Waters Strongly Opposes GOP Bill to Impede Regulators

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, spoke on the House floor in strong opposition to H.R. 1009, a bill that would aid the Trump Administration in obstructing the important work of independent federal regulators and harm working families. The full text of Waters’ statement, as prepared for delivery, is below:

Thank you Ms. Plaskett.

H.R. 1009 would empower Trump’s White House to block all of the independent financial agencies’ proposed actions to protect our economy. And worse, the bill empowers President Trump’s advisers to influence monetary policy, including interest rates that affect America’s mortgages, credit cards and IRAs.

Government agencies, like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), would have to first receive the OK from Trump’s Administration, packed with Wall Street insiders, before they could protect the American public. For example, the Administration could block the CFPB’s recent proposal to stop payday lender debt traps.

These agencies would be directed to write rules favorable to industry, subjecting individuals once again to predatory practices.

I am also deeply troubled that H.R. 1009 gives the Trump Administration a say in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decisions. The importance of Fed independence is well established, and results in objective, non-political policymaking and a high degree of credibility with financial markets.

However, today’s bill threatens the integrity of these decisions. Given that the Fed’s actions can move stock markets by hundreds of points, we should absolutely reject the Trump White House and Republicans desire to use the Fed for partisan gain.

An Administration that believes bad polls are “fake news,” goes to great lengths to inflate the number of attendees at the inauguration, and misrepresents the nation’s debt level, should not be allowed to meddle with the interest rate decisions or marketplace guardrails critical to our economy’s health

I urge Members to oppose and yield back.

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