James Hill: “Mr. Speaker, I rise today in enthusiastic support of my friend from South Carolina (Mr. Timmons) and his SMART Act.…”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in enthusiastic support of my friend from South Carolina (Mr. Timmons) and his SMART Act. Community banks and credit unions play a vital role in all of our local communities across our Nation, often serving as the primary source of credit, particularly in rural and underserved communities. These institutions support small businesses and small farms and help hardworking Americans achieve homeownership and long-term financial stability. Too often, well-managed institutions are burdened by duplicative and outdated regulatory requirements. These unnecessary burdens divert time, staff, and resources away from lending and supporting their local economies and toward a check-the-box compliance process that does not make the financial system any safer or any sounder. The SMART Act offers a practical, commonsense solution by streamlining and simplifying limited-scope exams for smaller, well-capitalized, and well-managed institutions, while fully preserving the safety and soundness standards. This targeted supervisory relief reduces unnecessary burden, eliminates duplicative reviews, and frees community banks to focus on lending and those goals of serving their customers.”