Steve Adamske, Communications Director for the House Financial Services Committee, made the following statement in response to Ranking Member Spencer Bachus’ claim that Chairman Frank cut off debate on the bill to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency:

“At 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Chairman Frank announced he would move the previous question after more than 16 hours of debate over four days on the bill to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA).  During this time, the committee considered 29 Republican amendments, and the Republicans on the committee were told in advance that the Chairman would be moving the previous question when he did.  Had the Republicans not engaged in filibuster-like debates during the first two days where the Ranking Member himself delivered essentially the same speech several times, their side would have had more time for consideration of their amendments.

“After all the amendments the Republicans prioritized as important to their caucus  were considered by the committee, they introduced a number of special interest amendments designed only to exempt individual professions from the CFPA.  In total, the committee debated 29 Republican amendments; six Republican amendments and two bipartisan amendments were accepted into the final bill; two Republican amendments were debated and withdrawn, and the committee took 27 roll call votes including 21 votes on Republican amendments.  The debate was preceded by Chairman Frank’s acceptance of a Republican request that debate on the Investor Protection, Insurance, Hedge Fund and Credit Rating elements of Financial Regulation Reform be postponed for one week.

Ranking Member Bachus’ true objection is not that we proceeded too quickly; it is that we proceeded at all.”