S. the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. BONAMICI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to S. 2155 because it will undermine critical safeguards that protect consumers, communities, and the country from another financial crisis. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, comprehensive legislation aimed at curbing the risky behavior of big banks and predatory lenders. Many communities in Oregon and around the country are still recovering from the Great Recession, and we should not roll back the regulatory safeguards that are allowing our economy to rebound.

As a former consumer protection attorney, I am deeply troubled by the data breaches that have affected people across the country. Just last year, the credit-reporting agency Equifax allowed the sensitive information of 148 million Americans to be exposed in a data breach. Individuals were urged to enroll in free credit monitoring, and to consider placing a freeze on their credit. Instead of providing further protections to the millions of people who were affected, this bill will harm them by preempting state credit freeze laws. We should be strengthening consumer rights, not weakening them.

The bill also undermines the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which requires lenders to report on key data regarding home-mortgage lending in underserved communities. In 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule that requires lenders provide detailed HMDA data about their loan practices to better understand the gaps in access to credit that exist. This bill expands the existing reporting requirement exemption for certain financial institutions, and would exempt nearly 5,400 banks from reporting that data. As long as underserved communities continue to struggle to access home loans, we should continue to collect the data necessary to shed light on the gaps in accessibility.

S. 2155 does include certain provisions to help consumers, including a provision making it easier for financial professionals to identify and report instances of financial fraud against seniors, and a provision to require the Social Security Administration to combat identity fraud. The bill also provides much-needed regulatory relief to our credit unions and community banks. These institutions were not engaging in the risky and speculative behavior that led to the recession, and they have always served an important role in our cities and towns. The bill also provides tools for community banks and credit unions to work with customers who are victims of data breaches. Although I support these commonsense reforms, the bill ultimately will undermine consumer protections, not bolster them. I urge my colleagues to oppose the legislation.

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