Blaine Luetkemeyer: “I thank the chairman for his hard work and leadership on our committee. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from…”

“I thank the chairman for his hard work and leadership on our committee. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Colorado, Mr. Tipton, for being such a champion for this initiative and others to bring about a more responsible, effective regulatory regime. For years, Members on both sides of the aisle have advocated for a more tailored, commonsense approach to Federal banking regulation. We have all said, time and time again, that rules designed for large institutions shouldn't apply to community banks and smaller credit unions. We pressed the Federal financial regulators to take into consideration the risk profile and business models of institutions. In their appearances before the Financial Services Committee and in response to congressional letters and calls, the regulators tell us they are tailoring regulations and supervisory requirements based on individual institutions. They tell us what we want to hear, that one size fits all; but, Mr. Speaker, these institutions have yet to see this relief that they really need. We lose a community bank or a credit union every day in this country. Today we have an opportunity to work together in an effort to change that, to make sure that our constituents continue to have access to the services they need and to achieve financial independence.…”