Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act of 2013

Floor Speech

Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the chairman of our committee for his leadership and for yielding me time this afternoon.

I would also like to thank my colleagues Mr. Duffy, Mr. Bachus, and Mr. Neugebauer for their leadership in drafting the components of this bill before us today.

As we have heard, the debate before us today is not new. We have been working for the past 3 years to enact commonsense structural reforms to the CFPB. During debate in the last Congress, our friends on the other side of the aisle said that it was premature to reform this burgeoning agency. They argued that it was too early to tell how the Bureau would operate.

Well, 2 1/2 years later, this is what we know: The Bureau continues to be unresponsive to bipartisan requests for information about their operations. For example, last spring, the Bureau released guidance for indirect auto lending practices.

Over the last year, Republican and Democrat Members have requested information, both in person and in writing, about the data the Bureau used to support their guidance. Despite these requests, the Bureau refuses to provide substantive answers to the Members' questions.

Over the last year, Members--and I have in particular--expressed significant concern about the effect the CFPB's new rules will have on mortgage availability for low- to moderate-income borrowers. Despite this, the CFPB has moved forward with the rules.

We have also heard that the Bureau is spending over $100 million to renovate its headquarters. As we learned, the renovation per square foot will cost more than building the Trump World Tower and the Bellagio.

These examples are indicative of an agency that is unaccountable to Congress and to the American taxpayers. Moving the Bureau's leadership structure to a bipartisan commission will ensure that there is a diversity of opinion as the agency crafts new rules, no matter who the President is.

A more diverse leadership structure will result in more balanced rules that provide consumers with sufficient transparency to choose the financial products that best suits their needs.

We are also bringing greater accountability to this agency by putting the Bureau on the regular appropriations schedule. Budgetary control is a critical tool for this Congress, no matter who the President is, to ensure the actions of this agency truly benefits consumers.

I thank the sponsors for their hard work.

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