Majority Press Releases
Brown Closing Floor Speech On S.2155, The Dodd-Frank Roll Back Bill
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 closing speech on the Senate floor today on S.2155, The Dodd-Frank Roll Back Bill. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow. Ten years ago today - March 14th - Bear Stearns was on the verge of collapse. Despite its 85 year history, despite its relationship with nearly every bank on Wall Street, the bank suddenly found itself o… Continue Reading
March 13, 2018
Brown Floor Speech On Housing And S.2155, The Dodd-Frank Roll Back Bill
Mr. President, I would like my colleagues to take a trip down memory lane. Go back to 2006, 2007, 2008 and the decade before. Ohio had 14 years - nearly a decade and a half - of foreclosure increases leading up to the crisis. Predatory, irresponsible lenders made dangerous, sub-prime loans - and often ignored whether borrowers had the ability to repay that loan. Because of the lack of standards for underwriting, we learned a painful lesson that not all mortgage lending is created equal. Let'… Continue Reading
March 12, 2018
Brown Floor Speech On Foreign Banks And S.2155, The Dodd-Frank Roll Back BIll
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 speech on the Senate floor today on foreign bank giveaways in S.2155, The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow. Back 30, 40, 50 years ago, when you went to the local bank to buy a house, you knew the lender, and the lender knew you. You saw them at the grocery… Continue Reading
March 9, 2018
Brown Floor Speech On S.2155 Substitute Amendment, The Dodd-Frank Roll Back Bill
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 speech on the Senate floor today on the substitute amendment for S.2155, The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow. Mr./Mdme. President, Yesterday I spoke about the big banks that have violated our banking laws time and time again, yet are being rewarded by th… Continue Reading
March 6, 2018
Brown Opening Floor Speech Opposing S.2155, The Dodd-Frank Roll Back Bill
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 speech on the Senate floor today in opposition to S.2155, The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow. Mr. President, Ten years ago - almost to the day - this country was on the verge of a financial crisis that would end up wrecking the lives of millions of fami… Continue Reading
March 5, 2018
Brown Statement On CBO Score Of S.2155, The Dodd-Frank Roll Back Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, 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 in response to the report issued by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office on S. 2155. The CBO projects that S. 2155 will increase the likelihood that a systemically important financial institution - a Wall Street or global megabank -- will fail. As a result, CBO estimates the bill will increase the federal deficit … Continue Reading
March 1, 2018
Brown Opening Statement At Banking Committee Hearing On The Federal Reserve Semiannual Monetary 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 - released the following opening statement at today's hearing on "The Semiannual Monetary Report to Congress": Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Chairman Crapo, thank you for holding this hearing. Chair Powell, welcome back to the Committee, and for the first time in your new role. You are leading the Federal Reserve at a crucial time… Continue Reading
February 27, 2018
What Wall Street Reform Leaders Are Saying About S.2155, the Dodd-Frank Roll Back Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - received letters from current and former Wall Street watchdog officials raising concerns on S. 2155 and how the legislation may harm financial stability and consumer protection. Links and excerpts from each of the letters is provided below. Former Fed Chair Paul Volcker: On Section 401: "an increase to $250 billion would go too far. It would have the e… Continue Reading
February 26, 2018
Brown Floor Speech on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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 speech on the Senate floor today on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under OMB Director Mick Mulvaney's leadership. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow. Mr. President, This month, the toy company Hasbro announced it's introducing a new version of the board game Monopoly -in this version, players get reward… Continue Reading
February 16, 2018
Brown Leads Letter Demanding Answers On CFPB Plan To Strip Office Of Fair Lending
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) - ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs - along with 53 members of congress, demanded answers on reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) intends to re-organize the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity and strip the Office of its enforcement and supervisory role. Yesterday, the Center for Investigative Reporting released a study of 61 U.S. cities demonstrating that … Continue Reading
February 13, 2018
Brown:President's Budget Defunds Consumer Bureau
Proposed Budget Elimination of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 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 in response to the Trump Administration's proposed budget cuts for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for Fiscal Year 2019. The President's budget claims a $6.4 billion savings from "restructuring" the CFPB - but Republicans save that money by… Continue Reading
February 12, 2018
Brown Says Consumer Bureau Must Protect Working People, Not Banks And Payday Lenders
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 in response to reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under orders from OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, has decided to revise the mission and vision of the bureau by further deterring the agency from pursuing its mission of protecting consumers. "Banks and payday lenders have enough lobbyists working on their… Continue Reading
February 6, 2018
Brown Opening Statement At Banking Committee Hearing On Virtual Currencies
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 opening statement at today's hearing on "Virtual Currencies: The Oversight Role of the SEC and CFTC." Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you Chairman Crapo, and welcome to Chair Clayton and Chair Giancarlo. Virtual currencies, and Bitcoin specifically, have captured the attention of investors, speculators, c… Continue Reading
February 5, 2018
Brown Says Mulvaney Refusal To Investigate Equifax Breach Is Malpractice
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 in response to reports that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), under orders from OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, has decided to end the investigation into the Equifax data breach, which put the personal information of 145 million consumers at risk. "Refusing to investigate a data breach that put 145 million Americans… Continue Reading
January 31, 2018
Brown, Cardin Lead 20 Democrats in Letter to Tillerson: Lack of Trump Administration’s Mandatory Russia Sanctions Impositions is Unacceptable
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, led twenty of their Democratic Senate colleagues Tuesday in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, expressing their concern that six months after Congress overwhelmingly passed mandatory sanctions measures to hold Russia accountable for their destabilizing activities against our country and nations around the w… Continue Reading
January 31, 2018
Brown Applauds Courts Decision To Uphold CFPB's Independence
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 following The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision to uphold a provision in the Dodd-Frank law that states the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is constitutional and that its director can only be fired by the president for cause. "Today the DC Circuit affirmed that CFPB… Continue Reading
January 30, 2018
Brown Opening Statement At Banking Committee Hearing On The Financial Stability Oversight Council
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 opening statement at today's hearing on "The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) Annual Report to Congress." Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you Secretary Mnuchin for appearing before the Committee today. I look forward to your testimony on the threats to financial … Continue Reading
January 25, 2018
Brown Opening Statement At Banking Committee Hearing On CFIUS, Part II
BROWN OPENING STATEMENT AT BANKING COMMITTEE HEARING ON CFIUS, Part II 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 opening statement at today's hearing on "CFIUS Reform: Administration Perspectives On the Essential Elements." Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Chairman Crapo. And thanks to our witnesses for joining us today to share the views of … Continue Reading
January 23, 2018
Brown Opening Statement At Banking Committee Hearing On Nominations To The Federal Reserve, FDIC and FSOC
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 opening statement at today's hearing on nominations to the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). Sen. Brown's remarks, as prepared for delivery, follow: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for convening this hearing. Thank you to the three nominees for your willingn… Continue Reading
January 18, 2018
Brown Statement on CFPB Decision to Reconsider Payday Lending Rule
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 opposing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) decision to delay and reconsider the payday lending rule that protects consumers from predatory payday lenders: "Rather than focus on keeping the government open, the Trump administration's top budget expert is busy unraveling important consumer protections for payday b… Continue Reading
