Jodey Arrington: “Community banks are an integral part of Main Street America, making up over 50 percent of banks and rural communities…”

“Community banks are an integral part of Main Street America, making up over 50 percent of banks and rural communities like the ones I represent. They are indeed the hub of economic activity for west Texas. They employ nearly 20,000 folks in my district and provide vital services to families, small businesses, and ag producers. Why in the world do we want to hamstring them with onerous and unnecessary regulations that make it harder for them to serve their communities? That is exactly what I believe we have done with Dodd-Frank. Each day that goes by, another community bank goes out of business. As many of my colleagues have pointed out, Dodd-Frank didn't end too big to fail, but it did create too small to succeed. Dodd-Frank didn't protect consumers. It created new layers of bureaucracy, paperwork, confusion, and limited services for consumers. Mr. Speaker, it is time that Congress act on this opportunity to pass the CHOICE Act before it is too late for our community banks and for our rural communities to choose between relationship banking and transactional banking. ____________________”