Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers) and the gentlewoman from Ohio (Mrs. Beatty) for their efforts in drafting the legislation before us this afternoon.

The Capital Access for Small Community Financial Institutions Act is bipartisan legislation that passed the House Financial Services Committee by a vote of 55-0 earlier this spring. This bill will provide meaningful regulatory relief for privately insured credit unions by allowing them to become members of the Federal Home Loan Bank system.

There are approximately 130 privately insured credit unions, with nearly $13 billion in assets in nine States across the country. These credit unions currently cannot join the Federal Home Loan Bank system, which provides an additional source of mortgage funding for its members. Allowing privately insured credit unions to join the Federal Home Loan Bank system will allow these credit unions to increase the availability of mortgage credit in the communities that they serve.

I commend the office for identifying this inequity and putting forth this legislation. This issue is not new. Similar provisions were included in the previous regulatory relief measures that passed the House with overwhelming support.

I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise to support H.R. 3584, a bill that permits credit unions insured by private companies access to the Federal Home Loan Bank system. Today, there are 132 credit unions with approximately $13 billion in assets that cannot access additional liquidity for mortgage credit but for a statutory obstacle requiring credit unions to have Federal insurance. With membership, privately insured credit unions will be able to offer their members mortgages at more affordable rates and other products, which, in turn, helps many communities across the country.

In the past, some Members raised concerns that the home loan banks should only serve federally insured institutions, but I believe that those concerns have been largely addressed with the adoption of several helpful amendments both before and during the committee markup of this bill.

Mrs. Beatty, for example, worked with Mr. Stivers to address some of the concerns of the Federal credit union regulator. In addition, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks) offered two amendments to better protect the Federal Home Loan Bank system against a bank run among privately insured credit unions.

All that being said, these credit unions and their private insurer fared remarkably well during the last financial crisis even as many of their federally insured counterparts failed. As a result, these credit unions helped bolster many communities through the economic downturn.

So I would like to thank the sponsors of this bill, Mr. Stivers as well as his Democratic cosponsor Mrs. Beatty, for all of their efforts to work across the aisle to assist community financial institutions and their members.

I support the adoption of H.R. 3584, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mrs. CAPITO. Madam Speaker, I would now like to yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Stivers), the author of this bill.

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