Don’t Hamstring the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Recipient: U.S. House of Representatives

Dear Representative:

On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, we write to express our strong opposition to H.R. 1315, the “Consumer Financial Protection Safety and Soundness Improvement Act.” H.R. 1315 seeks to undermine the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) before it even has a chance to begin its important work. We urge you to reject it.

The Leadership Conference believes that the abysmal failure of existing regulators to look out for the interests of the communities we represent, or those of consumers in general, makes the need for a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau perfectly clear. H.R. 1315, however, does not reflect this priority.

H.R. 1315 would badly weaken the CFPB relative to other financial industry regulators, eliminating the very accountability over consumer protection that the Bureau was meant to provide. It would do this by greatly – and unnecessarily – expanding the “veto power” that other regulators currently have over CFPB decisions.

As a result, it would return more authority over consumer protection laws to the same regulatory bodies that steadfastly refused to use it in the years leading up to our nation’s mortgage crisis. H.R. 1315 represents not just an astonishing refusal to learn from the mistakes of the past, but an insistence on making the very same mistakes all over again.

Again, we urge you to oppose H.R. 1315. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Wade Henderson
President & CEO

Nancy Zirkin
Executive Vice President