Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I thank the gentlewoman for her strong leadership. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to oppose H.R. 1737. If this bill is enacted, it will cost minority auto purchasers millions of dollars. Car purchases are extremely complicated transactions. Most Americans make only a few in a lifetime, and they are not familiar with the many detailed terms and procedures of these transactions. One thing that is not complicated is that charging a markup just because a buyer is a minority is simply illegal. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau protects minority purchasers against auto dealers that seek to charge abusive and predatory markups. The purpose of the bill before us today is to eliminate this protection--that is exactly what it is--leaving minority consumers at risk of being charged abusive and predatory interest rates. In 2013, the CFPB ordered Ally Bank to pay $80 million in damages and $18 million in penalties for imposing higher interest rates on 235,000 minority borrowers. Just this year, the Bureau ordered Fifth Third Bank to pay $18 million in damages for permitting markups of as much as 2.5 percent for minorities. Because this bill would prevent the CFPB from carrying out its duty to protect minority borrowers, the administration has announced they would veto this bill. This House should reject H.R. 1737 and every repeated effort to undermine--and that is exactly what it is, to undermine--the CFPB.”