Kathy Castor: “And Members, this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If…”

“And Members, this is the final amendment to the bill, which will not kill the bill or send it back to committee. If adopted, the bill will immediately proceed to final passage, as amended. Mr. Speaker, I rushed to come to the floor to offer this motion to recommit because this bill, H.R. 766, is so outrageous. Under this bill, the Republicans in Congress are poised to give a get out of jail free card to big banks and Wall Street interests when it comes to fraud. Republicans propose to take away tools and investigatory powers from the Department of Justice in cases of fraud and undermine the Department of Justice's ability to prosecute mortgage fraud and other crimes to the detriment of American families and our neighbors back home. Americans expect that the big banks that have broken the rules be held accountable for any of their financial misdeeds. However, the House Republicans are trying to give their special interest friends a break they do not need at the expense of hardworking Americans. Shortly after I was sworn into Congress in 2007, my neighbors started to come to me and express, sincerely, about a problem that was happening. It started in Florida almost earlier than anywhere else. As the financial crisis took hold and people began to lose their jobs or their employers cut back on their hours, they couldn't keep up with their mortgages. The deeper we dug in to it, we began to see a pattern of fraudulent practices by many in the mortgage loan business.…”