Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. McHENRY. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I would say to my colleagues that the Fair Credit Reporting Act should not be singled out for special treatment.

This bill is about creating jobs; and the American people know, as we know, and as rational people looking at the process of regulation know, that higher regulation out of Washington means lower job growth. In particular, what this amendment would do is further constrict access to credit. Furthermore, this bill does not inhibit any individual from getting their free credit report or from having access to their credit report.

What this bill prevents, however, is an agency like the CFPB, which is a very powerful agency with an unconfirmed director. The President went around the process that the Senate has outlined for Senate confirmation. It's a very controversial appointment. They've taken these powers, and they can write very costly and expensive rules. Those costly rules inhibit credit opportunity for Americans, if not done correctly. We've seen some actions already out of this agency that raise great concerns that it's going to be very costly to small banks and to small businesses.

Let's avoid that. Let's reject this amendment. Let's create jobs by passing this bill.

With that, I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. McHENRY. Madam Chair, I would say in closing that the Fair Credit Reporting Act should not be singled out for special treatment, nor should the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau be singled out for special treatment. We should not treat the CFPB rulemaking powers differently than any other Federal agency dealt with under this legislation before us.

Let me also say to my colleagues that it's very important to note that law enforcement actions will continue. Bad actors can continue to be rooted out, regardless of this legislation. That power is still given to the CFPB and other law enforcing agencies across the government. Furthermore, consumers will continue to have access to their credit reports, and this amendment doesn't address a consumer's ability to get that credit report.

Furthermore, let's create jobs by eliminating regulations that inhibit job growth. Let's roll back this uncertainty and give the American people a level of certainty and some expectation of the regulatory framework they have to work under. That's the way we help small businesses be able to take that risk, be able to get that access to credit so they can create jobs, and maybe even keep the doors open and the lights on.

With that, I urge my colleagues to reject this amendment and pass the underlying bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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