On the recordApril 14, 2016
I begin my remarks with just a clarification of the argument of my friends on the other side of the aisle. Their argument is essentially this: that Federal regulators--banking regulators--cannot do their jobs if their funding is somehow held accountable to the American people. This argument ignores some important facts. While Dodd-Frank may well have been intended to protect consumers and end Big Government bailouts, FSOC's authority to arbitrarily designate nonbank financial institutions as systemically important undermines the original intent of the law. In fact, just last month, a U.S. court rescinded MetLife's SIFI designation. The opinion called FSOC's determination process ``fatally flawed,'' and it called the insurer's designation ``capricious and arbitrary.'' Again, those are not my words, those are a Federal judge's words. In effect, the judge confirmed what House Republicans have been saying for years--that the FSOC is out of control and requires additional congressional oversight. That is why I support this commonsense and, frankly, modest legislation, which subjects FSOC and the Office of Financial Research to the annual appropriations process and common practice reporting requirements. We all want to hold financial providers accountable to their customers. It is also Congress' responsibility to hold our government accountable to the American people. This bill helps make that happen, and we should all be able to agree to that.…
