Today, in response to the House Committee on Appropriations markup of the fiscal year 2019 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement:

“The Trump Administration and Congressional Republicans are shameless in their attempts to rollback consumer protections and this bill is yet another attempt to undermine Wall Street reform and dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“It has been well-established that when drafting Dodd-Frank, Congress intended for the Consumer Bureau to be free of political influence, both from Congress and the Administration, so that it can operate as a tough and independent regulator that stands up for consumers. Unfortunately, this bill does the exact opposite by sidestepping Dodd-Frank, subjecting the Consumer Bureau to the congressional appropriations process, and enabling President Trump to fire the Director at will. What’s more, this bill comes on the heels of numerous attempts by the Trump Administration to starve the Bureau of its resources and advance a deregulatory agenda that will put consumers last.

“This is unacceptable and I will continue to oppose any legislation that hurts hardworking Americans by underfunding and undermining the centerpiece of Dodd-Frank. History has shown that the lack of consumer protections will only expose us to another financial crisis.”

In addition to provisions concerning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the fiscal year 2019 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill repackages some of the harmful provisions from Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling’s Wrong Choice Act and undermines Democratic efforts to hold megabanks accountable, prevent systemic risk and protect our nation’s consumers.

###