a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. wicker: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be viated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. wicker: thank you, mr. president. i filed an amendment yesterday that i hope will be included in this banking bill that the senate is considering today and tomorrow. my amendment was inspired by a bill that i introduced last july. it is a simple bill. it is bipartisan, and it should be noncontroversial. here's what the amendment would do. it would exempt trust preferred securities from a bank's capital requirements. now, you asked what is a trust-preferred security? well, it is an investment vehicle that looks a little bit

like equity and at the same time looks a little bit like debt. how did these come about? well, actually the fdic asked many banks to invest in such securities and previous -- in previous decades. a company creates trust-preferred securities by creating a trust, issuing debt to it and then have it issue preferred stock to investors. trust, debt, and preferred stock to investors. the fdic used to like trust-preferred securities. they consider them sound investments before 2010. and may i repeat the fdic asked many banks to invest in these

securities. however, through its interpretation of the regulations, the fdic is now counting these securities against the capital holdings of the bank. who's affected by this? well, mr. president, it happens to be 20 small banks in the heartland of america. my amendment would exempt these banksromr trust-preferred securities as part of their capital requirement and, therefore, it would promote growth in rural communities around the country. as well as provide regulatory relief for our small banks. and that's really what this bill is about. this bill is about taking the broad dodd-frank legislation which took a broad brush approach and punished many medium and small banks where they had nothing to do with the

financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. dodd-frank has done harm to main street. my amendment would alleviate some of that harm. if we want to help banks grow the economy, we need to be mindful of the ways in which dodd-frank's excessive regulations are hurting small banks. so this goes right in hand with the major thrust of this overwhelmingly bipartisan bill that we are about to pass today or tomorrow. these banks, these small banks, 20 small banks nationwide inject needed capital and access to credit in our communities. capital and credit to launch new local businesses or create jobs. when these banks struggle, these small banks struggle,

communities struggle. to comply with one-size-fits-all dodd-frank regulations demands resources that some of our comowcommunity banks do not hav. here i am arguing for my amendment and the entire bill. unlike big banks, these small banks in rural communities might be forced to close because of the demands that are too high, or they might have to pass along extra costs to consumers. neither option helps our local communities and the people who live there. these 20 small rural banks were not in the least bit responsible for the financial crisis. and so my amendment based on a bipartisan bill recognize along with the base bill the fact that the smallanks are n part of the problem, never were part of the problem and would alleviate the burdens that these banks

have shouldered since dodd-frank became law. i want to commend the chairman of the banking committee and the bipartis- overwhelming bipartisan majority on t banking committee for working on this legislation. this is a red letter achievement in a body that has become overly partisan, regrettably so, in the last few years. but we can work together to offer relief to our small credit unions and small community ban banks. in doing so, we need to take the added step of relieving these 20 smalltown banks from a onerous requirement. so i would urge the chairman and the ranking member and members of the democratic and rublican leadership, i would urge them to

consider making this part of an overall managers amendment or accepting this amendment and moving forward because it has -- it has everything to do with following the entire thrust of this entire bill. so thank you, mr. president. i appreciate the time and i do note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call: mr. rounds: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south dakota.

mr. rounds: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: we are. mr. rounds: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. rounds: i rise in support of the bill which is being considered on the senate floor this week. as a member of the senate banking committee, i am pleased to be a support a of the legislation which will provide much regulatory relief to our banks and credit unions which has been difficult since the passage of the dodd-frank. enacted in 2010, dodd-frank was an overreaction to the 2008 financial crisis. rather than actually addressing the underlying issues that caused the financial crisis, dodd-frank created a massive new bureaucracy and saddled our financial institutions with burdensome an onerous regulations. it is 2,300 pages in length and

created 400 new rule makings which led to 27,000 federal mandates on american businesses. this limits the financial businesses to grow, especially for smaller bank in rural areas, such as my state of south dakota. just last summer the u.s. department of treasury reported that the regulatory burdens of dodd-frank has reduced economic growth, and i'll quote, undermin the ability of banks to deliver attractively priced credit in sufficient you can'ty to -- quantity to meet the needs of the economy. end quote. without question, no one wants to repeat the events that contributed to the economic recession that began in 2008. we are only now beginning to lift out of that nearly decade-long economic slump thanks to the tax relief law and president trump's focus on

regulatory reform. we've undone burdensome and regulations at a record pace and restored the american people's confidence at levels not seen in decades. but we must do more, which is why our bipartisan legislation is so important. making sure american families and businesses have access to credit when they need it is critical as we work to grow our economy and create jobs. the economic growth regulatory relief and consumer protection act will expand economic opportunities across the entire country, especially in rural areas where -- areas which are often the most underserved. of the many fatal flaws of dodd-frank is the one-size-fits-all approach, by doing that, frong had

disproportionate costs on smalleranks and credit union especially given the improbability that these smaller institutions posed a risk to the financial system. this type of approach is particularly harmful to the smaller financial institutions which are vital to our communities. with more than 6,500 community banks throughout the country supporting even the remodest areas, we must make certain we are helping and not hindering their ability to serve their communities. almost half of small businesses, which we all know are the driver of job creation and economic growth in america, are supported by small community banks. providing these institutions with regulatory relief is critical, which is what our legislation does. let me go through soom of the -- some of the highlights which includes several provisions that

i introduced. it includes the home mortgage reduction act which i introduced with senator heitkamp this year, and will provide small banks with data reporting relief. we also provide relief from dodd-frank capital rules that allow banks to count high capital bonds to provide help to banks and local units of government that issue that debt. in other words, those banks can make a market for these municipal bonds. our legislation also streamlines federal rules to help small, local federal associations, known as f.s.a.'s or thrifts expand to offer loans to more families and businesses without going through a costly charter conversation process. that includes part of the community bank access to capital act which would free small banks from having to complete arduous

and expensive tests which are already mandated by dodd-frank and it makes it easier for ban with less than $3 billion in assets to raise capital and grow. we will protect the credit of our veterans so that vets waiting on delayed payments from the v.a. choice program cannot lose their credit ratings because of it. it is a sad commentary when you have to make a law in the financial institutions section of the code to take care of veterans because the v.a. cannot pay their bills on time. it also protects seniors by removing liability for financial services institutions and professionals reporting expected fraud to senior citizen to the authorities. we also provide relief to small blic housing agencies in urban areas by increasing flexibility for these entities. this bill provides rural appraisal relief when borrowers

have trouble finding a qualified appraiser. the reason is, if you want to get a home loan, one of the requirements under frong, is you have -- dodd-frank you have to have an appraiser. this will help those where the amounts of the mortgage can be less than a particular amount as specified in the bill and be a qualified mortgage to help create a market for the mortgages making it easier for a consumer to actually access that credit. our bill also giving the federal reserve flexibility as designating banks as exemplary important provisions that apply to systematically important financial institutions, or as they will say, sifis, including

reporting requirements, limits on lending and limits on mergers and acquisitions. it will give banks between $100 billion and $250 billion to also receive relief from tighter oversight applied by dodd-frank. this would exempt 15 regional andid-sized banks from these rules. more than a dozen of the country's banks will have to comply with the requirements. these are the largest financial institutions. we eliminate barriers to jobs by allowing mortgage loan originators to work temporarily in a new state or for a new financial institution while their applications for new licenses are pending. our bill requires the treasury to study and report on the risks of cyber threats to our financial institutions and capital markets. finally, our bill provides regulatory relief from enhanced

supplemental ratio from certain banks in a serve as organizations like mutualunds d state and localensi doesn't st we would make our banks less competitive than foreign banks for provide the same service. let's keep that opportunity, that market within our own borders as well. let's allow them to be competitive which saves on costs for mutual fund purchasers. now, this benefits countless cal governments across the country that do business with these banks. in my home state alone, this includes the state of south dakota, the south dakota retirement system, the rapid city regional hospital, the city of vermillion. and while this provision will not help all banks, it will affect some banks which benefits consumers, and in the future, perhaps we can give the same relief to all banks that offer these important services.

these provisions, along with the many others of our bill, will strengthen our financial system in the united states and reduce the unnecessary burdens on smaller and mid--sized banks so they can focus on serving their communities, not complying with layers ofurearacy. making sures families and busisses have access to credit when they need it is critical to work to grow a healthy economy. every step we can take to provide relief to our lenders is a win for the families and businesses who depend on them to buy a business or save for colleague. -- college. small community banks don't think of banking in terms of derivatives like they do on wall street. they think of banking in terms of how they can best serve their communities, friends, neighbors, store owners, and job providers. our bipartisan, economic growth,

regulatory relief act will help these lenders focus on doing just exactly that. i tha chairman crapo on t other 24 cosponsors of this legislationor their commitment to working together to provide much-needed relief that will enhance our ability to grow our economy. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. mrs. capito: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from west virginia. mrs. capito: mr. president, i have nine requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly noted. mrs. capito: thank you, mr. president. i wanted to come to the floor today to talk about the bill we have in front of us, economic

growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection act. that's a mouthful there. but what it is a culmination and reaction to the dodd-frank which was created in 2008 in reaction to the financial crisis. i think it is important to note where this is directed. in dodd-frank so much of the focus was placed on large banks and larger institutions, but what has been lost in the debate and some of the unintended consequences is how that massive and burdensome regulatory legislation would affect the smaller banks, the community banks, and the credit unions. senator rounds in south dakota, senator blunt in missouri, we have more rural areas, for the most part, and these cmunity banks and cret unions are

absolutely critical to our individuals, but also to our businesses. and they've been bearing the brunt, really a lot, in washington's response to that in dodd-frank. we know that larger financial institutions have the resources to handle a lot of the regulatory requirements placed on them. our smaller institutions have struggled under the weight of dodd-frank. we didn't come tohis point today without a lot of discussion, without a lot of compromise, and without a lot of thoughtful input from a lot of different entities to figure out the best way to serve our small -- all of our states. these smaller institutions play a critical role in a state like west virginia. our small businesses rely on them to open and succeed, our communities rely on them to

expand, and our economy relies on them to grow, especially in our rural areas. but our communities banks and credit unions have really had to shift their attention away from what they know best which is relationship-based lending and borrowing and put it more into the regulatory environment, devote more bank resources and time and energy and legal resources to make sure you are complying with regulations that are really intended for the larger financial institutions. so it's been tough. from 2010, which is the year dodd-frank was enacted until 2016, the number of community banks in our country reduced by 1,600, that is a significant number in community banks. our main street borrowers have been forced to turn to larger institutions, which is mine, but

a lot of times our mainstream businesses get lost in the shuffle. sometimes it's stifer terms -- stiffer terms and sometimes it can mean rejection. we're talking about farmers, families looking to buy a home, and small businesses. we're talking about the hardworking men and women trying to live the american dream. with smaller institutions forced to merge with larger once to shoulder the cost of regulation, that relationship-based model that served our community for decades is disappearing. and i think it's time now, after much thought, to ease that burden and right size those regulations on our smaller financial institutions and that's exactly what the economic owth regulatory relief and consum proteion act does. it is a balanced proefrp -- approach to regulation. it takes into account the differences, some of them vast differences between larger and smaller financial institutions. it improves access to mortgages,

something i've been interested in since my service on the house when i was on financial services and i chaired financial institutions. the mortgage issue was something that i introduced and worked on many, many pieces of legislation to provide rural areas with greater access to mortgages. let's just talk about what happens. if a young couple is trying to get a mortgage or maybe it's even a med student coming out of medical school trying to get a mortgage for a loan, no real income yet, but in a relationship banking situation, that small bank or community banker knows that that's going to be a safe bet in the end of the day. and a lot of our mortgages have been so constructed by dodd-frank that people haven't been able to get the mortgages. let's face it, the ones that face the biggest challenges are the ones we were supposed to be trying to help with dodd-frank, and those were at the mid, lower income range that maybe have a credit issue or some other

extraneous issue that in a cookie cutter environment, one size fits all doesn't fit their size and they end upitut the opportunity to own a home. ere's also ver critica consumer protections in this bill. protections for our seniors. i'm going to go out on a limb here and say this is probably one area that we haven't done as a congress, and joining together with financial institutions and other consumer advocates to protect our seniors from being preyed upon financially. it's rampant. sometimes you're preyed upon by your own family. and so the senior safe act, with senator collins and senator mccaskill's bill protects them from exploitation. this has been a consistent priority of mine. it also works to protect our veterans who can sometimes be very vulnerable when seeking financial assistance.

and also for individuals who have gone through tough times financially. the legislation clarifies a lot of cfpb regulations to help benefit those consumers. student borrowers, student loans, we talk a lot about the increasing debt that our students are incurring, the difficulty that students, after they graduate have to pay down these debts. but a bill that i helped to introduce with senator peters is included in this agreement. and what it does, it says when student borrowers from private loans have the opportunity they can rehabilitate their credit following a default. they can't do that now. if you have a government loan, you can do that. but if you have a student loan through a private institution, you can't do that. so we're seeking parity between a government loan and a private loan. and we think this will help those students repay with a relook at their finances. so finally in light of recent data breaches that have put many

at risk, this legislation puts an important cybersecurity standards and safeguards. every committee we're on talks about cybersecurity. the financial institutions, i think, have been on the leading edge of trying to detect cyber invasions into information or into financial, into their financial institutions. we need to keep -- we have to stay one step ahead here because this is very fast moving. so these are all priorities and solutions that i've worked hard as a leader on the house financial services committee. and now as i chair the financial services and general government appropriations. for community financial institutions, regulatory relief and economic growth go hand in hand. we just passed a tax relief bill where a lot of our small businesses are able to increas eir btom lines, grow their businesses, grow jobs and wages. we want to see those financial institutions grow alongside that. working men and women and small business owners deserve a fair shot at mortgages.

it's the american dream. owning a home. and they deserve a process that takes into consideration the kind of community where they live. we deserve relief from these burdensome and unbalanced regulations that we've been forced to contend with for too long. so the economy, growth, regulatory relief and consumer protection act does just this. it gives us an opportunity to send a clear message to main street. and that is we support you. we support you. and i encourage all of my colleagues to stand with me. i want to thank chairman crapo for his dedicated insistence that this come to the floor of the united states senate, that we have bipartisan support, that it's very well thought out. it doesn't have the whole kitchen sink in it. it has the provisions that i think are the top priority for our financial institutions but also for all of us who represent main street here in the united states senate. so with that, i would yield my

time. thank you. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: mr. president, i want to join my colleague from west virginia as well as our friend from south dakota to really say how much i appreciate the effort that senator crapo has made to put this bill together. it's exactly how the congress is supposed to work and how the senate is supposed to work. a bipartisan bill, a bill that, frankly, i'm sure that everybody that will vote for this bill would have changed at least one thing in it. but if you change all of those things that all of us would have changed, suddenly you wouldn't have a bill that would pass, a bill that will do what this bill does, a bill that will roll back the dodd-frank regulions one more attempt by the federal government to make one size fits all. and if you ever tried on any

one-size-fits-all things, you know that one size almost never fits anybody, and that's been the case we've seen now. credit unions and community banks provide critical financial services for families and for small businesses across missouri and across the country. when the dodd-frank bill became law, small and medium-sized banks and credit unions were faced with huge regulatory burdens. big banks got bigger. small banks got bought and went out of business way too often. the negative impacts of their ability to maintain service on main street in a small community, you couldn't put together a group that would just be the compliance group. and if you did, that had to come out of something else, come out of the ability to to do the kinf business you wanted to do. according to the independent community bankers of america, despite holding less than 20% of the nation's banking assets,

community banks fund more than 60% of small business loans and more than 80% of united states agricultural loans all in that 20% of the banking assets of the country. furthermore, they operate in many areas where other banks don't, where they are the onl physical banking presence, frankly, in one out of every five u.s. counties have only one bank, and that one bank is a community bank, a small bank. the more time, the more money, the more staff that community lenders have to dedicate to complying with needless regulations, the less ability they have to provide the kind of service you'd like to provide. the president of the missouri bankers association, max cook said this commonsense legislation, talking about the bill that i'm pleased to be a cosponsor of, this commonsense legislation will allow banks to

better serve the needs of customers and businesses in our communities. he went on to say that financial regulatory reform will unleash america's economic potential. that's the end of his quote, but i think you could add to that that lots of good things are happening in our economy right now. the tax bill, the regulatory commonsense regulation that's overcoming a regulation that didn't make much sense, access to capital is a critically important part of what you have to have to have a growing economy, and access to capital in small communities as well as access to capital in big communities. that means that you have to have banks that can serve the communities those banks are in. this bill contains a number of bipartisan priorities. one of the priorities in here is a bill that i sponsored, the family self-sufficiencyct. senator rounds mentioned part of what that means to rural

americans, but it also means a lot to americans that really are living in, under public housing programs of one kind or another. this was a bill that i introduced. it was cosponsored by senator reed from rhode island, by senator scott from south carolina, senator menendez from new jersey. another bipartisan statement that this bill will make when we pass it. and it just simply makes commonsense changes in the department of housing and urban development's family self-sufficiency program. that program happens to be under the banking committee, so it fits right into this bill. what this addition to the bill would do and is in the bill to start with now, it expands the ability of people under the new way to define these programs to improve their education, to save money for the future, to reach

their goal of becoming more financially independent. the first thing the legislation does is streamline two public housing family self-sufficiency programs into one. there is no reason to have two family self-sufficiency programs, no reason to have two definitions, no reason to have one category of people in those programs who qualify for things and a second category who don't just because they happen to qualify under the definitions of a needlessly duplicative program. it eliminates that. this bill expands the scope of support services. it allows people that are in these programs to attain a g.e.d. if they don't have one, to pursue a postsecondary degree or a postsecondary certification, and gives aini for financial literacy. lasthis, t bill would expand the reach of the family

self-sufficiency act to programs that, to families that may otherwise be technically excluded from these programs today. some of the statements from housing organizations in my state and around the country, a group called beyond housing, who is interested in just more than a place to live but how you use that as a way to improve your life, beyond housing in st. louis, which provides more than 400 affordable housing rent units for families throughout the st. louis region, endorsed the bill because they said it would put, quote, it would empower families across the country to achieve self-sufficiency. the missouri chapter of the national association of housing and redevelopment officials supports the change this bill has because they say, quote, it provides the toolbox the residents can use to better life for themselves as individuals and as a family. the national neighborhood works

association says the legislation would improve the existing self-sufficiency program to help more individuals and families achieve more in life for themselves and for their family. providing families in need with affordable housing is critical, but it's also important that we figure out ways to move them beyond government support to self-sufficiency. this, these changes in this bill help make that happen. a companion bill of that part of the bill in the house passed in january by a vote of 412-5. so i hope it's a helpful addition to the bill. i know it's going to be helpful to the families that it opens new doors for. mr. president, i'm glad to be here supporting this bill, to have senator rounds, senator capito, senator enzi and senator fischer here as well to talk about the importance of this bipartisan piece of legislation.

and i would yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: mr. president, when we debated the dodd-frank bill in 2010, i concentrated most of my effort onki about the thd portion, the third third of the bill, one of those several hundred-page bills again, but this was kind of hitting at the end, something called the consumer financial protection bureau known as the cfpb. and i opposed its creation during the debate. i opposed it because it is not a government agency under any way, shape, or form or rule that we have. there is no control whatsoever over this group.

the makeup of the bureau is quite unique in that a sole director rather than a bipartisan commission is the singular decision-maker of the agency. and doesn't even require approval by congress for who that person is or the length of their term. furthermore, the bureau is not subjected to an appropriations process, having guaranteed money from the federal reserve to fund the agency's existence. how does that work? they get a percentage of the revenue of the federal reserve that would normally be allocated, they get it before the federal government. they are outside the control of the federation process. they have guaranteed money.

not only do they have guaranteed money, they have a guaranteed factor built into their money. it is feasible that they could control the entire revenue from the federal reserve. that funding source is more assured than social security. and if the agency's running amok, congress has no ability to use the appropriations process to bring oversight to the consumer financial protection bureau. great name. it seems to protect it even if that's primarily not what it seems to be doing. now, i'm only picking on a very small portio ofhat with this bill. you may b familiar with something called the transparent general schedule for federal employees, often referred to as the g.s. scale. it's the primary way that the government ensures that federal employees' salaries are appropriate and reasonable.

the pay scale, however, doesn't apply to this least accountable agency in the federal government, you guessed it, the cf bp. at the cf bp, the director has the ability to have discretion over the employees. they have no control over the executive branch. so government employees at the cfpb receives some of the highest paychecks of all federal workers, according to the data obtained from my office and the cfpb, there are only 170 employees at the cfpb that had salaries from $180,000 to

$259,000. to put this in perspective, in 2017, the highest paid employees in the whitehouse were -- white house were paid $1779,000 -- $179,000. over 170 employees at the cfpb receive more pay than the highest-paid white house staffers. now, 102 employees at the cfpb make more in annual salary than any of our state governors. a supreme court justice is paid an annual salary of $251,000. six staff members at the cfpb are paid more than that, and there's no control that it can't go higher. in 2017, approximately 47 employees had a higher salary than the vice president. now, it's true the top executives at the big banks can make a hefty penny in their

industry, but the whole of the american banking industry doesn't see this kind of wealth. these are the community bankers and credit unions that support main street america. according to the bureau of labor statistics, the average bank employee salary is $63,000. guess mo makes -- who makes more than these bankers, their regulators, the cfpb. last week sean scuffy and i introduced the fair payness act to rein in the cfpb rate of pay. i'm offering thi to the consumer protection act. the amendment requires the director of the cfpb to set the basic rate of pay in cord with the -- accordance with the g.s.

scale. the g.s. scale provides information to the public on the credentials of the federal employees with which level requiring qualification standards, like education and years of experience. as it stands, the cfpb does not provide any equal indication standards for their -- qualification standards for their employees' pay, nor is it transparent to the american people, or even the cfpb's own employees. this proved to be an issue when in 2016 the government accountability office invested allegations at the cfpb. 30% of the cfpb employees at the g.a.o. indicated that their pay was not commensurate with their skills, work experience, and education. because of the way the cfpb was created in the dodd-frank legislation that we're working on right now, congress failed to

impose the usual constitutional checks to rein in this behavior. congress needs to bring accountability to the consumer financial protection bureau. and we should start with the bureau's lavish spending on employee salaries. this commonsense amendment would ensure the bureau is keeping employees' salaries in line with regular government pay scale, which promotes transparency and equity in pay across the federal government. and there's a lot more that i could say about this consumer financial protection bureau, but i want to concentrate on the fact that they are paid substantially more than anybody else in government and they -- and we have no control over it. there's only one person that does, that's the one who gets the job as director which was taken to court since even the president can't fire that person no matter which president it is. so this is just one of the things where it's an unusual

organization, and from my experience, they aren't doing what they said they would do at the time that they said they needed to be created. instead, they are harassing different businesses until these businesses pay a fine, and that fine goes into a slush fund for them that they can give up to ones that we would never approve for anybody from the federal government. so they have this guaranteed revenue, in checking, i find out they are supposed topend all of it, and the director can set the salaries, and has very little firing capability to go along with that. but they are paid an inordinate amount compared to everybody else in government, including supreme court justices and the vice president and other people that -- that work around here, the highest-paid people at the

white house make $1,000 than the lowest paid of these 170 workers. so i hope people consider this amendment to bring a degree of fairness and transparency so we know what the agency is doing, only in the way of salaries, but that's a good starting place. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from nebraska. mrs. fischer: mr. president, i rise today in support of the bill before us, the economic growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection act. this bill is a product of a multi-year bipartisan process. it's the result of stakeholder input, multiple legislative hearings, a committee markup, and a committee report. there are a lot of great provisions in this bill, but what i'd like to focus on today is what this bill will accomplish for smaller financial institutions, our community

banks and our credit unions, especially in the state of nebraska. i also want to touch on the important regulatory relief included for small public housing agencies that are in nebraska and all across this country. over the course of the past year, i've received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback from people and businesses across nebraska about this bill, but the outpouring of support from community banks and credit unions has been particularly notable. these institutions are the pillars of our local communities. they sponsor local little league sports teams, they provide scholarship funds, they award grants to students. the prosperity of america's small financial institutions is directly tied to the success of the communities that they serve. these institutions from eastern

nebraska to the panhandle have shared with me their support for this bill that we have before us today. for example, lee potts, from security bank in rural nebraska wrote, quote, the bill is a step in the right direction to remove ill-fitting regulations on banks. as a lender in my community, i'm not against regulations in general, as there is a need for certain regulations, however the regulatory spectrum has become so burdensome that it often has affected otherwise creditworthy borrowers in my community. end quote. brandon lukenhouse excited the positive effect this will have on seniors in america's communities. he wrote on the bill, quote,

this bipartisan commonsense reform legislation will protect seniors from elder abuse, make mortgage processing easier and quicker, increase affordable rental housing in our communities and help my credit union provide better service to members. end quote. under this legislation, well-managed, well-capitalized community banks with less than $3 billion in total assets would qualify for an 18 month exam cycle that is currently only available for banks withs than $1 billion in total assets. furthermore, theon also allows banks with less than $5 billion in total assets to use short-form call reports in the first and the third quarters of the year. the quarterly equal recall community banks currently have to file comprises 4le -- 480

pages of form. only a fraction of that information that's collected is only useful to regulators in ensuring safety and soundness of these institutions. the minimal impact is far outweighed by the staff incurred who are collecting it. it increases the regulation from $250,000 to $4,000. this provision of the bill reflects that in rural markets it can be hard to find an independent appraiser. they may live hours away and it could take weeks for them to come and appraise a property. this slows down and it adds cost to the transaction where a bank has 100% of the risk associated with that loan.

simply put, provisions like these in the bill help provide relief to main street lenders who did nothing to cause the financial crisis and have been unfairly burdened under dodd-frank. for example, allen msott told me, quote, this bill is a solid step towards right-sizing regulations. as one of the smallest banks in nebraska, reducing the regulatory burden will allow us to do what we do best to serve our community through the making of loans, to help start new businesses, financial agriculture, and put people in homes more efficiently and at a lower cost to the consumer. even with reduced regulation, we will continue to respect the safety of our customers and provide all of our customers a safe and sound banking

environment just as we have for the past 80-plus years. end quote. steven akerton from center federal credit union in omaha wrote, the increasing regulations reduces the availability of products to credit union members and increases the costs. end quote. clearly, any claims that this bill only provides relief to big banks are not true. in addition to the great regulatory relief provisions for community banks and credit unions, i was very mr. please -- i was very pleased to see provisions are from my bill, senator tester, the small housing agency opportunity act included in this legislation. our bill would address the overwhelming administrative burden that has been placed on the roughly 3,800 small rural

housing authorities across this country, including the approximately 100 public housing agencies in the state of nebraska. the provisions included from our bill will immy fie the inspection and -- simplify the inspection and compliance requirements facing public housing agencies with fewer than 550 units. specifically, it would limit h.u.d. inspections of housing and rowch our iew legitimates to once area three years unless classified as trouble. the less time directors and employees of small public housing agencies are required to spend complying with unnecessary reporting and oversight demands, the more time they can spend improving the lives of their residents. mr. president, the bill we are considering today is good policy. it's a major step in the right

direction, but there is more that we can do. since 2013, i have called for congress to consider changing the cfpb's leadership structure. for the past three congresses, i've introduced legislation to change the leadership structure of the consumer financial protection bureau from a single director to a multimember bipartisan board of commission. although consumers and the industry have experienced some relief under director mulvaney, a problem remains. the bureau's unaccountable leadership structure. a bipartisan board of directors would increase transparency, provide regulatory certainty, and guarantee input from multiple stakeholders with various points of view. i do not view this as a partisan

issue and neither do americans. a poll in march of 2017 found that 58% of those surveyed supported -- support a bipartisan commission, including a majority of republicans, a majority of democrats, and a majority of of independents who were surveyed. i hope that given our success working together on this bill before us today, some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle will consider joining my bill so that we can reform that structure of the cfpb. i'd like to close by thanking chairman crapo and the other cosponsors of the bill for their hard work on this legislation. and i strongly urge my colleagues to join me in voting for the economic growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection act. it's what our communities need

to grow and to prosper. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: mr. president, i ask the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you. i ask unanimous consent that my intern r.f. hassan be granted privileges to the floor for the balance of the day. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. merkley: thank you very much. mr. president, the first three words of our constitution, we the people, this is the mission statement of the united states of america. our government was set up not to create government by and for the powerful and the privileged, but by and for the people of the united states. as jefferson put it, that the government would reflect the will of the people. quite a different concept from many of the european governments which operated directly for the benefit of the best off, for the wealthy and the well connected. but we have seen a corruption of the american constitution.

we've seen it turned on its head with government implemented by and for the rich and powerful time after time over this last year. what did we see in 2017? to destroy health care for 22 million to 30 million americans, increase the cost of health care for everyone else. certainly not reflecting the will of the people. then we saw a tax bill taking $1.5 trillion from our children and our grandchildren and giving it to the richest americans. largest bank heist in world history. now we have another assault on we the people government. senate bill 2155 that undoes a lot of the work to create a financial system for america to thrive, for families to thrive,

to restore the type of lack of regulation and high leveraged bets that brought the economy down in 2007, 2008. when the economy came down, the wealthy and well off did very well. they picked up properties at pennies on the dollar. but who was hurt. the amerin pple were hurt. the american workers were hurt. they lost their jobs. they lost their retirement. they lost certainly so much in terms of the financial foundation for their family. and yet here we are again. we seem to have forgotten that when you let the big banks rampage through our economy, you're setting the stage for another big mess. high-risk gambling on wall street, destroying america's financial lives, lost homes,

lost jobs, lost retirement savings. when we passed dodd-frank, the principle was never again will we let wall street casino crash our economy. we'll never -- well, never hasn't lasted very long. in the bill before us, section 203 exempts financial institutions, smaller banks under $10 billion from the volcker rule. what was the volcker rule? it was a firewall that said take your deposs,on't engage in high-risk, high-leveraged bets on the future price of stocks, for t future price of currencies. those are called derivatives, the bets. someone wants to compile money for billionaires and millionaires and make big bets on future prices, then go ahead and gamble in your hedge fund but don't do it in our banks.

so now we have this bill that says well, let's open the door to reestablishing the wall street casino but just not on wall street. let's do it in our small banks. what was bad and risky for big banks is bad for small banks. should they put their money into loans to help the rural economy thrive or should they make big bets on futureces casino style? this bill opens up the small banks to being casinos. it is the wrong way to go. and then there is section 401 on capital requirements. it takes enormous, large banks up to $250 billion in size and repeals the requirement for living wills. it repeals the requirement for annual stress tests to make sure the capital is truly being set

aside and the bank is being operated in an appropriate fashion for depository institution. former deputy treasury secretary and federal reserve governor sarah bloom raskin said granting the fed control over the stress tests rather than having them manly is, and i quote, legislative fool's gold. that's the expert talking about the foolishness of eliminating stress tests. in addition is lowers the capital standards. so often i've heard folks come to this floor and say we don't need as much regulation. let's just increase the capital standards. but this bill does the opposite. it impacts 25 of the 38 largest u.s. banks who together hold 3.5 trillion in assets. this is clearly a situation tt creates enormous risk for our

economy. who will pay the price? working america will pay the price. build the bubble, burst the bubble, and the boom goes down on middle class america. then there's section 402. 402 is established related to globally, systemically important banks. they're referred to -- by the initials gsips, globally systematically -- they want to escape the supplemental leverage ratio that was designed to decrease the risk. each mega bank has to have enough tier-one capital to

satisfy identify a supplemental leverage ratio but banks want relief so they don't have to hold as much common stock which is tier-one capital. but shoehorned into this are citi and jpmorgan. c.b.o. says the following. there's a 50% chance that regulators would allow two other financial institutions, jpmorgan citibank with combined assets of $4.4 trillion to adjust their s.l.r.'s under the terms of this bill. in other words, higher leverage ratios, lower capital, exactly the kinds of things that imperiled our economy previously, and yet that is right in the heart of this bill. and what about consumer protection? well, let's turn to section 107 which grants exemption from key mortgage lending protections for the buyers of manufactured

homes. now, manufactured homes are put on a foundation and sold as regular homes and then you have modular homes. and this provision expands it to modular homes. it would reduce consumer protections, a part of the market that disproportionately serves low and very low-income americans. and disproportionately serves rural america. do we really want to strip the consumer protections for lower-income americans and rural americans when buying a home? no, we don't. which is why this provision should not be in this bill. that's why this provision is a bad idea. one more section of the bill. and that is hmda reporting, home

mortgage disclosure act reporting. the consumer financial protection bureau required expanded data reporting because it allows you to see where the rules might be being broken on predatory lending. it allows you to see where there might be an engagement in discriminatory lending -- lending. but this bill says we're not going to get that data anymore. we're not going to get the data that would help us identify illegal redlining. for example, and that this exemption would apply to 85% of the reporting institutions that are covered by the home mortgage disclosure act. now, this information -- most of this information is data that is already collected. reporting it provides an understanding about redlining, about discrimination, about discriminatory practices. if you don't have the

information, those things get hidden. that's damage to american families. that's quite a list of things that are wrong with this bill. this bill has been presented as something for small banks, but as you just noticed from these items, what we see are ripping aside of consumer protections and a whole lot that is being demanded by the big banks who want less capital and higher leverage. well, let's do a bill for smaller banks. let's understand that more flexibility and appraisals is appropriate in rural areas. let's observe that more flexibility in the types of mortgages might be appropriate in small banks, small communities where those loans are portfoliod. democrats came forward with a whole list of these things to help small banks, but what do we have from our republican leadership? a bill designed for wall street.

a bill designed for wall street, for the wealthy, and the well connected. not designed to help ordinary americans. ordinary americans are plagued by the challenges of discrimination. this makes it worse. or redlining. this makes it worse. for predatory practices. this makes it worse. they are also plagued by high-interest payday loans. what does this bill do to take on 500% interest rates that every society across the globe has recognized are incredibly destructive, sucking people into a vortex of debt, destroying families. that this body right here said it's so destructive, we cannot allow these high-interest loans to be given to our service members because it destroys our service families. shouldn't we stand up for all of our families in america?

if something is so predatory and so destructive to our service families that we say it's illegal, shouldn't we make those same loans illegal? but do you see anything in this bill related to we the people? very little. the we the people bill the democrats put forward was rejected, and what we have is this wall street bill for lower capital, more leverage, more predatory practices, and that's just not right. i hold a lot of town halls. i hold 36 town halls a year. 22 of them in very red counties. not one person in over 300 town halls has come up to me and said get rid of the regulations on wall street because we want them to be able to do more low-capital, high-leverage bets and put at risk our economy. nobody in america advocates to build another bubble on high-risk leverage.

so what are we doing with this bill? at we' doing is making a mistake, and we should defeat this assault on the effort to have a financial system in america that is designed to serve the mission of the united states, the we the people mission of the united states of america. thank you, mr. president.

the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, ? i ask unanimous consent that we emerge from any quorum call that we are in.

mr. president, -- the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: i'm here for the happy task of moving a piece of bipartisan legislation that has been cleared on both sides of the aisle. i am particularly pleased to be doing it in front of the presiding officer because the presiding officer and i and senator heitkamp and others worked so hard on the carbon capture utilization and sequestration act which provides a means of encouraging carbon capture technologies to develop. this is a related bill that i have joined with senator crapo who has been our lead on that will encourage innovation in the nuclear industry. and so it's a great pleasure for me to be here. i'm very honored that my distinguished colleague, senator crapo, is on the floor. i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of that measure, calendar number 153, s. 97.

the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 153, s. 97, a bill to enable civilian research and development of advanced nuclear energy technologies by private and public institutions, to expand theoretical and practical knowledge of nuclear physics, chemistry, and material science, and for other purposes. the presiding officer: is there objection to proceeding to the measure? without objection. the senator from idaho. mr. crapo: i ask unanimous consent that the crapo amendment at the desk be agreed to. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo: and, mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the bill as amended be considered read a third time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo: i know of no further debate on the bill. the presiding officer: is there any further debate on the bill? hearing none, all those in favor say aye. all those opposed say nay.

the ayes appear to have it. the ayes do have it. the bill as amended is passed. mr. crapo: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the motion to reconsider be made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. crapo: thank you. mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. mr. crapo: mr. president, i rise to speak today on the nuclear energy innovation and capabilities act or neica. this measure is a result of strong bipartisan measures on many members. a number of senators have worked with us on this legislation. i want to give special thanks to senator white house who is here with us today. he has been my tireless partner in this effort. thank you, senator white house, for your hard work and the

assistance of your staff. sometimes even on the easiest of legislation -- and this was not in that category. this was a critical, strong piece that has taken a lot of attention, but sometimes it just takes a lot of work and effort and time. i appreciate senator white house's efforts to stick with us as we actually help move this ball forward as we have tried to get this across the finish line. i also want to say some very strong thanks to senator risch who also deserves strong recognition for his tireless work to get this bill advanced. this is a senate companion to a house measure of the very same name introduced by representatives randy weeber, eddie bernice johnson, and lamar smith. we have been working together to pass this legislation for some time, as i have indicated, and i am eager to work with my house colleaes to eure that neica is enacted as soon as possible. we all recognize that innovation within the nuclear industry must continue and must build on

american preeminence in nuclear research and development. having grown up in idaho falls, idaho, i'm a strong supporter of nuclear energy and the idaho national lab, which is a world leader in r&d and a key partner in sustaining our nation's commercial nuclear power sector. the i.n.l. has been home to more than 50 one of a kind nuclear test reactors. it has led innovation after innovation and breakthrough after breakthrough. the imagination, ingenuity and hard work of the scientists at the lab, along with the scientists at argon and oak ridge, ensure the united states remains the leader in development and commercialization of nuclear power. today, many in the industry are focusing on what it takes to keep the current fleet of reactors alive and operational. industry leaders are worried about the waste issues, the economics of operation, and navigating the requirements of the nuclear regulatory

commission. understandably, many are not focused on the future of nuclear power and what lies beyond the current generation of reactors. congress must find a way to help industry deal with the very real challenges that the current fleet faces. congress must increase the waste issue, -- must address the waste issue and we must address the costs and benefits of the regulations placed on this industry. many of the burdens on the nuclear industry are government created, and so they must be government solved. i look forward to working with my colleagues on the environment and public works committee to provide sound solutions. congress can't ignore the challenges of the current fleet, but we must not allow these challenges to keep us from looking forward. the nuclear power indusy in america isor better or worse increasingly paralyzed by government red tape. congress must lead in focusing government agencies toward preparing for the next

generation of nuclear reactors. we should create an environment in which industry can grow and advance. if we don't, we will lose to foreign competitors as companies take their technologies and business overseas. this is happening already. companies are increasingly going to places like china, russia, south korea, and india. these countries want to export nuclear technology and are investing heavily toward that goal. if we continue down our current path, these countries will take the lead in setting the rules on proliferation and safety in the advanced nuclear industry. i would prefer that america continue to lead in this area. the senate version of neica does four very important things to encourage innovation in advanced nuclear power. one, it directs the department of energy to carry out a modeling and simulation program

that aids in the -- aides in the development of new -- aids in the development of new reactor technologies. this is an important first step in allowing the private sector to have access to the capabilities of our national laboratories, to test reactor designs and concepts. two, it requires the department of energy to report its plan to establish a user facility for a versatile reactor-based fast neutron source. this is a critical step that will allow private companies the ability to test principles of nuclear science and prove the science behind their work. three, neica directs the department of energy to carry out a program to enable the testing and demonstration of reactor concepts proposed and funded by the private sector. this site is to be called the national nuclear innovation center, and it will function as a database to store and share knowledge on nuclear science between federal agencies and the private sector.

a senate version of neica encourages the department of energy and the nuclear regulatory commission to work together in this effort. we would like to see the department of energy lead the effort to establish and operate the national nuclear innovation center while consulting with the n.r.c. regarding safety issues. we would also like the n.r.c. to have access to the work done the center in order to provide its staff with the knowledge it will need to eventually license any new reactors coming out of the center. if these reactors are ever to get to the market, the n.r.c. must be able to understand the ins and outs of the science and work behind their investment. the n.r.c. needs the data in order to make data-driven licensing requirements. number four, finally, it requires the n.r.c. to report on its ability to license advanced reactors within four years of receiving an application. the n.r.c. must explain any institutional or organizational

barriers it faces in moving forward with the licensing of advanced reactors. neica is an important step in maintaining the united states leadership in nuclear energy. it will enable the private sector and our national labs to work together to create cutting edge achievements in nuclear science. neica encourages the smartest, most creative and innovative minds in nuclear science to partner together to move the industry forward. this is a very exciting piece of legislation and i look forward to working with my congressional colleagues to help the nuclear energy thrive today and prepare for the future. with that, thank you, mr. president. i yield my time. mr. whitehouse: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. whitehouse: mr. president, it has been the senator from idaho whose leadership has driven this forward more than anything else and i want to

express my great appreciation to him to be able to work with him and accomplish this success. like senator crapo, i want to recognize our colleagues in this effort, senators risch, booker, durbin, and murkowski. i want to particularly thank senator murkowski because she is the chair of the senate energy committee, and she and senator cantwell together cleared this bill so we could bring it to the floor and gave it the blessing of their committee. i would also like to thank senator inhofe from oklahoma who has been a strong supporter of our efforts at nuclear modernization. and i'd actually like to ask unanimous consent that a "u.s. news & world report" editorial that senator crapo wrote with senator inhofe, myself, and senator booker as an addendum to my remarks. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. whitehouse: finally, i should thank senator alexander from tennessee, the home of oak

ridge, the other national lab that focuses so much in this area would has been a constant advocate and has been very interested in all things nuclear for a very, very long time. this bill, the nuclear innovation and capability act has been so well summarized by senator crapo that i won't go back and resume rise it but i will emphasize that i think and it's our intention that it provide an opening for nuclear innovation into next generation, third generation, even fourth generation nuclear technologies with the goal that we can compete effectively enterally, to be the producers of clean, safe nuclear energy and with the hope, and at this point i think it's somewhere between a hope and a prospect, that this technology will develop to the point where we can begin to look at our existing nuclear waste stockpile and use these new technologies to turn hazardous and dangerous nuclear waste for which we have no present plan

into something that is valuable and can help create energy. we need to work on how to price that because at present there's no mechanism that provides any value to somebody who might have a solution to that problem for lifting this cost off of our books, but that's something that senator crapo, senator alexander, senator inhofe, senator booker and senator murkowski and i can continue to work o. that i think is a really valuable prospect in all of this and one of the things that moves me to do this. let me close by thanking senator crapo for also working with me on neima which we're still working to get past but which we hope will get passed and it parallels very nicely with this legislation because what that would do is get the nuclear regulatory commission to update its permitting process to accommodate new technologies. when asked what i mean by that i use a very rough example, which

is the current light water reactor permitting process makes about as much sense as the test for these new technologies as taking a tesla and having it pass the d.m.v. carburetor requirements would. it is a n tecogy. it requires a difrent tesng regime, and we are -- our other bill would authorize and require the n.r.c. to update and work with the innovation community to make sure when these things are ready for permitting, permitting is in fact ready for them. so with great appreciation to senator crapo, the distinguished senator from idaho, who's been my leader and bart near in all of this, -- partner in all of this, i would yield the floor. thank you, sir. i guess we note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from idaho. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted from ever without objection. mr. crapo: thank you, mr. president. i've been very encouraged by the reaction of my colleagues and their support for the economic growth, regulatory relief and consumer protect act over the last few days. we've heard many stories about how the regulatory burden on our financial institution has had a

direct impact on main street. yesterday senator moranald about the ranchers who couldn't get a loa bausehey lacked collater in an emergency. senators heitkamp and perdue explained the benefits of relationship banking and the advantage of lending based on a personal knowledge of the customer. senator corker talked about dodd-frank's unintended consequences for small financial institutions. senator tester discussed bank consolidation and the real impact that it has had on communities in montana. senator donnelly went through the various important consumer protection items included in this bill. senator kennedy also talked about some of the important consumer protection provisions and about the lack of access to credit for small businesses in louisiana. and senator warner spent a good amount of time defending this robust, bipartisan bill against its critics and some of the false information being shared

about the bill. and today we've heard even more senators come to the floor with similar stories and expression of similar sentiments about the need to help free up our small community banks and credit unions around this country from the overpowering burden that they are facing right now in the regulatory world. many of my colleagues who are not on the banking committee have asked if they could have time and opportunity to speak about the bill as well. and you will see them coming to the floor as you have started to see today to discuss these kinds of issues. senators mcconnell, cornyn, portman, lankford, and others have been very supportive of these efforts to enact pro-growth, pro-jobs legislation. we also heard from the bill's critics yesterday. but the resounding message from congress was, that our constituents have asked for regulatory relief and consumer

protection and economic growth and we stand ready to deliver it. we and our neighbors have noticed that many of our community financial institutions have closed their doors over the last decade. in fact, we've seen almost no new community financial institutions chartered or new branches being opened over the last few years. these financial institutions of all sizes and forms provide critical services in our communities. they help businesses manage operations, help entrepreneurs get funded to start their businesses, help families to buy a home, help all of us to save for our kids' educations and help us deal with financial emergencies. community financial institutions are the pillars of towns and communities across america. particularly in rural states, like my own, idaho. they have certain advantages

compared with their larger counterparts, operating with an understanding and history of their customers and, therefore, a willingness to be flexible. unfortunately, increased regulatory burdens and one-size-fits-all regulations have limited their ability to help customers. these institutions operating landscape has changed dramatically over the last few years and community banks and credit unions across the country have struggled to keep up with the ever increasing regulatory compliance and examiner demands coming out of washington. i regularly hear from small banks and credit unions in idaho about how one-size-fits-all regulatory approaches are impacting their business and product offerings and hindering their ability to serve their communities. for example, coring from a small bank with just over $1 billion has written about the avalanche

of regulation over the past eight to ten years. due to excessive regulations related to qualified mortgage loaps and the cost of higher extra compliance staff to help keep up with additional regulation, her bank has had to stop offering consumer mortgages and real estate loans. that's a big deal. this is not an isolated incident. i hear stories like that all the time. another example, value bok -- val brooks works at the credit union which serves canyon county, idaho. she noted that simpla has long been proud to serve this area where some family come from low-income households and may be underserved. simpla worked to obtain the necessary education, compliance certification and licensing standards to better serve its customers and the community. however, after the cfpb increased already burdensome

mortgage regulations such as the qualified mortgage and hmda, simpla credit union had to make the very difficult business decision to stop offering mortgage loans all together. it was just too cost prohibitive and resource draining. when these small financial institutions are not able to offer certain products within the communities they serve, it is a direct hit to the citizens of idaho and to all of our states. to be absolutely clear, it is not that folks are against all regulation but rather that people outside of washington it seems as if -- to the people outside of washington, it seems as if regulatory changes are made without much thought as to how they will truly affect customers and financial providers. as policymakers, it is our responsibility to diligently and frequently study the state of our economy, our regulatory framework, and how these things d citizens.ng our communities

including people's aess to financial services. we must encourage regulations that not only ensure proper behavior and safety for our markets but also are tailored appropriately to the size and risk type that is being regulated. this means making sure that the burden on financial institutions is not so large that consumers, businesses, and our communities are deprived of financial services and suffer as a result. this has been an important issue to members on both sides of the aisle. congress has held numerous hearings in prior years, exploring many of these issues, including a series of hearings in the banking committee in 2015. then in march last year, the banking committee issued a request for legislative proposals that would promote economic growth. we held bipartisan hearings and

briefings and meetings with stakeholders across the spectrum, vetting potential ideas for right-sizing the regulatory dynamics. we began the process by holding a hearing on the role of financial companies in fostering economic growth, which included former regulators, shareholders -- stakeholders, and the chief economist of the afl-cio. at our next two hearings, we examined proposals that would tailor existing laws and regulations to ensure that they are proportionate and appropriate for small financial institutions and mid-sized regional banks. then in june, the financial regulators provided feedback on their economic growth and regulatory paperwork reduction act, or egripa report, and proposals discussed in recent hearings. as a result of this process, we introduced the economic growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection act, which is now

senate bill s. 2155. i repeat that often there are those who say we are dismantling the regulatory system. this legislation focuses on the smallest financial institutions in our country. the legislative system that was put into place was marketed as being aimed at wall street excesses, but i held a town meeting when we were debating this legislation on main street of boise in idaho and said then that although the justification for some of these regulations was focused on wall street, the crosshairs were on main street, and unfortunately that has turned out to be all too true. large banks have profited tremendously in the last six to ten years. small banks and credit unions have suffered dramatically. we have lost many of our banks

and credit unions across this country, and a i indicated earlier, very few new ones have started up because they simply cannot meet the compliance burdens of being required to meet regulatory requirements that are designed in the first instance for huge banks. what we need is a regulatory system that recognizes that there is a difference between a community bank or a credit union in a small community and a megabank on wall street that is doing its business globally. and we need to have our regulatory system tailored so that the risk -- the risk posed by a particular financial institution is taken into consideration in the regulations applied. that's what this legislation seeks to accomplish. and like i said at the outset,

i'm very glad that we have had broad support for this. now, i'd like to take a minute and go over some of the specific provisions in the bill. the economic growth, regulatory relief, and consumer protection act is aimed at right-sizing regulation for financial institutions, including community banks and credit unions, making it easier for consumers to get mortgages and to obtain credit. as i have often said, the real victims of what i am talking about are not really the community banks and the credit unions, but the people, the small businesses, those who need to have access to credit and need to have the ability to get a loan to purchase a house or to start a small business or to expand -- expand a small business or other important needs. this bill also increases important consumer protections for veterans, for senior citizens, victims of fraud, and those who fall on tough financial times. the provisions in this bill will directly address some of the problems that i frequently hear

about from the financial institutions in idaho. community banks and credit unions are sime institutions focused on relationshi lending and have a special relationship providing credit to traditionally underserved and rural communities where it may be harder to access banking products and services or to get a loan. dodd-frank instituted numerous new mortgage rules and complex capital requirements on community banks and credit unions that have hindered consumers' access to mortgage credit and lending more broadly. in july -- on july 20, 2016, the american action forum attempted to estimate the number of paperwork hours and final costs associated with the dodd-frank rules. in total, the forum estimated that the bill had imposed more than $36 billion in final rule costs and 73 million paperwork hours as of july, 2016.

to put those figures into perspective, the costs are nearly $112 per person or $310 per household. additionally, it would take 36,950 employees, working full time, to complete a single year of the law's paperwork. based on agency calculations. our bill is focused on providing meaningful relief to community banks and credit unions, helping them to prudently lend to consumers, home buyers, and small businesses. mr. president, i have more that i want to say. i want to take a brief break right now,nd i will come back in a few minutes. so at this point, i yield back my time until i return, and note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: