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Foxx Report
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Today the House passed legislation that prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from regulating the retail rates charged by Internet service providers for broadband Internet service access.
When net neutrality rules were adopted in 2015, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler and President Obama assured the public that the FCC would refrain from regulating rates for broadband. Instead of placing trust in an untrustworthy administration, this legislation prevents additional power grabs by bureaucrats and gives certainty to broadband providers to help ensure they can continue to offer service plans that benefit consumers.
Efforts to Safeguard Our Nation
This week the House passed five bills to help safeguard our nation and close security gaps. H.R. 4482, the Southwest Border Security Threat Assessment Act of 2016, requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to prepare a southwest border threat analysis, which addresses the terrorist and criminal threats that exist along the southwest border. H.R. 4403, the Enhancing Overseas Traveler Vetting Act, authorizes the development of open-source software to vet travelers against terrorist watch lists and law enforcement databases.
H.R. 3586, the Border and Maritime Coordination Improvement Act, improves border and maritime security coordination in the Department of Homeland Security. H.R. 4549, the Treating Small Airports with Fairness Act of 2016, requires the Transportation Security Administration to conduct security screening at certain airports. H.R. 4509, the State and High-Risk Urban Area Working Group Act, expands the list of stakeholders for state planning committees or urban area working groups required for any state or high-risk urban area receiving a grant under the State Homeland Security Grant Program or the Urban Area Security Initiative.
Creating Lending Opportunities for More Americans
Washington red tape is making it harder for community financial institutions to provide opportunities for hardworking Americans to achieve financial independence. These institutions and their holding companies are currently subjected to arbitrary rules and regulations that control how much capital they can raise. As a result, small banks and credit unions have cut back on the services they offer to consumers and many customers have found that their local banks can no longer provide them with the products and services that they need and want.
This week the House passed legislation that allows more small banks to access capital that can be used to make loans and offer new products and services to their customers. H.R. 3791 requires the Federal Reserve Board to apply regulatory relief through the Small Bank Holding Company Policy Statement to additional bank holding companies and savings and loan holding companies.
Making Washington Bureaucrats Accountable
Two bureaucracies created as a result of the Dodd-Frank law are not accountable to hardworking American taxpayers. The Financial Stability Oversight Council has the power to designate nonbank financial institutions as “systemically important,” resulting in greater regulatory burdens on those institutions. It conducts business behind closed doors and has vigorously resisted congressional efforts to expose its deliberations to greater sunshine. The Office of Financial Research has the power to demand “all data necessary” from financial companies, including sensitive, non-public information, but lacks oversight and accountability.
H.R. 3340, the Financial Stability Oversight Council Reform Act, makes both agencies subject to the annual Congressional appropriations process. It also requires the Office of Financial Research to submit quarterly reports to Congress regarding its activities and provide for public notice and comment period before issuing a report, rule, or regulation.
Carolinians in the Capitol
This week I met with a variety of individuals and organizations from North Carolina. Flat Stanley from Clemmons Elementary School even stopped by the office for a visit.
What’s Coming Up
Next week the House will consider a number of bills curtailing abuses at the IRS as an appropriate response to Tax Day on Monday, April 18.
Sincerely,
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