Garrett Opening Statement for Financial Services Hearing
Washington,
Jul 15 -
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) released the following opening statement for today’s House Financial Services Committee hearing entitled “Banking Industry Perspectives on the Obama Administration’s Financial Regulatory Reform Proposals”:
"I don’t mean to single out one of my colleagues on this Committee, because what follows is more a reflection of the process we are rushing through, not his grasp of the issues, and he’s certainly not alone. According to an article in Monday’s American Banker, however, a member of this Committee recently was posed the following question:
“How will a dispute be settled between safety and soundness regulators and the newly-proposed so-called Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA)?” He responded by saying, “That, unfortunately, I can’t answer,”
"He then went on to say, “Your question is a good question because you have to think about what you haven’t thought about. . . I haven’t even thought about how a dispute between agencies would be resolved, so I better figure that out.”
"This comment, mind you, is from one of the bill’s cosponsors, who until a couple days ago, hadn’t yet begun to think about the answer to a fundamental question that this bill raises.
"As I stated above, I don’t mean to single out my colleague. He, like many others, simply haven’t had time to think through all of this proposal’s unintended consequences as the Administration and the Chairman rush headlong into the August break with the goal of having this proposal rammed through the Committee, no matter what."
