On the recordFebruary 3, 2016
I appreciate my friend from Ohio for the time today. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 595 providing for consideration of H.R. 766, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act and H.R. 1675, the Encouraging Employee Ownership Act of 2015. I strongly support this rule and the underlying measures. H.R. 766 is a vitally important response to the administration's unacceptable executive overreach through Operation Choke Point. Operation Choke Point is another example of the administration's circumventing Congress. It is a disturbing abuse of authority to achieve politically motivated results, and the fine folks in northeast Georgia have made it clear that they won't stand for it. Under the program, the Justice Department and Federal financial regulators have coerced banks and other financial institutions into cutting off relations with legal businesses simply because the administration does not like them. The administration has painted a target on certain industries ranging from payment processors and short-term lenders to gun and ammunition stores to other small businesses. Again, it is the administration who has decided under the guise of customer protection to target entire industries simply because they deem them offensive. This is not the way the government is supposed to operate, and it is time we prevent it from happening.…
