Maxine Waters
Representative for California · Democratic · United States
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying that we all care about community banks and credit unions. For that reason, I was pleased to work with Chair Hill on a package of community bank provisions included in our landmark housing bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act.”
“This section would establish automatic increases to asset thresholds for enhanced prudential oversight every five years, allowing problems to fester unaddressed in increasingly large institutions that could have significant systemic implications.”
“After all, my friend knows that today is Dodd-Frank's birthday, and he is the skunk at the party. There is so much that we could point out that the average citizen knows in dealing with their banks. The average citizen is tired of being treated in the way that they are treated by their banks.”
“This would give regulated firms another avenue to delay and complicate enforcement, increasing litigation costs and weakening regulators' ability to address misconduct and unsafe practices promptly. Sec. 304. Financial Integrity and Regulation Management.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, proponents say this bill is just for community banks, but here we have another example of the Big Banks sneaking in their rollbacks. I have four postings from the Bank Policy Institute, which represents all of the largest banks, like Wells Fargo.”
“The committee report for this bill is over 600 pages long, mostly to show how all these different laws are amended. In fact, the sponsors of this bill were so zealous to raise thresholds that they increased two thresholds that will aid bad actors who commit fraud against a bank or a large financial institution. You can't make this up.”
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“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, a wide variety of labor, consumer, and civil rights groups are strongly opposed to this bill. Let me read from one of the letters we received: ``The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and our network of 700+ community organizations urge Members to oppose H.R. 6955, the Main Street Capital Access Act and vote no on the House floor.'' That is what we are being urged to do by our supporters. ``H.R. 6955 is a broad bank deregulation package that would weaken fair lending transparency, community accountability, bank supervision, and merger review.”
“Again, I will repeat: They know and understand when you have a problem, you can call a big bank and you will find nobody. You will go through different menus that they have, but you will not be able to walk into the bank and talk to somebody sitting at a desk who will help you with your problem. Do I have to say more? Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, proponents say this bill is just for community banks, but here we have another example of the Big Banks sneaking in their rollbacks. I have four postings from the Bank Policy Institute, which represents all of the largest banks, like Wells Fargo. These postings advocate for indexing regulatory thresholds to nominal GDP instead of inflation. Why? It allows more and more banks to escape regulatory scrutiny. This bill will give Trump's regulators--and only Trump's regulators-- the opportunity to index 40 different thresholds to let large banks off the hook. Wall Street is making record profits while they are helping them. Mr. Speaker, for those of us who really care about community banks, we want to keep them because they service their communities in a more profound way.”
“My friend tells me that we should not be concerned about deregulation that puts these banks in a position where they are not only moving toward consolidation, but they are taking over banking in ways that will help them to get richer and richer. Guess what, Mr. Speaker. They will keep paying the fines, the big banks will, because that is the cost of doing business, and they still make money. This is outrageous. This is ridiculous. No more deregulation. No more looking at how you can frame it in such a way, Mr. Speaker, that you are saving the community banks. Mr. Speaker, you are not saving the community banks. As a matter of fact, you are putting them out of business. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”
“The bank wants the million-dollar loans. They want the half-billion-dollar mortgages. They don't want the small mortgages. Guess what, Mr. Speaker. They don't do them. As a matter of fact, many communities where there are residents who could afford the houses in their community are sold out to private equity firms and others who come and buy these houses for pennies on the dollar, but they won't sell them to you, Mr. Speaker, because you don't look like a big profitmaker for them. I am so pleased I worked with Mr. Hill, and we have done something to change that to encourage the banks to pay attention to those who can afford that $90,000 house, that $100,000 house, that $150,000 house, that $200,000 house. They are working every day. They can afford it, but the banks are not interested.”
“After all, my friend knows that today is Dodd-Frank's birthday, and he is the skunk at the party. There is so much that we could point out that the average citizen knows in dealing with their banks. The average citizen is tired of being treated in the way that they are treated by their banks. I tell my friend that he is correct in the support that he did for the big bill that Mr. Hill and I worked so hard on. We have a lot in that bill. But let me point out one of the things in that bill that gives us cause to be concerned. Right now, Mr. Speaker, if you find a residence that you would like to buy, particularly if you are in a rural community, or you may be a low-income community, but you work every day and you can afford a house for maybe $90,000 to $100,000, the bank doesn't want to be bothered with you. The bank wants the big loans.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I will mention again one of the atrocities that I have been able to experience working on these issues. Again, Wells Fargo was fined $3.7 billion just a few years ago for widespread mismanagement of automobile loans and mortgages. Their actions included unlawful fees and even repossession of cars. Now, someone would say, $3.7 billion, well, I want you to know they make so much money that is just a cost of doing business. They will keep doing it if we keep allowing them to get away with what they are trying to get away with today. If my friend wants a guarantee that this bill helps Wells Fargo, then he should support Ms. Garcia's amendment that says that megabanks can't benefit from this bill, but I guess he won't.”
“Mr. Speaker, may I inquire how much time for each side is remaining. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentlewoman from California has 15 minutes remaining. The gentleman from Arkansas has 8\1/2\ minutes remaining.”
“If you love the community banks, all you have got to do is work with us to separate the regulations in a way that it does not undermine the community banks. [[Page H4725]] If you want to be fair, charge all your big friends and all the big banks everything they should be charged with regulation. This is about whether or not you are going to use your power to literally undo what we have worked so hard to do to give the average person a decent chance with a bank, and that is community banks. Mr. Speaker, I am asking for a ``no'' vote on this bill because, in the final analysis, I know that if you get away with these deregulations, we are going to have consolidation. It will only be five banks, almost only five big banks in the country that control everything. I am asking for a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.”
“They have you serving from outside the bank. When you can get in touch with them, I want you to know, you have got to go through a hell of a menu to try to talk with someone that maybe in a community bank you can talk to. Do you know why we love community banks? It is because they understand the community. They know the people in the community. They work with you when you have a problem. The megabanks don't know you, don't care about you, don't do anything to assist you, and hope you can't get through their menus in order to speak with anybody. I say, it is not a lot of talk about loving community banks. It is action and what you do. Now, then you come in here talking about how much you love the community banks, yet you know that you can't get the deregulation that you are doing unless you hid behind the community banks.”
“What we have to do at this point in time is understand a provision of the housing bill that was carefully negotiated. Mr. Speaker, I thought we all were supposed to be in support of the housing bill. Everybody raved about the greatness of it. Now, 10 days after it became law, now some on the opposite side of the aisle are already trying to undo the bill. Now, this bill will actually make it easier for more, not less consolidation. The bill is bad for new banks but great for megabanks. Let me just say this: We all talk about loving community banks. I want you to know it is not the talk about loving community banks, it is action and what we do for or against them. I want you to know the big megabanks don't even want them in their doors. They don't even want to have those working behind the counter serving us.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Let me be clear: Dodd-Frank has not led to bank consolidation. That trend began when Congress repealed Glass-Steagall almost 30 years ago. What Dodd-Frank has done is ensure the longest stretch of economic growth in a generation. The threat to community banks is not Dodd- Frank, but it is to repeal it and return to their needless days, reckless days that led to the 2008 financial crisis. Just last week, we passed my bill as part of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. My bill eased the requirements on new banks. H.R. 6955, however, would set new banks up for failure. In fact, the bill undermines much of what we were trying to accomplish when we worked together in a bipartisan way.”
“Now, Republicans made some technical changes at the request of Trump regulators, but let me give you another example of what they didn't fix. Wells Fargo, which many of you may remember created millions of fake consumer accounts and has been the subject of countless enforcement actions for consumer harm, like discrimination and anti-money- laundering deficiency, would have a new tool to delay future enforcement actions when consumers have been harmed. Mr. Speaker, instead of letting Wall Street put Americans and our economy at risk again, we should be addressing the affordability crisis caused by Trump's failed economic policies and endless war with Iran. Mr. Speaker, I urge Members to oppose this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time. {time} 1500”
“The committee report for this bill is over 600 pages long, mostly to show how all these different laws are amended. In fact, the sponsors of this bill were so zealous to raise thresholds that they increased two thresholds that will aid bad actors who commit fraud against a bank or a large financial institution. You can't make this up. There is a provision that will increase the amount that individuals can defraud a bank or future AIG by and then get government money to buy those failed assets for their own benefit. The largest labor union in the U.S., the AFL-CIO, and consumer advocates like Americans for Financial Reform and others wrote a letter saying that taken together, these changes would be more damaging than the sum of their parts, leaving the financial system dramatically weaker and more vulnerable to instability and crisis.”
“Speaker, what is more is that this bill ignores lessons from the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and other regional banks just 3 years ago. Those large regional banks failed after Congress rolled back capital, liquidity, and other rules specifically for those banks. Nevertheless, this bill allows even more of these large banks to escape critical safeguards, which risks even more failures and harm to Americans and small businesses. If H.R. 6955 were to become law, it would be the most sweeping deregulation of Wall Street since the 2008 financial crisis. Two sections of the bill, sections 203 and 204, amend 15 different banking and consumer protection laws and would increase more than 40 different regulatory thresholds. There are so many laws being rolled back.”
“Importantly, the Nation is grappling with an affordability crisis and surge in financial scams and fraud, costing consumers tens of billions of dollars. This was all made worse when Trump shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Voting for H.R. 6955 would add insult to injury by thwarting a future CFPB from issuing rules, such as fixing credit reporting or reining in debt collectors or abusive medical debt practices. Maybe that is the point. Interestingly, Rules Committee Chairwoman Foxx said the quiet part out loud yesterday. She confessed that Republicans love deregulation. That is what this bill is all about. It is not affordability and not protecting consumers. It is about deregulation for Wall Street's megabanks. Mr.”
“6955 is Wall Street deregulation--that is what it is--hiding as a community bank bill. This package is made up of 24 Republican bills with just two Democratic bills. Today, we mark the 16th anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act being signed into law. That is the law that bears the name of the late great and former Chairman Barney Frank. Unlike President Trump, President Obama knew when to sign a good bill when he saw it. That law was passed in response to the 2008 financial crisis when, in case my Republican colleagues have forgotten, millions of Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and their life savings. Yet, H.R. 6955 ignores these lessons and rolls back a long list of safeguards and oversight of the largest banks.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying that we all care about community banks and credit unions. For that reason, I was pleased to work with Chair Hill on a package of community bank provisions included in our landmark housing bill, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. Now, even though Trump refused to sign it, that legislation has become the law of the land. That law not only will get America back in the business of [[Page H4723]] building housing, but it will help community lenders provide mortgages and other types of financing to support the American Dream of homeownership. Importantly, that bill did not have handouts. It did not have handouts for megabanks, Big Tech, payday lenders, debt collectors, or credit bureaus. That is not the case for the bill that is before us today. H.R.”
“There are 2 minutes remaining. {time} 1732 So the bill was passed. The result of the vote was announced as above recorded. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. PERSONAL EXPLANATION”
“Goodlander Gottheimer Green, Al (TX) Grijalva Harder (CA) Hayes Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Hoyle (OR) Huffman Ivey Jackson (IL) Jacobs Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Kamlager-Dove Kaptur Keating Kelly (IL) Kennedy (NY) Khanna Krishnamoorthi Landsman Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latimer Lee (PA) Levin Liccardo Lieu Lofgren Lynch Magaziner Mannion Matsui McBath McBride McClain Delaney McClellan McCollum McDonald Rivet McGarvey McGovern McIver Meeks Mejia Menefee Menendez Meng Mfume Min Morelle Morrison Moskowitz Moulton Mrvan Mullin Neal Neguse Norcross Ocasio-Cortez Olszewski Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pelosi Peters Pettersen Pingree Pocan Pou Pressley Quigley Ramirez Randall Raskin Riley (NY) Rivas Ross Ruiz Ryan Salinas Sanchez Scanlon Schakowsky Schneider Scholten Schrier Scott (VA) Sewell Sherman Simon Smith (WA) Sorensen Soto Stansbury Stanton Stevens Strickland Subramanyam Suozzi Sykes Takano Thanedar Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tokuda Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Tran Underwood Vargas Vasquez Veasey Velazquez Vindman Walkinshaw Wasserman Schultz Watson Coleman Whitesides Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) NOT VOTING--9 Dexter Fields James Lee (NV) Leger Fernandez Mace Moore (WI) Nadler Waters Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote).”
“240] YEAS--221 Aderholt Alford Allen Amodei (NV) Arrington Babin Bacon Baird Balderson Barr Barrett Baumgartner Bean (FL) Begich Bentz Bergman Bice Biggs (AZ) Biggs (SC) Bilirakis Boebert Bost Brecheen Bresnahan Buchanan Burchett Burlison Calvert Cammack Carey Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Ciscomani Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Collins Comer Crane Crank Crawford Crenshaw Cuellar Davidson Davis (NC) De La Cruz DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Downing Dunn (FL) Edwards Ellzey Emmer Estes Evans (CO) Ezell Fallon Fedorchak Feenstra Fine Finstad Fischbach Fitzgerald Fleischmann Flood Fong Foxx Franklin, Scott Fry Fulcher Fuller Gallagher Garbarino Gill (TX) Gimenez Golden (ME) Goldman (TX) Gooden Gosar Graves Gray Griffith Grothman Guest Guthrie Hageman Hamadeh (AZ) Haridopolos Harrigan Harris (MD) Harris (NC) Harshbarger Hern (OK) Higgins (LA) Hill (AR) Hinson Houchin Hudson Huizenga Hunt Hurd (CO) Issa Jack Jackson (TX) Johnson (LA) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (OH) Joyce (PA) Kean Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kennedy (UT) Kiggans (VA) Kiley (CA) Kim Knott Kustoff LaHood LaLota Langworthy Latta Lawler Lee (FL) Letlow Loudermilk Lucas Luna Luttrell Mackenzie Malliotakis Maloy Mann Massie Mast McCaul McClain McClintock McCormick McDowell McGuire Messmer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (OH) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Mills Moolenaar Moore (AL) Moore (NC) Moore (UT) Moore (WV) Moran Murphy Nehls Newhouse Norman Nunn (IA) Obernolte Ogles Onder Owens Palmer Patronis Perez Perry Pfluger Reschenthaler Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rouzer Roy Rulli Rutherford Salazar Scalise Schmidt Schweikert Scott, Austin Self Sessions Shreve Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smucker Spartz Stauber Stefanik Steil Steube Strong Stutzman Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Turner (OH) Valadao Van Drew Van Duyne Van Epps Van Orden Wagner Walberg Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Westerman Wied Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Yakym Zinke NAYS--201 Adams Aguilar Amo Ansari Auchincloss Balint Barragan Beatty Bell Bera Beyer Bishop Bonamici Boyle (PA) Brown Brownley Budzinski Bynum Carbajal Carson Carter (LA) Casar Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Chu Cisneros Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conaway Correa Costa Courtney Craig Crockett Crow Davids (KS) Davis (IL) Dean (PA) DeGette DeLauro DelBene Deluzio DeSaulnier Dingell Doggett Elfreth Escobar Espaillat Evans (PA) Figures Fitzpatrick Fletcher Foster Foushee Frankel, Lois Friedman Frost Garamendi Garcia (CA) Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Gillen Goldman (NY) Gomez Gonzalez, V.”
“Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote. [[Page H4452]] The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 221, nays 201, not voting 9, as follows: [Roll No.”
“Speaker, the audacity of the opposite side of the aisle to tell States they cannot use these merchant codes, any State in the United States of America, even those who started in some way using these codes, they are now saying they want a law that would preempt your State from being able to use the merchant codes. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. As I conclude, I will point out that when our committee held a hearing last year, none of the majority's witnesses said a single positive thing about this bill in their testimony. That is probably because there is nothing positive to say about this harmful bill. Now, using merchant category codes for firearm retailers won't solve this problem, not even close. The codes themselves don't identify what is purchased, but it might have triggered a flag for unusual and suspicious purchases that get reported to law enforcement. Mr. Speaker, that might save 1 life or 10 lives or 100 lives or 1,000 lives or 10,000 lives. Even if it is a fraction of the 416,000 who have died from gun violence over the past decade, wouldn't it be worth it? Mr.”
“Mr. Speaker, I now yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), the ranking member of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, who has always been an advocate against gun violence.”
“None of the credit card operators, payment processors, or banks were alerted to the types of transactions being undertaken, and they did not notify law enforcement officials about these purchases. We don't know for sure, but had these MCC codes been in place for gun shops back then, a financial institution would have been empowered to report these suspicious credit card purchases to law enforcement. {time} 1530 Americans are tired of the senseless gun violence and want Congress to do something to curb it. Unfortunately, this bill goes in the opposite direction and would implement a ban on such merchant reporting on the Federal level and would literally preempt existing State laws like those in California, New York, and Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.”
“One of these included the shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where 49 people were killed and nearly 60 more were injured a decade ago last month, in June 2016.'' Now, listen to this: Just days before the shooter opened fire, his internet search history included the terms ``credit card unusual spending,'' ``FBI,'' and ``why banks stop your purchases.'' He had opened six new credit card accounts in the 8 months prior, and 12 days before the shooting, he spent more than $26,000 on things like a rifle, a semiautomatic pistol, several large magazines, and thousands of rounds of ammunition. Before this, his average monthly spending on his single card was $1,500.”
“This bill would make it easier for mass shooters, gun traffickers, and even terrorists to abuse our financial systems to stockpile firearms and ammunition undetected.'' They go on to note that between 2007 and 2018, credit cards were used to finance at least eight major mass shootings.”
“While these merchant codes don't reveal what individual goods are purchased, they can indicate an unusually large purchase at a type of business that might reveal a risk. This information could help law enforcement track suspicious purchases and prevent even more gun violence. [[Page H4443]] Leading gun safety groups, including Brady, Community Justice, Everytown for Gun Safety, GIFFORDS, Guns Down America, and Newtown Action Alliance, sent the House a letter to urge Members to vote ``no'' on this harmful legislation. In the letter that was sent to me, they said: ``We write in strong opposition to H.R. 1181, the Protecting Privacy in Purchases Act.”
“For many who survive a gunshot, they may still suffer a lifetime of devastating consequences. Most of these data points come from GIFFORDS, a gun violence prevention group set up by our former colleague in the House, Gabby Giffords. Of course, she herself was shot when she served as a Congresswoman, and she later set up the group following the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting when 20 children and 6 educators lost their lives. Now, a few States, including California, New York, and Colorado, have taken action to require payment card networks to use a merchant category code, or an MCC, to distinguish firearms retailers from other types of retailers. Many different types of retailers have unique MCC codes, including florists, barbershops, art dealers, automotive tire shops, and even candy stores.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I strongly oppose this bill because it limits efforts to detect and investigate gun violence and acts of terrorism. Before I discuss the bill, let's start with a few sobering statistics: 46,000 Americans die from gun violence every year. That comes out to an average of more than 125 Americans losing their life each day due to gun violence. Of course, America is unusual in this regard. Americans are 26 times more likely to be shot and killed than if you lived in any other high- income country. Nearly one in five Americans say they have personally witnessed someone shot. In the past decade, more than 1.2 million Americans have been shot, with more than 400,000 who died from gun violence.”
“There are 2 minutes remaining. {time} 1732 So the bill was passed. The result of the vote was announced as above recorded. A motion to reconsider was laid on the table. PERSONAL EXPLANATION Ms. DEXTER. Mr. Speaker, due to an emergency department visit, I missed votes today. Had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 238, H.R. 139; YEA on Roll Call No. 239, motion to recommit H.R. 1181; and NAY on Roll Call 240, H.R. 1181. ____________________”
“Goodlander Gottheimer Green, Al (TX) Grijalva Harder (CA) Hayes Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Hoyle (OR) Huffman Ivey Jackson (IL) Jacobs Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Kamlager-Dove Kaptur Keating Kelly (IL) Kennedy (NY) Khanna Krishnamoorthi Landsman Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latimer Lee (PA) Levin Liccardo Lieu Lofgren Lynch Magaziner Mannion Matsui McBath McBride McClain Delaney McClellan McCollum McDonald Rivet McGarvey McGovern McIver Meeks Mejia Menefee Menendez Meng Mfume Min Morelle Morrison Moskowitz Moulton Mrvan Mullin Neal Neguse Norcross Ocasio-Cortez Olszewski Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pelosi Peters Pettersen Pingree Pocan Pou Pressley Quigley Ramirez Randall Raskin Riley (NY) Rivas Ross Ruiz Ryan Salinas Sanchez Scanlon Schakowsky Schneider Scholten Schrier Scott (VA) Sewell Sherman Simon Smith (WA) Sorensen Soto Stansbury Stanton Stevens Strickland Subramanyam Suozzi Sykes Takano Thanedar Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tokuda Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Tran Underwood Vargas Vasquez Veasey Velazquez Vindman Walkinshaw Wasserman Schultz Watson Coleman Whitesides Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) NOT VOTING--9 Dexter Fields James Lee (NV) Leger Fernandez Mace Moore (WI) Nadler Waters Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote).”
“240] YEAS--221 Aderholt Alford Allen Amodei (NV) Arrington Babin Bacon Baird Balderson Barr Barrett Baumgartner Bean (FL) Begich Bentz Bergman Bice Biggs (AZ) Biggs (SC) Bilirakis Boebert Bost Brecheen Bresnahan Buchanan Burchett Burlison Calvert Cammack Carey Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Ciscomani Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Collins Comer Crane Crank Crawford Crenshaw Cuellar Davidson Davis (NC) De La Cruz DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Downing Dunn (FL) Edwards Ellzey Emmer Estes Evans (CO) Ezell Fallon Fedorchak Feenstra Fine Finstad Fischbach Fitzgerald Fleischmann Flood Fong Foxx Franklin, Scott Fry Fulcher Fuller Gallagher Garbarino Gill (TX) Gimenez Golden (ME) Goldman (TX) Gooden Gosar Graves Gray Griffith Grothman Guest Guthrie Hageman Hamadeh (AZ) Haridopolos Harrigan Harris (MD) Harris (NC) Harshbarger Hern (OK) Higgins (LA) Hill (AR) Hinson Houchin Hudson Huizenga Hunt Hurd (CO) Issa Jack Jackson (TX) Johnson (LA) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (OH) Joyce (PA) Kean Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kennedy (UT) Kiggans (VA) Kiley (CA) Kim Knott Kustoff LaHood LaLota Langworthy Latta Lawler Lee (FL) Letlow Loudermilk Lucas Luna Luttrell Mackenzie Malliotakis Maloy Mann Massie Mast McCaul McClain McClintock McCormick McDowell McGuire Messmer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (OH) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Mills Moolenaar Moore (AL) Moore (NC) Moore (UT) Moore (WV) Moran Murphy Nehls Newhouse Norman Nunn (IA) Obernolte Ogles Onder Owens Palmer Patronis Perez Perry Pfluger Reschenthaler Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rouzer Roy Rulli Rutherford Salazar Scalise Schmidt Schweikert Scott, Austin Self Sessions Shreve Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smucker Spartz Stauber Stefanik Steil Steube Strong Stutzman Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Turner (OH) Valadao Van Drew Van Duyne Van Epps Van Orden Wagner Walberg Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Westerman Wied Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Yakym Zinke NAYS--201 Adams Aguilar Amo Ansari Auchincloss Balint Barragan Beatty Bell Bera Beyer Bishop Bonamici Boyle (PA) Brown Brownley Budzinski Bynum Carbajal Carson Carter (LA) Casar Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Chu Cisneros Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conaway Correa Costa Courtney Craig Crockett Crow Davids (KS) Davis (IL) Dean (PA) DeGette DeLauro DelBene Deluzio DeSaulnier Dingell Doggett Elfreth Escobar Espaillat Evans (PA) Figures Fitzpatrick Fletcher Foster Foushee Frankel, Lois Friedman Frost Garamendi Garcia (CA) Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Gillen Goldman (NY) Gomez Gonzalez, V.”
“There are 2 minutes remaining. {time} 1725 Ms. WATERS changed her vote from ``nay'' to ``yea.'' So the motion to recommit was rejected. The result of the vote was announced as above recorded. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill. The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it. Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays. The yeas and nays were ordered. The SPEAKER pro tempore. This is a 5-minute vote. [[Page H4452]] The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 221, nays 201, not voting 9, as follows: [Roll No.”
“Goodlander Gottheimer Gray Green, Al (TX) Grijalva Harder (CA) Hayes Himes Horsford Houlahan Hoyer Hoyle (OR) Huffman Ivey Jackson (IL) Jacobs Jayapal Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson (TX) Kamlager-Dove Keating Kelly (IL) Kennedy (NY) Khanna Krishnamoorthi Landsman Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Latimer Lee (NV) Lee (PA) Levin Liccardo Lieu Lofgren Lynch Magaziner Mannion Matsui McBath McBride McClain Delaney McClellan McCollum McDonald Rivet McGarvey McGovern McIver Meeks Mejia Menefee Menendez Meng Mfume Min Moore (WI) Morelle Morrison Moskowitz Moulton Mrvan Mullin Nadler Neal Neguse Norcross Ocasio-Cortez Olszewski Omar Pallone Panetta Pappas Pelosi Perez Peters Pettersen Pingree Pocan Pou Pressley Quigley Ramirez Randall Raskin Riley (NY) Rivas Ross Ruiz Ryan Salinas Sanchez Scanlon Schakowsky Schneider Scholten Schrier Scott (VA) Sewell Sherman Simon Smith (WA) Sorensen Soto Stansbury Stanton Stevens Strickland Subramanyam Suozzi Sykes Takano Thanedar Thompson (CA) Thompson (MS) Titus Tlaib Tokuda Tonko Torres (CA) Torres (NY) Trahan Tran Underwood Vargas Vasquez Veasey Velazquez Vindman Walkinshaw Wasserman Schultz Waters Watson Coleman Whitesides Williams (GA) Wilson (FL) NAYS--217 Aderholt Alford Allen Amodei (NV) Arrington Babin Bacon Baird Balderson Barr Barrett Baumgartner Bean (FL) Begich Bentz Bergman Bice Biggs (AZ) Biggs (SC) Bilirakis Boebert Bost Brecheen Bresnahan Buchanan Burchett Burlison Calvert Cammack Carey Carter (GA) Carter (TX) Ciscomani Cline Cloud Clyde Cole Collins Comer Crane Crank Crawford Crenshaw Davidson De La Cruz DesJarlais Diaz-Balart Donalds Downing Dunn (FL) Edwards Ellzey Emmer Estes Evans (CO) Ezell Fallon Fedorchak Feenstra Fine Finstad Fischbach Fitzgerald Fitzpatrick Fleischmann Flood Fong Foxx Franklin, Scott Fry Fulcher Fuller Gallagher Garbarino Gill (TX) Gimenez Goldman (TX) Gooden Gosar Graves Griffith Grothman Guest Guthrie Hageman Hamadeh (AZ) Haridopolos Harrigan Harris (MD) Harris (NC) Harshbarger Hern (OK) Higgins (LA) Hill (AR) Hinson Houchin Hudson Huizenga Hunt Hurd (CO) Issa Jack Jackson (TX) Johnson (LA) Johnson (SD) Jordan Joyce (OH) Joyce (PA) Kean Kelly (MS) Kelly (PA) Kennedy (UT) Kiggans (VA) Kiley (CA) Kim Knott Kustoff LaHood LaLota Langworthy Latta Lawler Lee (FL) Letlow Loudermilk Lucas Luna Luttrell Mackenzie Malliotakis Maloy Mann Massie Mast McCaul McClain McClintock McCormick McDowell McGuire Messmer Meuser Miller (IL) Miller (OH) Miller (WV) Miller-Meeks Mills Moolenaar Moore (AL) Moore (NC) Moore (UT) Moore (WV) Moran Murphy Nehls Newhouse Norman Nunn (IA) Obernolte Ogles Onder Owens Palmer Patronis Perry Pfluger Reschenthaler Rogers (AL) Rogers (KY) Rose Rouzer Roy Rulli Rutherford Salazar Scalise Schmidt Schweikert Scott, Austin Self Sessions Shreve Simpson Smith (MO) Smith (NE) Smith (NJ) Smucker Spartz Stauber Stefanik Steil Steube Strong Stutzman Taylor Tenney Thompson (PA) Tiffany Timmons Turner (OH) Valadao Van Drew Van Duyne Van Epps Van Orden Wagner Walberg Weber (TX) Webster (FL) Westerman Wied Williams (TX) Wilson (SC) Wittman Womack Yakym Zinke NOT VOTING--6 Dexter Fields James Kaptur Leger Fernandez Mace Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore The SPEAKER pro tempore (during the vote).”
“239] YEAS--208 Adams Aguilar Amo Ansari Auchincloss Balint Barragan Beatty Bell Bera Beyer Bishop Bonamici Boyle (PA) Brown Brownley Budzinski Bynum Carbajal Carson Carter (LA) Casar Case Casten Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Chu Cisneros Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Cleaver Clyburn Cohen Conaway Correa Costa Courtney Craig Crockett Crow Cuellar Davids (KS) Davis (IL) Davis (NC) Dean (PA) DeGette DeLauro DelBene Deluzio DeSaulnier Dingell Doggett Elfreth Escobar Espaillat Evans (PA) Figures Fletcher Foster Foushee Frankel, Lois Friedman Frost Garamendi Garcia (CA) Garcia (IL) Garcia (TX) Gillen Golden (ME) Goldman (NY) Gomez Gonzalez, V.”
“The Clerk redesignated the motion. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion to recommit. This is a 5-minute vote. The vote was taken by electronic device, and there were--yeas 208, nays 217, not voting 6, as follows: [Roll No.”
“Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 114 (Tuesday, July 14, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 114 (Tuesday, July 14, 2026)] [House] [Pages H4451-H4452] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] PROTECTING PRIVACY IN PURCHASES ACT The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. DesJarlais). Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, the unfinished business is the vote on the motion to recommit on the bill (H.R. 1181) to prohibit payment card networks and covered entities from requiring the use of or assigning merchant category codes that distinguish a firearms retailer from general-merchandise retailer or sporting-goods retailer, and for other purposes, offered by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Frost), on which the yeas and nays were ordered. The Clerk will redesignate the motion.”
“They received more than 48,000 complaints, most of which strongly supported the rule which is more than 100 times the number of comments on the capital rule. Consumers are just fed up with these types of junk fees, and the last thing they want is for Congress to raise them. Mr. Speaker, I urge all Members to join Senate bipartisan opposition to this resolution and vote ``no.'' Stand up for our constituents. Stand up for the people who depend on us every day to make sure they too can have a decent quality of life. We are watching what Trump and Musk are doing, aligned with the billionaires who want more and more money and don't want to pay their taxes, and we are here fighting about $5. Give me a break. I guess enough has been said. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.”
“Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield myself the balance of my time for the purpose of closing. Mr. Speaker, when did it become unpopular to put more hands in the pockets of working families? This resolution will cost American families $5 billion a year or about $250 per household in higher overdraft fees. No one in America wants to send a $250 check to the biggest banks every year. To put this debate into perspective, Republicans spent a lot of time last Congress attacking a big bank capital rule called Basel III endgame. Republicans convened one dozen hearings on the topic and repeatedly referred to the 426 comments the public made on the proposal. Mr. Speaker, do you know how many comments the CFPB received on the overdraft rule?”
“They can just tell the people that this is what they are doing, they want to increase for whatever reason, or they can calculate what they say their costs are for being able to provide overdraft fees and that they have to have a little more than $5. I don't know where we are going with all of this. I am totally disgusted, $5. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”
“Do I have to tell you more about the uncertainty and the situation that we find ourselves in, Mr. Speaker? We are here trying to place a lid on these overdraft fees because people don't know whether or not they are going to have a job to pay anything let alone the overdraft fees. They are not going to have money to put food on the table, to make sure that the children [[Page H1525]] have clothing to go to school and to dress properly and all of that. Mr. Speaker, for $5, we are here because they refuse to agree that there should be a cap on overdraft. If they want to charge more, we give them an out. They can do it in two ways.”
“They were fired when we were facing another pandemic. Mr. Speaker, they have forced seniors to go in person to apply for Social Security. I am so worried about our seniors and Social Security. He promised us that he would not cut Social Security, but what he did was he destroyed the infrastructure of Social Security. He fired people and shut off the telephones making them go in person to find their Social Security office, which they are closing all of them down. Now all of our Social Security and our seniors are at stake not knowing what is going to happen and not knowing how to get in touch with the Social Security personnel who work there to get these questions answered. I could go on and on about this Cabinet sharing war plans on Signal chats. Do I have to tell you more about the chaos, Mr. Speaker, the disruption?”
“When we think about the chaotic situation that we are in while we are here talking about $5, Mr. Speaker, you know that this President fired our nuclear experts from the National Nuclear Security Administration. So here we are without the protection of the experts to let us know what should be done to make sure that we don't have nuclear power destroying us all. After firing them, they discovered they had made a big mistake. So guess what, Mr. Speaker? They called them back. However, they couldn't find them because they had erased their addresses. So they looked and looked and looked until they could beg them to come back. Then there were thousands of employees at the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the bird flu outbreak that were fired.”
“I don't know what is going on with them, and I don't know what is going on with the President of the United States of America. He has put us in a chaotic situation. For example, I just got word that he has changed his mind about tariffs. We were all trying to convince this administration that they should not be raising the tariffs on all of these countries and the fact that they were even harming our relationship with our allies, but no. He placed tariffs on every country in the world, even for an island that had nothing but penguins on it. So today what he said was: Oh, I changed my mind. I am going to raise the tariffs on China, but I think I will put a 90-day pause on all of the stuff that I did raising these tariffs for all these other countries just a few days ago.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am having a hard time here trying to figure out what is going on in this country. We are here taking up all of this time talking about $5 and talking about trying to limit the fees that people are being charged. We are saying: Let's help our consumers. Let's help our constituents and stop having them become victims of these huge fees that have been charged by the banks. They say that a lot of banks are not charging them, but still, they are fighting $5 that we are trying to limit these fees for. We said that all we are asking you to do is to let the people know exactly what you are doing about fees. How much are you charging them? I don't know what is going on.”
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the Republicans keep complaining about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Let's review the terrible things they have done. Since 2011, they secured more than $21 billion for 205 million consumers who were harmed by bad actors including the biggest banks. The agency has received more than 10 million complaints from harmed consumers, and insured financial firms responded. That is, on average, 25,000 complaints each week. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau helps servicemembers, veterans, students, and older Americans. Mr. Speaker, they don't care who you are. They help Republicans, Independents, and Democratic consumers. The CFPB will not be able to help anyone if Trump and Musk are successful in shutting them down. Mr.”
“Mr. Speaker, Mr. Rose, I believe, said that there are constituents who say: Don't stop my overdraft. However, did they say: Charge me exorbitant amounts for overdraft? I don't think so. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).”
“Mr. Speaker and Members, I think Mr. Hill said many banks do not charge overdraft fees. Then why are they opposed to $5? Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley).”