Jeb Hensarling: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, our Constitution is under assault, so I rise today in support of H.R.…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Chairman, our Constitution is under assault, so I rise today in support of H.R. 5063, the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act. A nearly 2- year-long investigation jointly conducted by the Financial Services Committee, which I have the privilege of chairing, and the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Mr. Goodlatte, the sponsor of this legislation, has shockingly revealed that the so-called Justice Department is not only pushing, but even requiring some defendants in settlements to send the fines not to victims, not to the U.S. Treasury, but, instead, to political allies of the Obama administration. As one commentator wrote: ``Imagine if the President of the United States forced America's biggest banks to funnel hundreds of millions-- and potentially billions--of dollars to the corporations and lobbyists who supported his agenda.'' Mr. Chairman, there is nothing to imagine. It is real. It is happening. Mr. Chairman, our committees' investigation uncovered that the Obama Justice Department has done exactly this. They have used mandatory--mandatory--donations to direct as much as $880 million to political organizations that just so happen to be allies of the Obama administration. Now, I might expect to see such a corrupt practice in a place like Russia, but in the United States of America? How can this possibly be legal?…”