Act resolution to repeal ill-founded guidance issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau relating to the dealer-directed auto lending market. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Jeb Hensarling for all of his amazing leadership on this very important issue. I also want to commend my Senate counterparts on this legislation: Senators Jerry Moran and Pat Toomey.

Mr. Speaker, for so many of my constituents, access to transportation is key to their economic prosperity. And access to affordable credit is what helps them get behind the wheel to get their kids to school, get themselves to work, or to get sick loved ones to medical appointments. That is why the 2013 assault by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on the dealer-directed auto finance market is so damaging to the very people this rogue agency is claiming to help.

Indirect auto financing, also known as dealer-directed auto financing, are the loans offered to consumers in the dealerships where they are purchasing a vehicle. Dealer-directed financing is an important option for consumers and provides them and the dealerships they are purchasing the vehicle from with the flexibility to meet a consumer's needs based on their budget and credit score.

The CFPB, under the leadership of Richard Cordray, in their classic government-knows-best approach, decided in 2013, without consulting Congress or following the law, that they had a problem with this well- known form of auto financing. They launched an unconstitutional and illegal assault on honest car dealerships and the financial institutions they work with, falsely claiming discrimination and unfair lending practices.

The data to back up these egregious claims, through the Bureau's own admission, was deeply flawed and had an error rate as high as 41 percent. That was according to an independent audit. Let me be absolutely clear that any form of lending discrimination--whether based on race, religion, gender, orientation, or creed--is absolutely unacceptable and also totally illegal under various Federal and State laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, or ECOA.

What is also illegal and wrong is how the CFPB went about issuing this flawed mandate, labeling it as benign guidance, yet enforcing it as if it was a true Federal regulation, all in violation of the transparency and public comment requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act.

Through passage of today's joint resolution, we will permanently strike down this flawed CFPB mandate that attempted to virtually outlaw indirect auto lending in the United States. Today's fight over this important resolution may sound like a wonky policy debate, but to my constituents, permanently repealing this flawed CFPB ruling may make the difference between being denied or approved for an auto loan they desperately need.

This CFPB decree is estimated to raise the cost of auto lending by as much as $600 per consumer. That is not crumbs. And through passage of S.J. Res. 57, we can also ensure that no future CFPB Director or administration can revive it without the express permission of Congress.

Mr. Speaker, I commend Director Mulvaney for working so hard to repair the serious damage done by his rogue predecessor at the CFPB. But at the end of the day, Congress must do its job by changing the law. This has been a bipartisan priority in the past, and I hope that all my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will vote ``yes.''

Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of S.J. Res. 57.

Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Speaker, this is about discrimination. This is not about false accusations. It is documented that these car lenders have discriminated against people of color.

Moore).

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