Expanding Opportunity for Minority Depository Institutions Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise in support in H.R. 5315, the Expanding Opportunity for Minority Depository Institutions Act.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) for offering this bill and for working to keep important institutions having access to the capital they need to support the communities that rely on them.

H.R. 5315 would codify the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Agent Mentor-Protege Program into law.

Minority-owned depository institutions play a vital role in our communities across America. The significant decline in the number of banks and credit unions since the financial crisis is concerning.

MDIs have a substantial impact on consumers and communities, in particular, those small businesses and families that reside in low- and moderate-income census tracts that depend on services, often from MDIs in order to prosper.

MDIs are essential to promoting and expanding greater access to financial services in low- and moderate-income communities. As the number of minority depository institutions continues to decline, Congress should act to preserve these vital institutions.

In a hearing earlier this year, the Financial Services Committee heard directly from a number of MDIs that post-crisis regulations have taken a serious financial toll on their ability to compete and provide low-cost services, thus, making it harder for them to survive.

In this instance, MDIs have that in common with many, many community bank organizations across the country. Compliance costs have risen since the crisis; and the smaller the institution, the higher the burden of those costs.

So what better way to try to overcome that than to try to create a mentorship program to provide the talent and extra resources necessary to cope with raising capital, having expertise, developing human resources, and developing alternative compliance procedures that will allow MDIs to thrive?

The Financial Agent Mentor-Protege Program has a proven track record of success in doing just this. Codifying the Financial Agent Mentor- Protege Program into law signals Congress' intent to promote the program and increase mentor participation, potentially expanding the number of MDIs participating in the program.

Committee Republicans support free-market solutions. The Financial Agent Mentor-Protege Program can encourage stronger partnerships between larger institutions and the financial sector with their minority depository institution partners, thereby benefiting more households and more consumers across our country.

Madam Speaker, I would once again like to thank the gentlewoman from Ohio for her work on this bill and urge all my colleagues to support H.R. 5315.

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Mr. HILL of Arkansas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume to close.

Madam Speaker, again, I want to thank my friend from Ohio for her work on this bill, for calling attention to it and for suggesting that it is a great sense of partnership to have technical compliance and technical assistance that is available in so many of our larger institutions, those certainly $50 billion and up, and how they can help mentor a minority depository institution and try to create a better working environment for them to serve their communities and serve their households that are important in each of their towns and communities across this country.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 5315, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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