Blake Moore: “My amendment would exempt suits arising out of the Fair Housing Act or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. I offer my…”

“My amendment would exempt suits arising out of the Fair Housing Act or the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. I offer my amendment today, Mr. Chairman, out of a real concern about the consequences the bill will have on social justice issues. One of these issues that is very dear to me is the disparate access to financial products for African Americans. That is the reason that I, before I became a Member of Congress, created a credit union for my area in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We are still seeing discrimination in housing and auto financing and insurance products in my home district of Milwaukee. This is not something, Mr. Chairman, that happened in the good old days. We have witnessed discrimination in mortgage loans as recently as 2012. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, we have learned about the CFPB's role in cracking down on auto lenders who discriminate against minorities. Folks who have the same credit score, if your name is Rodriguez or Barack Obama Jones, suddenly your auto loan would be at a higher rate. Class actions are an important tool to fight back. For example, in Adkins v. Stanley, a class action suit was filed against Morgan Stanley for practices through a mortgage lender that had a significant impact against an entire African American community. In Detroit, Michigan, from where our distinguished ranking member hails, the practices led to filling these communities with high-risk subprime loans, leading up to the 2008 housing crisis.…”