Majority Press Releases
Brown Opening Statement at Banking Committee Hearing on Surface Transportation Reauthorization
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing: "Surface Transportation Reauthorization: Public Transportation Stakeholders' Perspectives." Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for calling this hearing. I look forward to working with you to develop a bipartisan transit title for a surface transportati… Continue Reading
February 21, 2020
Brown Statement on Wells Fargo Settlement
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following statement after the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the settlement with Wells Fargo following the company's failure to detect millions of fraudulent accounts opened in customers' names. "Today's announced settlement sends a clear message to Wall Street banks: you can defraud American… Continue Reading
February 21, 2020
Brown Statement on CRA Comment Period Extension
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - released the following statement after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) extended the comment period for their proposed rulemaking on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). "Comptroller Otting and Chair McWilliams have finally acknowledged what civil rights leaders and others have been sayin… Continue Reading
February 13, 2020
Brown Presses Nominees on Independence of the Federal Reserve
Senator's OPENING STATEMENT AT BANKING COMMITTEE HEARING ON NOMINATION WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing on nominees to be a Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Mr. Chairman, thank you. Ms. Shelton and Mr. Waller, I would like to extend my greeting… Continue Reading
February 13, 2020
Brown, Senate Democrats Press Upstart, Lenders for Answers Following Reports of Higher Interest Rates for Students of Minority-Serving Institutions
WASHINGTON -- Today, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) pressed Upstart and other lenders and service providers for answers following a report from the nonprofit Student Borrower Protection Center that lenders may be charging higher interest rates to students who graduated from Historically Black Colleges and Universities … Continue Reading
February 12, 2020
Brown Presses Republican Colleagues on Trump's 'Retribution Tour'
Senator's Opening Statement on the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today's hearing entitled "The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress". Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Chairman Crapo. Chair Powell, welcome back to the Committee. Before we start, I wan… Continue Reading
February 6, 2020
Brown, Senators Seek Answers On Federal Reserve Repurchase Activity Ahead of Hearing
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, along with Sens. Reed (D-RI), Warren (D-MA) and Smith (D-MN), wrote to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell requesting answers regarding the Federal Reserve’s ongoing repurchase activity.“Though the Fed’s actions are consistent with its policy of maintaining the targeted interest rate range, we have not seen interventions of this size and persistence si… Continue Reading
February 5, 2020
Brown, Warren Request Answers From CFPB Director Regarding Federal Consumer Law Taskforce
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ranking member of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, wrote a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathleen Kraninger requesting answers regarding the Taskforce’s formation, composition, and the selected Taskforce members’ conflicts-of-interests. Instead of selecting a diverse gr… Continue Reading
February 3, 2020
Brown, Menendez Demand Answers From CFPB Director On Failure To Protect Student Loan Borrowers
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) wrote a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathleen Kraninger demanding answers regarding the CFPB’s failure to conduct oversight of federal student loan servicers. “We are deeply disturbed by your lack of transparency with Congress. But we are even more disturbed by the way you have stood by—and continu… Continue Reading
January 30, 2020
Brown Leads Banking Dems In Questioning Homelessness Chief's Direction
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, led all Committee Democrats in requesting answers from U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) Executive Director Robert Marbut regarding the policies and approach he may advance as the new leader of the USICH. USICH plays a critical role in the nation’s response to homelessness, coordinating the work of 19 federal agencies and building partners… Continue Reading
January 22, 2020
Brown Demands Information From Fannie And Freddie On Private Equity Investment In Manufactured Housing
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - is demanding that government-sponsored enterprises (GSE’s) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, provide data on private equity-owned manufactured housing communities (MHC).“I am writing regarding the increase in private equity investment in and ownership of manufactured housing communities (MHC) and a troubling trend of rent increases and resident displacement in … Continue Reading
January 8, 2020
Brown to Sec. Carson: Stop Pretending Housing Segregation and Discrimination Don't Exist
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee blasted the Trump administration’s proposal dismantling the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule. The Trump Administration’s proposal significantly weakens the existing rule and HUD’s oversight of communities’ efforts to affirmatively further fair housing as required under the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The proposal also attempts to redefine the… Continue Reading
December 20, 2019
Brown, Menendez Lead Letter Asking JPMorgan Chase To Remember Its Own History When Responding To "Abhorrent" Racial Discrimination
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ), led a letter with Sens. Cortez-Masto (D-NV), Warren (D-MA), and Van Hollen (D-MD), demanding answers from JPMorgan Chase for their continued patterns of racial discrimination following an explosive, in-depth New York Times piece, which revealed documented accounts of JPMorgan Chase’s racist treatment of African American employees a… Continue Reading
December 19, 2019
Brown Applauds Reauthorization Of EXIM Bank, TRIA And Extension Of National Flood Insurance Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs released the following statement on passage of the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2020”, which provides a historic seven year authorization of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), a seven year authorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program (TRIA) and extends the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through September 30, … Continue Reading
December 18, 2019
Brown, Warren Call On GAO To Investigate CFPB's Failure To Enforce Fair Lending Rule
BROWN, WARREN CALL ON GAO TO INVESTIGATE CFPB’S FAILURE TO ENFORCE FAIR LENDING LAWS WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, Ranking Member of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, are calling on the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) failure to conduct proper oversight and en… Continue Reading
December 13, 2019
Brown Blasts Trump Regulators For Weakening The Community Reinvestment Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee blasted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) for moving forward on a rule that overhauls the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The CRA - meant to address generations of segregation and discrimination in bank lending -a critical accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement. “Today’s proposal underm… Continue Reading
December 13, 2019
Senate Banking Committee Democrats Demand Comptroller Otting Testify Before Committee
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs led a letter signed by all Committee Democrats demanding that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Comptroller Joseph Otting testify before the Senate Banking Committee following the release of a proposed rule revising the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). “Revisions to the regulation for this foundational Civil Rights law will have a signif… Continue Reading
December 11, 2019
Brown Opening Statement at Hearing On Oversight of the SEC
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - delivered the following opening statement at today’s hearing entitled ‘Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’. Sen. Brown’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you Chairman Crapo, and welcome Chair Clayton. Over the past few years, in this Committee, we have seen the Trump Administration dismantle many of the protection… Continue Reading
December 9, 2019
Brown Statement on the Passing of Former Chair of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, today released a statement following the passing of Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Volcker served as Chair under both Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. He was appointed by President Carter in 1979. He was re-nominated by President Reagan in 1983 and served until 1987. He started the Volcker Alliance in 2013 to support policies that … Continue Reading
December 9, 2019
Brown Demands Answers on Administration’s Policy and Personnel Choices Related to Homelessness
WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, today demanded answers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on the administration’s pick, Robert Marbut, to lead the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH). Brown pressed David C. Woll, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development, on the administration’s decision. Marbut has publicly proposed sev… Continue Reading
