Markup of 7 Bills
Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and GSEs
Washington,
May 3, 2011 -
Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, delivered the following opening remarks during a mark up of seven different bills today. The Congresswoman also delivered many statements and amendments on the specific bills listed at the end of this release. Contact Sean Bartlett if you are interested in those additional materials.
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I appreciate your holding today’s markup. While I believe that we may find common ground on some of the bills before us today, I am very concerned about several of these bills and their impacts on American taxpayers, the financial markets, and our regulatory agencies.
In particular I am concerned about H.R. 1062, the Burdensome Data Collection Relief Act; H.R. 1539, the Asset-Backed Market Stabilization Act; H.R. 1082, the Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act; and, H.R. 1610, the Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act. These bills, when taken together, amount to nothing less than an attempt to roll back the historic reforms made in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
I know that there are some Members on the other side of the aisle who don’t agree with the principles or provisions of Dodd-Frank. However, we can’t simply ignore the fact that Dodd-Frank was enacted in response to an unprecedented financial crisis and contains the reforms needed to not only prevent another crisis but also to prevent further bailouts of the financial industry.
Now, I happen to believe that legislation is never written in stone. We have had several hearings where some have raised implementation concerns with certain provisions in Dodd-Frank. I am open to working on fixing those problems. However, to simply repeal these provisions or to fundamentally change them—even before they have been fully implemented—is premature and dangerous.
The markets are anticipating these changes. They are working toward them. Like it or not, these are systems that were in desperate need of the reforms in Dodd-Frank. By marking up these bills, I am afraid that my friends on the other side of the aisle are injecting additional uncertainty into the market at a time when certainty is needed more than ever before.
Mr. Chairman, if the Committee continues along this path of repealing the historic reforms in Dodd-Frank, one by one, I am very concerned about the advent of another financial crisis. I am especially concerned since we have learned that the Full Committee intends to markup legislation that would delay the long overdue reforms to the derivatives markets by 18 months.
Mr. Chairman, this Committee should focus on making Dodd-Frank work, not on repealing it. Let me remind you that it was the taxpayers who bore the brunt of the failures of the large, interconnected financial institutions whose collapse necessitated the Dodd-Frank Act. These taxpayers should never have to bail out these institutions again. Unfortunately, with today’s markup, the Committee is on the verge of asking taxpayers to open up their wallets yet again.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back the balance of my time."
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Bills marked up today:
H.R. 1070 - The Small Company Capital Formation Act of 2011
H.R. 1062 - The Burdensome Data Collection Relief Act
H.R. 33 - To amend the Securities Act of 1933 to allow church plans to invest in collective trusts
H.R. 940 - The United States Covered Bonds Act of 2011
H.R. 1082 - The Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation Act
H.R. 1539 - The Asset-Backed Market Stabilization Act of 2011
H.R. 1610 - The Business Risk Mitigation and Price Stabilization Act of 2011
