Bob Menendez Jr.

community banks and credit unions will be at a disadvantage because they will have to live under the regulations

Now, the House has addressed changing the 500-shareholder threshold for community banks and nonbanks in separate bills.

if you live on the coasts of this country, which have a huge amount not only of the land mass but the population mass of the country, the reality is that costs for homes are simply much higher than that

we would be taking out of the housing market at a critical time in which the housing market is already facing enormous challenges a key component of being able to help a large universe of people who can be responsible borrowers

I often hear, as I listen to community banks who tell us that their regulators often speak to them in a different way than we speak to them--we are saying we would like to see responsible lending, not speculative lending but responsible…

I authored Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank legislation which requires publicly listed companies to disclose the pay of their median worker compared to the pay of their CEO.

Many large companies--Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Merck, Aetna--have already taken steps to disclose their political expenditures, and to me it illustrates the ease in which it can be done.

Earlier this year I introduced the Shareholder Protection Act with several of my colleagues to disclose corporate spending in elections in the wake of what I believe is a misguided decision on Citizens United.

I hope the SEC believes that this type of disclosure would be helpful for investors.

So it seems to me that if we were looking at how do we deal with mitigation if we were looking at a more aggressive borrower outreach and response, which we have written letters to you about and which Freddie Mac has not been responsive…

As the Housing Subcommittee Chair, we have taken a particular interest in stopping foreclosures on military families.

If the public policy in one universe is to protect servicemembers at the end of the day from such high-interest fees and charges, is there a public policy reason not to extend that to this broader universe for servicemembers?

I am concerned that there is a universe of borrowers who, in fact, can be responsible borrowers, but at the end of the day, without the guarantee of a 30-year fixed mortgage ends up eliminating the opportunity for them to be a responsible…

We need big, bold solutions. Everything we have tried to date on our foreclosure problem, regrettably, has not met with our expectations.

thank you for holding this timely hearing on new ideas to address the Nation's continuing mortgage problem.

What about getting the GSEs to just let people who are presently in place lower rates to refinance at lower rates today?

I think we need to start transitioning away from Freddie, Fannie, FHA, to the private market.

FHA is a critical resource for providing financing, particularly to first-time home buyers.

I hope that our legislation, the Home Ownership Affordability Act of 2011, which Senator Isakson and I have introduced...

I hear from New Jersey homeowners who have trouble with their home loans.

It is not the time for the Government to constrict availability of mortgage capital for people who are qualified to buy houses because of a limitation on those loan limits.

I look at this and I say, Well, who is the biggest holder of the major part of--significant part of the liability here? It is Fannie and Freddie.

As families back in New Jersey, whether they own their homes or they are renting, are struggling through these tough times, we need to make sure that they have access to 30-year fixed-rate mortgages.

I look forward to getting America's housing finance system back on track, which is why I'm also looking forward to my Housing hearing tomorrow afternoon on New Ideas in Refinancing and Restructuring Mortgages.

I am optimistic that with a confirmed Director in place at the CFPB, we can start to rein in those predatory lenders in parts of the country where they continue to prey on American families outside the regulatory environment.