Floor Statements

Mr. Chairman, we have before us perhaps the most important piece of legislation to add fluidity to a very complex, complicated financial arena in which we are in; and that is in the area of derivatives, swaps dealing, and dealing on the international stage as the world's number one economy--very complex, very complicated.

History has shown that the United States is a leader in the world, particularly in economic affairs. We are here today to deal with reauthorization of the CFTC at a time when we have just come out of a very serious economic downturn.

Now, I agree with my distinguished ranking member. We have worked very closely on this, and quite honestly, there is nobody in Congress that has the knowledge of financial services as does our ranking member. The ranking member and I have worked diligently to try to bring a serious bit of compromise to this area. She raises a good point.

Let me take a couple of her concerns, so I can share with you how we have addressed those. The first one is the cross border. The claim that we are opening up and doing business with foreign governments and foreign jurisdictions that have no regulations there and we acquire risk--here is what we are doing, and I want to make sure we are clear.

I serve on the Agriculture Committee as the ranking member on the Derivatives Subcommittee, and I serve on the Financial Services Committee. The very cross border that we are talking about has been debated, has been argued, and has been passed by this House in the form of H.R. 1256.

Now, here is what needs to be understood: we have minimized totally any risk of importation of damage to our economy with the exemption of the top nine--not all the foreign governments and not the foreign jurisdictions--we are exempting the top nine largest swap dealers who deal in derivatives of foreign jurisdictions, and it will be the CFTC, in conjunction and jointly through joint rulemaking with the SEC.

As Chairman Peterson pointed out, they are at loggerheads now. The first order of business is to get them to agree on a rule, and 270 days after that, that rule would go into effect, and immediately, the top five of those foreign jurisdictions that have rules and regulations that are equitable to ours--

which, again, will be determined jointly by the SEC and the CFTC--will go into effect.

One year after that, the remaining four will go into effect, so what we have here is a check and balance right there. They will determine that criteria. We put something else in there, as well, to address Ms. Waters' very legitimate concern.

We said that: look, once the CFTC has done this jointly with the SEC, then what we will do is any one of those foreign jurisdictions who do not measure up to having the equal amount of robust regime on their regulations, they will disavow them, and within 30 days, they must send to the Congress of the United States--specifically to the House Financial Services Committee, the Senate Banking Committee, the House Agriculture Committee, and the Senate Agriculture Committee--the reason why. Stop right there. That back door is closed tight. There will be no seepage.

If these nine foreign countries that we work with--and, Mr. Chairman, you must realize that, historically, we are the leader, we have to show the way here, and we are not going to put in practice any way where there is any leakage that will come back to us that will be damaging to our system, it will be in the hands of where it needs to be, the regulators.

They will determine if their rules and regulations meet ours, and if they don't, they will let Congress know, and then they will not be allowed.

The other point, Mr. Chairman, is we have end users. This bill isn't just about banking. This bill is about farmers. This bill is about people who make things. We are the world's leading economy.

We don't do business just in the United States; we do them all around the world. If we don't put this in--this cross border in--we will be putting our business community on the international stage in a very disadvantaged competitive position. So I submit to my friend, Ms. Waters, that we have certainly dealt with that.

Now, the cost-benefit analysis--first of all, Ms. Waters should take credit for this because she really, on H.R. 1062, which was a mandate that we do, we changed that, thanks to you, and this is clearly an adjustment.

We had a bill, H.R. 1062. Ms. Waters was absolutely right because that bill mandated the benefit and the cost, and it was beneficial, in a way, to certain industries. I voted against that bill with Ms. Waters.

I took Ms. Waters' suggestion, and we went back, and we said that we can't mandate this. So what did we do with this bill? We simply said: let's consider how we can protect the market. Let's consider, let's assess how we can do that and not mandate it.

Again, as Mr. Peterson has pointed out, we modeled this directly after what President Obama's executive order mandated, that you take a risk management assessment before you make the decisions.

Mr. Chairman, I just wanted to clarify one point made by the gentlelady from New York, and I just pointed out to her, she was clear in her statement, and I am reading from the actual bill here where it says that:

Or other foreign jurisdiction as jointly determined by the

Commission, shall be exempt from the United States swaps

requirements in accordance with the schedule unless the

Commission jointly determines that the regulatory

requirements of the country or administrative region or other

foreign jurisdiction are not broadly equivalent to the United

States.

I just wanted to clear that up.

Mr. Chair, I thank Ms. DelBene.

Ms. DelBene, Mr. Gibson, and Mr. Vargas are all hardworking members, Democrats and Republicans, on the Ag Committee. I think this shows you how wonderful the legislative process can be. I certainly want to recognize our ranking member who brought this concern in her opening remarks.

This helps to tighten and, I think, make a better bill. What it will do is that it will address the concerns that Ms. Waters raised, and that would be that improved cost-benefits provision would lead to unnecessary litigation.

What Ms. DelBene, Mr. Vargas, and Mr. Gibson have done with their language is it definitely narrows the potential avenues for litigation on the CFTC's cost-benefit analysis, but still allows the consideration of the points of analysis to take place.

I want to commend Ms. DelBene, Mr. Gibson, and Mr. Vargas for a very good amendment.

This is a very interesting debate in listening to it, but I think the simple point here, Mr. Chairman, is that, number one, this just deals with the registration. Prior to 2012, the SEC handled all of the RICs.

Now, we have caught up in the middle of this millions and millions of pensioners, retirees, people who are getting into the golden years of their lives.

My hope is that we can pass this amendment. It only deals with registration. The ranking member has brought up some interesting points. That is why we do have the courts to settle those.

I think here, tonight, we need to think of what this simple amendment does is stop duplicative areas within registration and gives a better hand for our retirees today.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, it has been a pleasure to work with Representative Huizenga on this very, very important bill.

This legislation is about two things: fairness and opportunity. My fellow cosponsors--both Democrats and Republicans--and I support H.R. 3211, which is the Mortgage Choice Act, because of our shared concern about access; access to credit, yes, for all consumers, but especially for lower-income consumers and middle-income consumers, and to ensure that everybody in America that needs a home and wants a home, when securing a loan, that they have a choice in selecting both the mortgage and the title insurance providers of their choice.

I urge my colleagues to support this needed legislation, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Our Financial Services Committee simply amends the Expedited Funds Availability Act to apply it to American Samoa. Essentially, it does just these few things. It extends by 2 business days for American Samoa any time periods established for large or redeposited checks, repeated overdraft, reasonable cause, or other emergency exceptions to the 30- day funds availability requirements for deposits in a depository institution account by a new depositor.

It also applies this 2-day extension to any deposit in an account at a depository institution located in American

Samoa by a check drawn on an originating depository institution which is not located in the same State as the receiving depository institution.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the distinguished gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega) who has worked tirelessly on this effort and deserves so much credit for his sterling leadership.

(Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, the issue here before us on this bill--and first let me say I am a proud cosponsor of this bill to replace and be able to fire people. The problem is the first person we need to fire is the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Mr. Shinseki himself. Now, we respect him; we respect his sacrifice for this country and everything else, but the buck stops at the top.

Here are the facts: 5,600 veterans are committing suicide every year. That is almost 20 every day under his watch--under his watch. In my own hospital in Atlanta, four of our soldiers committed suicide in the hospital, and the inspector general of the VA laid the blame directly at the foot of the VA administration for the lack of management of the death of these soldiers.

When Chairman Miller and I went down and visited them, we asked: Is there one more, are there any more that have committed suicide? No, there have been no more. And they told a damn lie, because the very next day it was exposed there was another soldier that committed suicide and they covered it up.

This has been a pattern that has been going on ever since General Shinseki has been the chairman there. I respect a sacrifice, I respect what he did, but it is under his watch that we are in this situation in the hospital out in the western part of this country where The Washington Post has accurately reported that 40 of our soldiers lost their lives, died because they couldn't get service. Our veterans are the heart and soul of this country, they are precious, and we must not turn our back on them.

I listened to the President today, and I was very disappointed with President Obama today. There was no urgency. Mr. President, we need urgency. We need you to roll up our sleeves and get into these hospitals. We need you to set a pattern that if the VA hospitals can't handle it, let's give partnerships to some of the Republicans and the other public hospitals.

God bless you, because there are things I want to say.

Reports are out that the taxpayers are going to have to pay or have paid $1 billion for medical malpractice. A reputable news organization, Cox Media's WSB Television down in Atlanta, it went all over this country: $1 billion the taxpayer paying because the VA cut off the wrong arm, cut off the wrong leg, the wrong testicle, the wrong kidney.

Let me tell you all something, folks. Time--that is what I was just so disturbed about--we don't have time for any more investigations. The reports are in.

Jesus Christ himself said: There is no more greater sacrifice than to give your life for your friend. Our soldiers

have given their lives on the battlefield for them. We need to give our lives up here and give our veterans the respect that they deserve.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 160th anniversary of the City of Fairburn, Georgia, situated within Georgia's Thirteenth District. Since its early beginnings in 1830, Fairburn has continued to grow, evolving into a thriving community of historic homes, businesses, and places of worship. Originally named Cartersville, Fairburn's first charter was issued in 1854 which established the city's jurisdiction as a mere 600-yard radius from the central railroad depot. As time progressed, Fairburn steadily expanded, ultimately achieving ``city'' status in 1925. Throughout these years of development, the city gradually cultivated a bustling downtown area comprised of railroad infrastructure, public schools, and vibrant businesses which is now recognized in the National Register of Historic Places. With a population of nearly 14,000 residents, Fairburn still maintains the small town atmosphere that has remained a hallmark of the city's charm.

While remembering its past, Fairburn embraces the opportunities and challenges facing its citizens in the 21st century. In recent years, local voters approved a referendum to fund improvements for Duncan Park, downtown areas damaged by fire, infrastructure projects, and a new fire station. Further, Fairburn's Education Campus continues to expand, housing satellite locations of the Georgia Military College and Brenau University. This award-winning four acre campus, now boasting two 18,400 square-foot class room buildings and an 11,400 square-foot administrative building, is the result of a $10 million project funded through the Development Authority of Fairburn. Continuing with the spirit of growth, Fairburn recently received a $3.1 million grant for an innovative transportation project which is slotted to make the historic downtown area more pedestrian friendly. It is the city's hope that with an increased aim on a pedestrian-focused community, citizens will enjoy an improved connectivity between homes, shops, offices, and the campus.

Mr. Speaker, please join me in congratulating the City of Fairburn on this momentous anniversary. Fairburn's storied history coupled with their innovative push to make their community not only a livable, but innovative, is truly something to be admired.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Reverend Dr. Edward W. Lee for his 40 years of servant leadership at Shiloh Baptist Church located in McDonough, Georgia. Over 148 years ago Shiloh Baptist Church opened its doors as the Colored Baptist Church of McDonough as one of the first churches in the area founded by former slaves. Since Shiloh's opening, the church continues to steadfastly serve the spiritual needs of the surrounding community.

On April 5, 2014, Shiloh will honor an essential leader in their community, Reverend Dr. Edward W. Lee, as he marks 40 years of service and leadership with their congregation. Since the start of his tenure in 1974, Reverend Lee has shepherded in monumental growth. Under his guidance, the church moved into a new 30,000 square foot space, drastically increasing the number of available seats from 350 to 1100. Further, he has been instrumental in the fundraising and construction of a new Family Life Center which will house the Shiloh Youth Academy. Even after 40 years of tireless service, Reverend Lee remains steadfast in his commitment to growing and strengthening the Shiloh community.

In addition to serving Shiloh, Reverend Lee is an active member of the Henry County community, regularly volunteering his time to several organizations. Notably, he serves as the chaplain of the Henry County Police Department, chairman of the Henry County United Way Advisory Board, president of the Henry County Ministerial Alliance, board member of the McDonough Housing Authority, and moderator of the Shoal Creek Baptist Association. Further, he previously served as director of the New Era State Congress of Christian Education, board chair of the New Era Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, and as a member of the Board of Directors for Henry County Residential Housing. As a result of his admirable efforts and status as a pillar of the McDonough community, Mayor Richard Craig marked Sunday April 3, 2005, as a day of honor for Reverend Lee.

Reverend Lee has been happily married for 45 years to his dynamic wife Betty. Together, they are the proud parents of two sons and five grandchildren. Mr. Speaker, I stand here today to thank Reverend Lee for his tireless engagement with Shiloh Baptist Church and the surrounding community of McDonough, Georgia. I ask my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member.

Agriculture, ladies and gentlemen, is the heart and soul of our Nation. It provides the food we eat. It provides the clothes we wear. It provides the material to build our homes and our shelters. No committee is as engaged in the entire nooks and crannies of the fabric of this Nation as the Agriculture Committee. This farm bill is a product of what makes America great. What makes America great is our democratic Republic, the anchor of which is compromise.

I want to commend Mr. Peterson, our ranking member, for his job; Mr. Lucas, the chair of our committee, for his job. It has been 5 years we have been on this. I particularly want to thank Mr. Peterson. It was a pleasure working with Mr. Peterson on an issue very dear to him, which is dairy, as we worked out the fabric of that. I commend the leadership on our committee.

However, there is yet work to be done. The gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro) was right. Mr. McGovern was right. Ladies and gentlemen of this committee and this House and in this Nation, we have got a serious problem with hunger in this country, and it is not going away until we realize the gravity of it. Our veterans, our seniors, the most vulnerable--we must address this issue.

My position on this bill is that I will vote for it. We have worked on it. Is it a perfect bill? No, it is not. Are we a perfect Nation? No, we are not. But we are constantly striving, striving for that, and we will get closer to this perfect position as we bring all Americans involved and let no American go hungry in this country. I urge everyone to please vote for the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney), the ranking Democratic member of the Subcommittee on Capital Markets and also the former chairman of the Financial Institutions Subcommittee on the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas, (Mr. Al Green), who is also the ranking member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation on the Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut, Representative Jim Himes, a leader on the Financial Services Committee and the chief Democratic cosponsor of this bill.

I yield the gentleman an additional 30 seconds.

Mr. Speaker, I now yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois, Representative Brad Schneider. He is a member of the Small Business Committee, and he certainly understands the value of this legislation to Main Street businesses.

I am ready to close, and I ask my colleague, Mr. Conaway, if he has any more speakers.

Mr. Speaker, in closing, we have before us perhaps the most single important bill facing the viability, the financial security, and the stability of the financial system within the United States and throughout the world. We are dealing here with a $712 trillion piece of the world economy.

Now, my friends who are in opposition to this certainly have some legitimate points. There is no question about that. We had a meltdown. Banks and members on Wall Street did wrongdoing, but this isn't the bill with which to punish them for doing that wrongdoing. We punish them for wrongdoing by working with the regulators and by putting, in fact, in motion not just civil penalties and not just financial penalties but criminal action, but we do that in another place, at another time. We have already approached that with the CFTC--to use criminal actions if any of these kinds of shenanigans happen again.

We are here to make sure that our banking system and that our economy, which have to work on the world stage, have not a disadvantage. If you push out these commodity swaps or the security swaps, we are doing a great disservice not just to the banks but to our end users.

Take commodities. When you look at them, Mr. Speaker, commodities are things like aluminum. They are agribusiness products. In 40 out of our 50 States, the largest part of their economies is agribusiness. Let us take something like Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company has to deal with aluminum for cans--or Pepsi Cola or any of those in our beverage industry. They have to mitigate their risks. If you push them out of where they have to do their business in the same banks with interest rate swaps--by the way, the interest rate swaps are the critical pivot swap to mitigate that risk.

You are going to push commodities out. You are going to push the farmers out. You are going to push all the manufacturers, the automobile industry. All of these people that use commodities will not be able to do business in that same bank where the interest rates are, where the currency fluctuation rates are.

When you have that, you are putting us at a great disadvantage. This is why Chairman Bernanke said that this is a problem. This adds to the systemic risk when you push out these individual commodities into another area. It creates uncertainty.

The other thing that it does: it puts our banking system at a huge disadvantage competitively because these

foreign banks, they are not pushing their swaps out, and that means that the United States banking system could see a migration of swap activities out in the world. We are the leader of the world. We have got to act like that.

That is what H.R. 992 will do. It will be that force that will help our banking system be the true leader in this world and not at a disadvantage.

With great respect to those in opposition to this, it is written into law in section 716 that no taxpayer money can be used for bailouts.

You talk about the FDIC. You cannot use that because that is the bank's money that they put up to ensure deposits. None of that goes into swaps. Certainly we can't use proprietary trading. The Volcker Rule settles that where they cannot make any kind of money or make profit on the deposits of ordinary citizens. Nowhere is there any taxpayer liability.

This is a good bill. I urge everybody in this House of Representatives to realize our economic security is at stake and let's pass H.R. 992.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, every now and then, we have the opportunity to step back and reflect on our history, our accomplishments and struggles and think about how we want to shape our future. October brings a special opportunity for such reflection, as the City of Powder Springs, in my home district in Georgia, observes its 175th Anniversary. Considering that our nation is only 237 years old that is cause for much celebration.

Few people know that Powder Springs is not the original name of the City. It was first incorporated as the town of Springville in 1838. While settlers first came to the town in search of gold, they quickly discovered the medicinal properties of the seven mineral springs in the area. In the 1850s Springville widely became known as a health resort, and people came from great distances to experience the springs. The mineral water from these springs caused the sand around the springs to turn black, resembling gunpowder, which lead the city to be incorporated as Powder Springs in 1859.

The next several decades were hard on Powder Springs. The Civil War put an end to the use of the area as a health resort. After the Civil War, a thriving agricultural industry sprung up, but the coming of the boll weevil in the 1920s and the Great Depression devastated the region.

But the hard-working people of Powder Springs never gave up. With a population quickly approaching 16,000, the city is once again prospering. Its beautiful parks, nature trails and recreation centers draw in visitors from afar. The Silver Comet, for example, is a well known 59-mile ``rails to trails'' multi-use trail that runs through the heart of the City. Residents also have access to over 100 acres of permanently protected green space. I am always amazed at the level of community involvement in Powder Springs, which in part streams from the excellent leadership of Mayor Pat Vaughn, who was the city's first female mayor. My fellow colleagues, I hope you will join me in celebrating this historical milestone and this remarkable city.

Madam Speaker, I rise to support this very needed legislation.

Let me make a point here. There is a very important part of this legislation which sets up the budget commission. I would just like to make an appeal to that commission to not only get to us a good budget by December 15, but take some time to see how we can get some mechanisms in place to prevent us from ever again shutting down the Federal Government.

We take a solemn oath here to defend the Federal Government, to support the Federal Government, to uphold the Federal Government. We must honor that. Maybe we can do mandatory arbitration in its place. But we have got some smart people in this place. We hurt too many people when we shut down the Federal Government.

Hopefully, we can put the Mitch McConnell rule in place. God bless that Senator from Kentucky, and the courage that he had to step forward in a bipartisan way so that we can put that mechanism in place so that we will never again put our good faith and credit at risk in this country.

Finally, let us, Democrats and Republicans, work together, beginning tonight, and pass this bill.

Mr. Speaker, the Republican Party is a party with such a rich legacy. It's the party of Abraham Lincoln, who saved this country; it's the party of Dwight David Eisenhower, who put the expressway and the interstate system together; it's the party of Everett Dirksen, and without him we wouldn't have the Civil Rights Act; it's the party of Ronald Reagan, who sat down with Tip O'Neill and put the great tax cut in that helped the economy; and it's the party of George Bush, who gave us Medicare part D.

I bring these things out because I believe if all of these gentlemen were here--each one of them--they would say to you, Please, let's cut this out. Let your leader, Mr. Boehner, bring a clear, clean CR for just 6 weeks. That's all we're asking.

This is what that leadership would be. This is what Mr. Boehner wanted to do. John Boehner is a decent man. That's what he wanted to do.

I urge you to do what is right. Honor the rich legacy of your party. If you want to honor the veterans who gave their lives to fight for us, they would say, Don't use us for a pawn here.

Open it all up for all America.

Ladies and gentlemen of America, don't be fooled. Don't be fooled by what the Republicans are doing tonight.

Just 19 hours ago, they closed down this government. They closed down the government on the veterans. They closed down the government on D.C. They closed down the government on those who serve our parks. Many of them, when they left here 19 hours ago, were high-fiving and celebrating. We closed 'er down. We closed 'er down. And now they're here. They're here today with this hypocritical and deceitful act that now they want to do something for the veterans.

And to use these veterans--ladies and gentlemen, this is nothing but a fig leaf, a fig leaf to hide the shame of what this Republican Party did last night. And to use the veterans and to send--we are talking about just a period of just 10 or 12 weeks--to be able to send them $5.2 million and think you've done something? We have 21 veterans committing suicide every day. Where are you talking about that? Four in my district alone.

We need to treat our veterans with the respect that they deserve by making sure that we pass that full budget. Bring a clean CR. Lift up the American people, and treat them all with respect. Don't pick one or the other.

Let's vote down this fig leaf of shame that the Republican Party is presenting here today in this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I hope all of America is listening tonight because we are seeing one of the darkest moments in the history of this Congress for what we are about.

The Republican Party is held hostage by a Senator 8 months here to undermine the democratic process. Here we are, and they will shut down the government of the United States because we will not enforce the law.

Affordable Care is the law.

Everything the distinguished gentleman from Texas just said he said during debate. We're not debating. It's the law. It's the law of the land. It has been upheld by the Supreme Court. It has been debated in the elections. President Obama ran on it. Romney said, if he got elected, he'd throw it away. The President said, if he got elected, he would make it work.

And the people spoke.

Make no mistake about it, my friends, the Republicans. The American people are never going to forget that it was you who shut down the government of the people.

Mr. Speaker, let's say exactly what this is. This is about a shutdown being ordered by the Republican Party. It is your initiative.

The reason for that is because you have been hijacked by a small group of extreme folks who simply hate this President. That's all that this is about.

The American people reject it because we had the election and the majority of the American people elected President Obama. You hate that when you see that because--shake your head if you want to--you cannot separate ObamaCare from the President of the United States. It's one and the same. You're the ones that are offering the shutdown.

Mr. Speaker, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson hated each other so much. But that hate that they had for each other did not come before the love of their country. Your hate for this President is coming before the love of this country because if you loved this country, you would not be closing it down.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

First of all, Mr. Speaker, I want to just say I join many people across this Nation and around the world who are prayerful and who are hopeful that this breakthrough--this window of opportunity that we have dealing with the Syrian situation--works.

Now, Mr. Speaker, I can't tell you what a great joy this is for me. I have worked on this bill for the past 6 years. We have been dealing with many areas to fix our financial system to make it work. We have a very complex and complicated financial system. There is no industry that has the challenges that are being faced today as the insurance industry.

And the economy, its demands are rapidly changing because of advances in technology, mobility, the narrowing and making the world much smaller.

Essentially, what we have here is a long overdue fix to help these small business owners, because that's what our insurance agents are. H.R. 1155, the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers Reform Act, or what we affectionately call NARAB, as my distinguished colleague from Texas (Mr. Neugebauer) has just stated, is very dear to us.

Many of us in the Financial Services Committee have spent years toiling on this issue. So have many in the Senate. As my colleague, Mr. Neugebauer has said, we passed one House in 1999, but look what has happened. We've had terrorist strikes. We've had all kinds of things that have happened. We've had an economy almost on the verge of depression. Standing there in the middle of this storm dealing with the wants and the needs of the American people in all the areas--property damage, health, car insurance, you name it--has been our agents.

I want to just briefly take you through exactly what we are proposing here. H.R. 1155, first of all, creates a streamlined agent and broker licensing system. That's very important. That strengthens the competitive insurance market while maintaining those ever important consumer protection items. It strengthens the business, it strengthens the competitive insurance market--it doesn't weaken it--and at the same time strengthens and protects our consumers.

NARAB will allow agents and brokers to more efficiently operate on a multistate basis. Now, that's so important. Business is no longer conducted around the corner or down the street or just in the next town; it is all over the country. And our insurance agents and brokers need the flexibility and the smoothness in our system to be able to negotiate in the best interest of not just the insurance industry but, most importantly, for the benefit of consumers who move from State to State to city to city.

Next, NARAB would allow our agents and brokers to also address the increasing concern and greater importance of our technological and mobile-connected world. As we know, we are all connected.

Next, our NARAB Reform Act will be a one-stop licensing compliance mechanism for insurance agents and brokers operating out of their home States. Each will have a home State. But NARAB will work as a one-place clearinghouse to satisfy that, while at the same time preserving the longstanding authority of States to supervise and discipline the insurance producers.

Nothing is being taken from State control in this bill. As a matter of fact, it strengthens State controls. That is why all of the State insurance commissioners support this legislation.

Through a nonprofit board for insurance agents and brokers to obtain approval to operate on a multistate basis, the NARAB Reform Act deals only with marketplace entry and will not impact the day-to-day State regulation of insurance agencies. We sat down, we brought the State insurance agencies in and the commissioners to work with us so that we could have a joint understanding on this bill.

NARAB will be governed by a board dominated by State regulators-- again, dominated by State regulators--and would establish standards for the membership that exceed the existing requirements of any State. Again, exceeds the requirements of any State. A prospective NARAB member will be required to be fully licensed in his or her home State and satisfy rigorous membership criteria. An approved NARAB member could utilize the association to obtain the regulatory approval necessary to operate in any other selected jurisdiction.

This is a crucial piece of legislation, an excellently drafted piece of legislation. For those of us who are concerned about small government, it is very important to note that NARAB would not--would not--be a part of a report to any Federal agency and would not have any kind of Federal regulatory power. We are out of the business. Once we pass this bill, it is in the hands, where it belongs, of the State and local level.

The legislation is supported by nearly the entire insurance industry, including all the major agents and brokers associations, as well as the major insurers associations. Additionally, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, NAIC, which represents all State insurance commissioners, has formally--formally--endorsed this version of the legislation.

The State-based reform benefits our consumers first, and that is at the head of the line of our concerns. It benefits our consumers through increased competition among agents and brokers and leads to greater consumer choice at lower prices. That is what the consumer is looking for.

This bill also will assist in an important sector of our economy-- small businesses--by streamlining nonresident licensing regulation. The House has twice recognized the need for this commonsense reform by passing nearly this identical legislation, as I said before, subsequent to suspension rules.

Once again, we ask for your support.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

If the gentleman has no more speakers, I will close and then yield back the balance of my time.

I just want to say what a distinguished pleasure it has been to work with the gentleman from Texas, my good friend on both the Financial Services Committee and the Ag Committee. We do a lot of great work together. It is a great pleasure.

I commend this bill to the full House of Representatives and hope we have a unanimous vote.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.