On the recordApril 13, 2018
I thank the chairman for his exceptional leadership on this important consideration and legislation. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the gentleman from Arkansas, as well and the whip of the Financial Services Committee, for his work on H.R. 4790, the Volcker Rule Regulatory Harmonization Act. Mr. Hill's legislation streamlines the rulemaking process by granting the Federal Reserve sole authority to make exemption determinations under the Volcker rule. This simplification is a vital change from the confusion and the regulatory inconsistencies of the current Volcker rule by resolving the problem of having five different regulators weighing in on the same issue. This bill also exempts community banks under $10 billion in assets from the rule. Mr. Speaker, I want to note that, according to the FDIC, community banks with less than $10 billion in assets represent 92 percent of the insured institutions. Now, more than ever, actions like this need to be taken to provide relief to community banks and smaller financial institutions. Look no further than my State in North Carolina, which has lost 50 percent of its banks since this financial crisis and the inception of the Dodd-Frank bill. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Hill for his work on this bipartisan piece of legislation. It is long past time that we provide commonsense reforms to overly complex regulations passed under the Dodd-Frank Act.…
