John Rice Carter: “I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding and for his leadership on this important issue. Mr. Speaker, I rise today…”

“I thank the gentleman from Ohio for yielding and for his leadership on this important issue. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 766, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2015. Over the past several years, the Obama administration's Department of Justice has strong-armed the financial industry in an attempt to cut off payment processors, short-term lenders, gun and ammunition stores, and other companies from banking services simply because they do not like their line of business. Operation Choke Point is just another example of this administration trying to advance its radical leftist agenda through executive power overreach with a disregard for Americans' due process rights. In effect, these businesses are being treated as if they are guilty until proven innocent. The bill before us today prevents Federal bureaucrats from abusing their executive power to prevent legitimate businesses from using depository banks. It also requires written justification of any request to terminate or restrict a business' account, unless the business poses a legitimate threat to national security. In the First Congressional District of Georgia that I represent, we have a large, multi-State licensed consumer finance company that services more than 1,000 new customers every day. This is just another example of this administration working to limit economic growth and Americans' free will.…”