Deborah Koff Ross: “I thank my friend from Colorado for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and my underlying…”

“I thank my friend from Colorado for yielding. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of the rule and my underlying legislation, H.R. 4061, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Improvement Act of 2017. Madam Speaker, when folks back home save for retirement, college, or a down payment on a house, they expect that the system is both safe and geared towards maximizing their benefit. A beautiful thing about America's free enterprise system is how anyone can participate in the marketplace, strengthen the economy, and earn a dividend of the American Dream. That opportunity, however, is not guaranteed, and, as lawmakers, we have a duty to protect it. My bill will help us do just that by improving the Financial Stability Oversight Council's process for reviewing nonbank financial institutions for potential systemic threats. We must be clear that simply designating more companies as systemically important financial institutions doesn't make our system safer. The FSOC can better serve the American people by working with prudential regulators and the private sector to address threats to our economy before they transform into calamities. Would you say it is sufficient for firefighters just to identify a house that is on fire? Of course not. The key is preventing the fire in the first place. This is the problem that we face with the FSOC's oversight of nonbank financial institutions.…”