Sam Brownback: “I am pleased that my amendment excluding auto dealers from the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Consumer Financial…”

“I am pleased that my amendment excluding auto dealers from the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, CFPB, was included in the conference report to H.R. 4173. This proposal attracted bipartisan support because the auto dealers should not have been regulated in this bill in the first place. They are retailers. They should not be regulated as bankers. They did not cause the Wall Street meltdown. They didn't bring down Lehman Brothers or Bear Stearns. The purpose of my amendment was to protect third party auto financing. The CFPB could have abolished that kind of financing, but keeping these provisions in the bill will preserve a variety of auto financing choices for consumers, and we know that more choices result in lower prices. And the provisions of my amendment keep auto loans convenient and affordable while retaining existing consumer protection laws and policies. The end result is a balance between consumer protection and the availability of affordable and accessible credit for consumers to meet their transportation needs.”