WASHINGTON, DC – Following passage of a major, five-year transportation authorization bill that included several bipartisan measures to provide targeted regulatory relief for financial institutions such as community banks and credit unions, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is calling on Congress not to add controversial, last-minute policy riders that would roll back Wall Street reform and crucial consumer protections to a year-end, must-pass omnibus appropriations bill.

Reed, a senior member of the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, took to the Senate floor earlier this week to point out that rolling back the protections that are in place due to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 would have negative impacts for consumers and could harm the U.S. economy in the long run.

“Wall Street reform made our financial system safer, and we can’t let special interest lobbyists punch holes through important safeguards for middle-class families,” said Reed.  “The Great Recession may be fading from some people’s memories, but deregulating Wall Street and rolling back these consumer protections would be a serious mistake that could weaken our economy and leave us vulnerable to another major financial crisis.”

Some of the deregulatory proposals seek to undo rules against predatory, high-cost mortgage lending and weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

With strong backing from Senator Reed, Congress created the CFPB in 2010 to help ensure the financial products and services that Americans depend on every day —including credit cards, mortgages, and loans—work better for the people who use them.  Since the CFPB opened for business, it has helped hold financial institutions accountable for mistreating consumers and worked to return more than $11 billion in relief to more than 25 million wronged consumers.

“The CFPB is making a real difference protecting consumers and taxpayers from financial abuses, payday lenders, and others.  I will strongly oppose any attempts to weaken the CFPB or make it less effective.  Promoting a fair, transparent, and competitive financial marketplace is good for both consumers and businesses,” concluded Reed.  “I will work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to strengthen the law or make technical corrections, but those changes should be made through regular order, not by slipping a special interest policy rider into an omnibus appropriations bill at the end of the year.”

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