{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-opening-statement-at-banking-committee-markup-of-s2155", "Brown Opening Statement at Banking Committee Markup of S.2155", "2017-12-05", "2017", "2017-12", "Democrat", "House", "OH", "Sherrod Brown", "B000944", "www.brown.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Tuesday, December 5, 2017\n            \n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) \u2013 ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs \u2013 released the following opening statement at today\u2019s executive session on S.2155, the \u201cEconomic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act.\u201d\r\nBrown\u2019s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow\r\n\u00a0\r\nThank you, Mr. Chairman.\r\nMr. Chairman, I was hopeful we could have reached an agreement on a bill to provide meaningful relief to consumers, small banks and credit unions, and regional banks.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I do not believe this bill that does that, and am also concerned that we have not appropriately vetted this bill.\r\nLast week, the Senate passed a tax bill that helps pass-throughs, corporations and the wealthiest Americans.\u00a0 I guess the idea behind it is that adding to their wealth will trickle down to working people in America.\r\nThis week, we seem to be applying the same theory to the banking industry.\u00a0 This bill makes changes to help some of the largest banks in this country -- and the world -- while rolling back some of the protections put in place after the Great Recession to protect homebuyers and homeowners.\r\nThis bill does make a number of small changes for consumers, and perhaps there more will be adopted. Here\u2019s the key difference \u2013 the banks will be saving real money; but what about working people?\u00a0\r\nThere\u2019s nothing to help people with record high levels of student loan debt; nothing to help those with underwater mortgages; and nothing to help workers who are struggling to get by.\u00a0 Some 60% of Americans have seen their wages decrease on a real basis since 2006.\u00a0\r\nThis bill claims to promote economic growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection.\u00a0 As Meat Loaf tells us, \u201cTwo Out of Three Ain\u2019t Bad.\u201d\u00a0 But this bill doesn\u2019t even meet the Meat Loaf minimum.\r\nIf we learned anything from the financial crisis, it is that deregulation of the banks doesn\u2019t create economic growth, instead it puts millions of Americans at risk\u2014like the five million families who were foreclosed upon during the crisis.\r\nAnd it is clear this Administration is heading down the same path this country traveled prior to the financial crisis.\r\nIt has installed individuals as financial watchdogs who won\u2019t bother to bark at the former colleagues they know so well.\r\nAnd then look at what the Administration did last week at the CFPB\u2014the only agency devoted to protecting consumers from financial institutions.\u00a0 It ignored the clear language of Dodd-Frank and named Mick Mulvaney, a member of the President\u2019s cabinet, to run an independent agency.\u00a0\r\nHis first action at what he called a \u201csick, sad\u201d joke of an agency was to block the payment of funds owed to consumers.\u00a0\r\nMerry Christmas.\r\nAnd then there is this bill.\u00a0\r\n \r\nIt puts taxpayers at greater risk of bank bailouts by weakening the rules on the some of the nation\u2019s largest banks.\u00a0 Banks between $100-$250 billion took $239 billion in TARP funds;\r\n \r\n \r\nIt weakens stress tests for both regional banks and larger banks.\u00a0 Stress tests are one of the most important tools put in place after the crisis to ensure banks can withstand the next crisis;\r\n \r\n \r\nIt reduces capital requirements and other important rules for banks above $50 billion;\r\n \r\n \r\nThe provisions in the bill related to qualified mortgages, manufactured housing, escrow accounts, appraisals, and mortgage data remove consumer protections put in place after the housing crisis, especially the most vulnerable;\r\n \r\n \r\nIt does virtually nothing to help hardworking Americans who haven\u2019t seen the benefits of the economic recovery.\r\n \r\nI support providing some relief to small banks and credit unions, but I think this bill unwisely chooses to do so by rolling back protections for people from the very activities that led to the crisis.\u00a0 Just as the nation\u2019s smallest banks didn\u2019t cause the crisis, neither did mortgage customers.\u00a0\r\nMr. Chairman, I\u2019d like to enter into the record letters from consumer advocacy and civil rights groups that are also concerned about this bill and its impact on American families.\u00a0\r\nMy colleagues and I will offer amendments today to try to make improvements to this bill.\u00a0 But I am not optimistic that many will be adopted, because what is driving this bill is the demands of the banking industry, not the needs of ordinary Americans.\r\nThis bill, like the tax bill last week and the health care bill before it, sends the message that this Congress is not very interested in helping hardworking middle class Americans.\r\nIt\u2019s Christmas for the C-suite, and crumbs for the Cratchits.\r\nThank you, Mr. Chairman.\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/brown-opening-statement-at-banking-committee-markup-of-s2155"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6122490633279085, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}