Lgbtq Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 486, I call up the bill (H.R. 1443) to amend the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to require the collection of small business loan data related to LGBTQ- owned businesses, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

The Clerk read the title of the bill.

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Ms. WATERS. 1443 and to insert extraneous material thereon.

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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1443, the LGBTQ Business Equal Credit Enforcement and Investment Act, for the second time this month.

As we discussed on the floor last week, this bill, led by Representative Ritchie Torres, would provide much-needed transparency in lending to LGBTQ-owned businesses by updating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to ensure financial institutions report the sexual orientation and gender identity of applicants for business loans.

This legislation is needed because research shows that LGBTQ individuals have experienced discrimination when applying for a mortgage or other forms of credit. However, due to a lack of data collection, we do not know the extent of discrimination when it comes to business loans, who has been affected, and, more importantly, how it can be corrected.

According to one estimate, there are approximately 1.4 million LGBTQ- owned businesses across our country. These entrepreneurs should be treated fairly, and the data collected on small business owners by Mr. Torres' bill will help to identify and prevent discrimination and will enable communities, policymakers, and lenders to support the development and investment needs of LGBTQ-owned businesses.

I thank Representative Torres for his leadership on this important bill.

But I also want to express my disappointment that so many of our Republican colleagues decided to vote down this bill last week when it was considered under suspension of the rules. This bill passed the committee on a voice vote, and we worked with the ranking member, Mr. McHenry, to address concerns he had.

I thank Ranking Member McHenry for working with us and for his support.

I hope my colleagues who voted ``no'' will reconsider their position and vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1443. Whether or not they do, let me assure our friends, neighbors, constituents, and colleagues in the LGBTQ community that, one way or the other, this House will pass this bill. After all, this is the people's House, and we simply cannot let lending or other forms of discrimination against any of our people stand.

As we discussed last week, this is Pride Month and a time to celebrate all the wonderful contributions the LGBTQ community has given to our economy and our country.

So, Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green).

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Ms. WATERS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, this bill takes necessary action to help ensure that LGBTQ-owned businesses are treated fairly by financial institutions and protected against lending discrimination. The bill passed unanimously out of the House Financial Services Committee with a voice vote. So I am pleased that the majority leader has worked with me to bring this bill back up for a vote quickly.

This bill is supported by the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Transgender Equality, Out Leadership, the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and many others.

Although some of my colleagues did not support this bill last week, I urge them to reconsider, to support all small businesses this week, and vote ``yes'' on H.R. 1443.

I would like to thank the ranking member for his consideration, his support. In closing, I would just like to add that, as Mr. Green identified, I, too, am a victim of discrimination for most of my life, and all of my family and my dear friends and sometimes the entire neighborhood that I have lived in.

So we know what it feels like, and we know that there is, for example, today, a huge wealth gap because of discrimination, a lack of being able to borrow from the banks that were making credit available to so many others. It was not made to us. So oftentimes we were not able to buy a home. We were not able to get a loan for the basic kind of things that any family would need.

So we cannot, and I cannot be a part of public policy and systems and protocols that would exclude the LGBTQ community from being able to get loans in the ways that others are doing. It is pure discrimination. It must stop.

Madam Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yea'' on H.R. 1443, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. TORRES of New York. Madam Speaker, in the United States, there are 1.4 million LGBTQ businesses contributing more than $1.7 trillion to the American economy. We have a vested interest in sustaining and strengthening these businesses with equal access to credit, which is the beating heart of the American economy.

As a former New York City Council Member, I partnered with the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce to establish the nation's largest municipal certification program for LGBTQ business enterprises, enabling those businesses to enjoy equal access to a $25 billion pool of government procurement.

The legislation before us, H.R. 1443, builds on a foundation laid by several statutes and regulations. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) prohibits credit discrimination, including but not limited to sex discrimination. A new interpretive rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) clarifies that the ECOA's prohibition against sex discrimination applies to sexual orientation and gender identity. Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which exists to enable and enhance the enforcement of the ECOA, requires financial institutions to report information about the race, ethnicity, and sex of credit applicants who serve as principal owners of small businesses. My legislation would expand the 1071 reporting requirements to include not only sex but also sexual orientation and gender identity. It would enable anti- discrimination enforcement where none might exist.

Even though the United States has made substantial strides toward LGBTQ equality, the mission is far from accomplished. Seventy percent of the LGBTQ community remains unprotected by anti-discrimination laws. When it comes to credit, according to the Williams Institute, more than 7.7 million LGBTQ adults live in states that offer no protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

It is often said that knowledge is power. Knowledge affords us the power to detect discrimination that might otherwise go undetected. Take, as an example, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which is analogous to the legislation before us. Both the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and Iowa State University reviewed data from the HMDA and found that same-sex couples were denied loans at higher rates than heterosexual couples, despite having comparable creditworthiness. It also found those same-sex couples paid higher fees and interests. The lesson of the HMDA is that sunlight can be a powerful disinfectant against discrimination.

H.R. 1443 would make credit more accessible, credit laws more enforceable, and creditors more accountable. It would represent a triumph of transparency in the service of economic opportunity for all, regardless of who you are and whom you love.

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