On the recordJuly 6, 2016
The House Financial Services Committee, in conjunction with the Judiciary Committee, has been engaging in an investigation in regard to bank settlement agreements that were reached that created a slush fund to drive money to third-party organizations. Now, that is offensive because, if we look at our Constitution, it is the Congress that is supposed to appropriate, not the administration, not the DOJ, but the Congress. In these bank settlement agreements, you have the administration, along with approval from the judiciary, actually appropriating money to groups that this institution did not approve. So, to be clear, we are looking at funding for CDFI. My amendment will reduce that funding by $20.7 million. So before you are all shocked, let's actually talk about the numbers. The committee has increased funding by $16.5 million, bringing the number from $233.5 million to $250 million. That is an over 7 percent increase in funding for CDFI. But if you add in the money that came from the bank settlements, the $45 billion from bank settlements, this is a $62 million increase or, as a percentage, it is 26 percent of an increase for CDFI. It is huge. If we want to increase that funding by 26 percent, that is our decision, in this House, not the DOJ, not the President, not the judiciary. It is our decision. So all I do is say: Hey, let's bring this back by $20 million. That is all.…
