Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the young chairman of the subcommittee, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw) for not only his great work that he has done on this bill but also presenting this bill before the Rules Committee along with the gentleman, Mr. Serrano, who not only ably spoke about their bill but defended its process and the attempt that they are trying to make today to pass this into law.
Mr. Chairman, my amendment will reduce Department of the Treasury funding for salaries and expenses of departmental offices by 1 percent. This $1.75 million cut will not only reasonably save the government much-needed funds but will also send a clear signal to the Treasury Department that they must take seriously their oversight responsibilities over the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, known as the OCC.
I have been engaged in a process on behalf of a constituent of mine for a number of years, and I am here finally on the floor today as a result of frustration and what I think is an outright lack of effectively doing their job in the OCC.
Beginning in 2007, the OCC opened an action against T Bank, NA, with regard to their relationship with a payment processor, specifically investigating the bank's CEO, a gentleman from Dallas, Texas, Patrick Adams. The investigation culminated in a trial before an administrative law judge. That administrative law judge was picked specifically by the OCC as the administrative judge.
On November 8, 2012, the judge recommended that all charges brought by the Comptroller of the Currency against Mr. Adams be dismissed on November 8, 2012. Most disturbing is that the Comptroller has refused to render a decision, leaving Mr. Adams all this time in legal limbo.
12 CFR 109.40 clearly states the Comptroller ``shall render a final decision within 90 days after notification of the parties that the case has been submitted for final decision.''
Despite being required by law, the Comptroller has refused to render a final decision 15 months after the official submission by the administrative judge. Instead, the Comptroller has extended the 90-day period four times, most recently in May of this year. The Code of Federal Regulations provides no avenue for the Comptroller to extend such a decision.
I believe this delay represents a significant deficiency in the operations of an agency under the purview of the Treasury Department. Mr. Chairman, I will tell you that I have tried to work tirelessly through this problem with the gentleman from Dallas, Texas, my constituent, and it is the Federal Government, through the OCC, who refuses to abide by a decision made by an administrative judge that they chose and has waited 15 months, holding this gentleman in limbo at a time of his life when he has spent millions of dollars to protect himself against the Federal Government, and the administrative judge ruled against the Federal Government.
Mr. Chairman, it is time that the OCC do their job. And since they are not, I am here on the floor today, and I am asking Members of this body to take the action that is necessary, regular, and, I consider, reasonable. So I urge all of my colleagues to support this amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I would yield, at this time, to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Crenshaw), the subcommittee chair.
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Mr. SESSIONS. I thank the gentleman. And, Mr. Chairman, I want you to know that I would appreciate not only his help, but also the help of the inspector general of the Treasury Department, who has been advised of this circumstance, and we are waiting for their final decision. Even though it is 15 months late, I believe we should move forward and take the $1.7 million away from an agency that does not live within the law.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
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