Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, took to the House Floor to blast S.J.Res.18, the “Higher Bank Fees Act” — a bill that would raise fees charged to consumers by the nation’s biggest banks.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in complete opposition to yet another harmful bill put forth by Republicans, S.J. Res 18—a resolution to allow the biggest banks to increase fees on their customers. You heard me right, I said this resolution will increase bank fees, and it will impact 23 million households, or roughly one in five households, that incur overdraft fees each year. Despite Trump and Republicans campaign promises to lower prices, the President decided to launch a global trade war just last week that wiped out a two-day record of $6.6 trillion of wealth, affecting the retirement savings of millions of Americans. Moreover, the Fed Chair has said these policies will fuel higher inflation by sending the prices of consumer goods up. But it doesn’t seem like the President cares about prices anymore, saying “I couldn’t care less…I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, Americans are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty.” Trump doesn’t care that prices for cars and other goods will rise significantly.
We are here today because Republicans now want to overturn a rule that limits bank overdraft fees to $5 – down from $35 or more – and saves consumers $5 billion a year. Not surprisingly, more than 80 percent of Americans, including Republicans, want to get these high overdraft fees under control. And yet, Republicans will vote to take off the limits on these fees and say that higher fees are good for America.
Now let’s clear up a few myths. CFPB’s rule does not ban overdraft fees, but rather it sets a reasonable limit at $5 per overdraft charged by the biggest banks in America. Despite what opponents may claim, the rule does not impose a hard cap on these fees, as it provides flexibility for large banks to charge more if their estimated costs and losses in providing the service are higher than $5. The rule even allows big banks to charge even higher fees if they provide a simple, up-front disclosure to consumers. Now think about that, why is it if you want to charge more money than the $5, that you don’t want to tell your customers that you're raising and you're charging more. I don’t get it. That’s right, the biggest banks can feel free to charge higher fees, but they just have to tell consumers that they plan to do so.
Furthermore, this rule does not apply to any small community banks or credit unions. In fact, 97% of all banks and virtually all credit unions are completely exempt from the rule. Let me say that again, community banks and nearly all credit unions are exempt from this rule. We are only debating whether the biggest banks in America should be able to raise these fees.
Now, Republicans will try reverse psychology to convince Americans that it’s in their best interest to fork over even more money to the big banks. Mr. Speaker, let me help Republicans out: Making Americans pay high overdraft fees only benefits the big banks, no one else.
Let me be even clearer: A vote for this bill is a vote for big banks. A vote for this bill is a vote for big fees. And a vote for this bill is a vote against your constituents. Don’t just take my word for it, nearly 300 consumer, civil rights, labor, religious, and community groups across the country strongly oppose this bill.
And Mr. Speaker, these fee increases Republicans are trying to jam down American throats couldn’t come at a worse time. The Federal Reserve reported that a key metric of inflation is going up, and that was before President Trump sent the stock market further into the tank with the global trade war he launched last week. Republicans promised that inflation would go down and the stock market would thrive under his leadership, but four months into the new administration, that has proven to be false. Whether you like the CFPB or not, it doesn’t make any sense to hike bank fees on 23 million hard-working families.
Democrats on the Financial Services Committee voted unanimously to oppose this bill at a markup in February, and I urge all of my colleagues to unanimously reject it on the floor today.
I reserve the balance of my time.
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