Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, 2024

Floor Speech

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment. This amendment would prevent the FTC from implementing its policy statement explaining the scope of the commission's authority over unfair methods of competition.

It will create confusion and legal uncertainty in cases in which the FTC seeks to use this authority to stop unfair methods of competition that hurts consumers, honest small businesses, and workers.

The November 2022 policy statement informs the public, business community, and antitrust bar how the agency interprets the law based on principles from prior case law and agency.

I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Current law requires that a party wishing to complete an acquisition must delay the transaction for at least 30 days following the submission of a pre-merger notification to give the FTC and DOJ an opportunity to review the transaction and determine whether to investigate it further. The statute gives the FTC and DOJ the ability to grant an individual case exemption from this requirement to wait 30 days. Granting this early termination, however, consumes agency resources, and the delay for parties associated with suspending early termination is minimal.

I strongly oppose this amendment, and I urge a ``no'' vote.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment.

The proposed revisions that this amendment seeks to block to OMB Circular A-4 include updates that consider the social cost of carbon and other climate-related factors in regulatory impact analyses. This change recognizes the urgency of addressing climate change and aligns Federal agencies with efforts to mitigate its impacts.

I strongly oppose this amendment, and I urge a ``no'' vote.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

Treasury's Climate Hub was created to leverage the Department's finance and financial mitigation efforts to confront the growing threat of climate change.

In just over 2 years, the hub has been instrumental in the implementation of the tremendously successful Inflation Reduction Act. The hub also contributed to successful negotiations that led to a substantial public-private climate finance commitment with South Africa and Indonesia.

This amendment would impede the Treasury's climate policy strategy as our Nation faces growing climate threats.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Womack).

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Arkansas.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer).

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I stand with the bipartisan statesmen who have argued against this amendment. I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, the amendment doesn't do anything. It simply says funds in the bill can't be used to prevent voluntary disclosures. The administration is already doing this.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, the amendment does nothing, and we oppose it. I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

This amendment would fully block any rulemaking that the Office of Management and Budget's, Office of Information Regulatory Affairs determines to be significant. Each year that division can review anywhere from 300 to 700 rules.

There is no available data to determine how many of these reviews result in a significant determination. However, roughly, 100 rules each year clear the higher economically significant threshold.

This amendment would block any work on the roughly 100 economically significant rules the government promulgates annually and likely blocks countless others that result in a significant determination.

This amendment would grind government to a halt and interrupt vital work to improve the lives of Americans across a range of policy areas.

Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. To my distinguished colleague from Arkansas (Mr. Womack): I so appreciate your promptness that we run on your subcommittee, I was just giving you the promptness through this process. So that is why I was allowing you to use the time you had. I just want to explain that so you realize why I was sitting back.

Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong opposition to this amendment. The White House Gender Policy Council is vital in advancing gender equity and equality. It helps ensure that all individuals, regardless of their gender, have equal opportunities and rights. The council takes a holistic approach to addressing gender issues and looking at areas such as economic security, healthcare, education, and violence prevention.

This comprehensive strategy allows for a more effective response to gender-related challenges leading to better outcomes for individuals and communities.

By establishing a dedicated council at the highest levels of government, the White House sends a clear message about the importance of gender equity and inclusion. The White House Gender Policy Council is important for advancing gender, equity, and equality.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Jeffries).

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, you heard from our Democratic leader. Democrats strongly oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment. This amendment doesn't belong in this bill. We don't deal with the IMF and Special Drawing Rights. That would be in the State-Foreign Operations bill, which we have already taken up on the floor.

Mr. Chair, I urge the sponsor to take up that bill in the fiscal year 2025 bill, assuming we ever get to that.

Mr. Chair, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no,'' and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, as I said, we are not debating the merits of the amendment. It is just not appropriate in this bill, period.

Mr. Chair, I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition to the amendment.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

The Treasury Department has identified significant technical concerns with this amendment. Specifically, the agency has concerns about how the amendment's construction would impact general licenses authorized by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

I strongly agree with the need to enforce the sanctions included in Executive Order No. 13902 with respect to any person determined to operate in the construction, mining, manufacturing, or textile sectors of the Iranian economy. However, some terms like ``Islamic Republic of Iran'' and ``for, or on behalf of'' are vague and would create confusion as to how they would relate to existing authorizations.

Treasury believes this phrasing could cause unintended consequences outside of the intended scope.

Mr. Chair, for these reasons, I oppose the amendment and recommend a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment. This amendment doesn't belong in this bill. We don't deal with the IMF and shareholding. That would be part of the State and Foreign Operations bill, which has already gone through this body.

I urge the sponsor to take up the issue in that bill, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no.''

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I oppose the amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment.

For years, the Small Business Administration has rightly been concerned about small businesses from underserved communities accessing SBA loans. Through the agency's affiliation rule, the agency aims to combat persistent gaps in accessing capital that affects these small businesses.

By modernizing the lending criteria and conditions for SBA's small business loan programs and reducing red tape for SBA lenders, we will see improved access to capital for underserved businessowners, including women, minorities, veterans, and rural entrepreneurs.

Unfortunately, this amendment pulls the rug out from underneath the SBA's important effort to better support these businesses.

I strongly oppose this amendment. I urge a ``no'' vote, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I claim the time in opposition.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this amendment. It seems shortsighted to defund an effort to even look at an issue. The Central Bank Digital Currency Working Group is intended to complement the Fed's efforts by considering the implications of a U.S. CBDC.

It would be a good idea to examine whether there are economic benefits, including lower transaction and borrowing costs for U.S. households, businesses, and government.

In addition, the U.S. uses sanctions and other financial measures to address national security threats and deny criminals and other illicit actors access to the U.S. and international financial system.

Development of foreign CBDCs, including multi-CBDC platforms, could diminish the use of our dollar and the effectiveness of our tools in this space. I think it is at least worth letting Treasury look at the issue.

I oppose this amendment, urge a ``no'' vote, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch).

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

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Mr. POCAN. Mr. Chairman, I oppose this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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