Main Street Capital Access Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. MEUSER. Mr. Speaker, I commend our chairman, French Hill, for his excellent leadership.

I do rise in support of the very appropriately named Main Street Capital Access Act introduced by Chairman Hill and Subcommittee Chairman Barr. The legislation does exactly what it says. It supports access to capital for Main Street.

At the start of this Congress, Chairman Hill said one of our Committee's priorities was to make community banking great again. Since then, we have advanced the package of bills before us that is the largest community bank deregulatory reform effort since the 1990s.

Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago, community banks financed 65 percent of home loans in this country. Today, it is less than 30 percent. This bill helps reverse that trend. It lowers capital hurdles so new community banks can form, and it tailors bank regulations so small and midsize banks are regulated fairly.

These changes allow banks to extend more mortgages, be more competitive on small business loans, and improve access to credit for all Americans. This is a housing bill, a small business bill, an affordability bill, and an access to capital bill.

Importantly, the bill also includes legislation to codify President Trump's executive order preventing debanking, such as my bill, the SAFE Guidance Act, which affirms guidance does not have the effect of law.

Both guidance and reputational risk were weaponized under previous administrations to debank legitimate, legal businesses.

This bill corrects those wrongs. This legislation supports community banks, protects Main Street across the country, and I urge support.

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