Making It Easier For Consumers

‘Commonsense Fixes’ In Sen. Crapo’s Bill Will Provide ‘Regulatory Relief For Banks And Credit Unions, Especially The Smaller Ones’
SEN. MIKE CRAPO (R-ID), Senate Banking Committee Chairman: “The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act is aimed at rightsizing regulation for financial institutions, including community banks and credit unions, making it easier for consumers to get mortgages and to obtain credit.  As I have often said, the real victims of what I am talking about are … the people, the small businesses--those who need to have access to credit and need to have the ability to get a loan to purchase a house or to start a small business or to expand a small business or other important needs.” (Sen. Crapo, Congressional Record, S. 1424, 3/07/2018)

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “[S]ince the federal government implemented massive new regulations under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, our community banks and credit unions have been getting squeezed. Dodd-Frank’s imprecise, inefficient, one-size-fits-all framework dropped these small institutions into the regulatory maze that was intended for Wall Street…. Senator Crapo’s Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act is … an important step toward unwinding the harm caused by the Obama administration’s knee-jerk reaction to the 2008 financial crisis. And importantly, this bill has strong bipartisan support. On both sides of the aisle, members with a diversity of views on Dodd-Frank itself have recognized that this set of commonsense fixes deserves all of our support.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 3/07/2018)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): “You might ask: Why do we care about providing regulatory relief for banks and credit unions, especially the smaller ones that are in our communities? Well, that is where people go when they want to buy a house and they need a mortgage, when they need some startup money for a new business, where they need to go borrow money, for example, to buy seed and equipment to plant a crop. If you are in the agriculture sector, that is where they get access to credit, and that is why it is so important.” (Sen. Cornyn, Congressional Record, S. 1408, 3/07/2018)


‘Fix The Regulatory Regime So We Can Get Community Banks Back In Business’
SEN. BOB CORKER (R-TN): “…we’ve ended up in a situation now where our community banks and credit unions that serve our communities, that cause economic growth to occur, [due to Dodd-Frank] now have these large back-office operations that are spread over a smaller asset base. It has made them noncompetitive and has made it very difficult for them to do the jobs that we all cherish that they do back home, which is help to grow those economies. And so this bill is focused on them. … What we’re doing is taking a very constructive step to make sure that these smaller institutions, which represent a very small amount of the assets in our nation but have such outsized impact on the communities that they are in, have the ability again to flourish and do the things that are necessary for our economies back home to grow.” (Sen. Corker, Press Release, 3/6/2018)

SEN. DEAN HELLER (R-NV): “For nearly a decade, burdensome financial regulations meant to protect Americans during the Financial Crisis hurt small community lenders in Nevada, which stifled economic growth and lending in my home state of Nevada… I’m pleased that the Senate advanced a bipartisan, regulatory relief package that includes my seven measures to help community lenders, protect consumers and veterans, and increase oversight of the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department.” (Sen. Heller, Press Conference, 3/8/2018)

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC):“Several initiatives introduced by U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) have been included in S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which the U.S. Senate is debating this week. … ‘It is a great day when we have the opportunity to pass legislation that will create real, tangible change for the American people,’ said Scott. ‘I am very pleased that my amendments will be included, as they will take a significant step forward in curbing ‘synthetic ID fraud’ – a crime that negatively impacts millions of people, and also a seeks to help credit-invisible Americans be more competitive for mortgage lending and homeownership.’” (Sen. Scott, Press Release, 3/8/2018)

SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): “As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of this important legislation, which will provide much-needed regulatory relief to our community banks and credit unions, whose ability to serve their customers has been made more difficult since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act. … Making sure American families and businesses have access to credit when they need it is critical as we work to further grow our economy and create jobs. The ‘Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act’ will strengthen America’s financial system and expand economic opportunities across the country, especially in rural areas, which are often the most underserved.” (Sen. Rounds, Press Release, 3/7/2018)

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): “Local banks, credit unions, and regional banks, are the banks supporting our local main street, providing small businesses with capital, and sponsoring little league baseball games. For nearly eight years, small-town banks have been hammered by big government regulations enacted by Dodd-Frank. … Small banks often spend too much time and resources dealing with the regulations and compliance costs that Dodd-Frank has created. Put simply, Dodd-Frank is another one-size-fits-all, Washington, bureaucratic policy that hurts the very people it claims to champion, the middle class, working poor, and those communities that have the least access to capital. Fortunately, we have an opportunity to do something today to fix these problems.” (Sen. Purdue, Press Release, 3/7/2018)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): “This legislation provides relief to community banks and midsize regional banks. It does not restrict the regulators from going down the chain and identifying any practices that need additional regulations, but instead of assuming you have to overregulate, do it when the behavior of the banks warrants it. What we are trying to do is fix the regulatory regime so we can get community banks back in business. We have seen a dramatic fall in the number of community banks that have a personal relationship with the people seeking loans. We have bipartisan support for this bill because we have fixed the regulatory burden on smaller banks, we think it makes sense, and believe it will have a positive effect on the banking sector.” (Sen. Tillis, Press Release, 3/8/2018)>

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): “I believe that it’s time to swing the pendulum back towards simple, sensible regulations, and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act is a vital step in the right direction.  Dodd-Frank was like using a sledgehammer to go after a gnat. All this reform package is suggesting is that we should try a flyswatter.” (Sen. Kennedy, Press Release, 3/6/2018)

SEN. JERRY MORAN (R-KS): “Today we have a regulatory environment in which bankers are fearful of making a home loan to a citizen within their community. If somebody wants to buy a home or build a home, they are told by their local bank: We can't afford the cost associated with the regulations for making these loans. We can't afford the risk that if we make a technical error, the financial consequences to our bank will be so great, we will be out of the home loan business…. We need more banks, more financial institutions making home loans in more communities so that more people in rural American can access the American dream…. I have indicated that in communities that I represent, it is often true that economic development can be the difference between whether or not there is a grocery store in town.” (Sen. Moran, Congressional Record, S. 1358, 3/06/2018)

SEN. ROY BLUNT (R-MO): “Credit unions and community banks provide critical financial services for families and for small businesses across Missouri and across the country. When the Dodd-Frank bill became law, small and medium-sized banks and credit unions were faced with huge regulatory burdens. Big banks got bigger, and small banks got bought and went out of business way too often. There was negative impact on their ability to maintain service on Main Street in a small community…. In talking about the bill that I am pleased to be a cosponsor of, the president of the Missouri Bankers Association, Max Cook, said: ‘This common-sense legislation will allow banks to better serve the needs of customers and businesses in our communities.’” (Sen. Blunt, Press Release, 12/12/2017)

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