J. French Hill

Mr. Speaker, Procedure · 9 wordsI yield myself such time as I may consume.Procedure Mr. Speaker, Positioning · 13 wordsI rise today in strong support of the Main Street Capital Access Act.PositioningNo reason given Anecdote · 44 wordsAs a former community bank founder and CEO in my hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas, I have seen firsthand the important role that our community banks and credit unions play to drive the economic engine of America and help Main Street grow and thrive.¹Anecdote Claims · 24 wordsDuring the financial crisis, they were there. During the COVID pandemic, they were there, staying up all night to close emergency paycheck protection loans. Positioning · 74 wordsEvery Member of this body knows this and knows it well.Unearned certainty They have their own story from their own town about how that local financial institution was there for a customer, for a family, to help a startup, to help a business or restaurant cope with the pandemic. Community banks and hometown credit unions know their customers. They understand the needs of their communities, and they keep capital flowing where it is needed most.Positioning Claims · 34 wordsWhen a family is trying to buy their first home, they often walk into the offices of a community bank where that lender knows them, recognizes their goals, and is invested in their success. Mr. Speaker, Claims · 63 wordsas I have said on this House floor many times this year, our banks under $10 billion make 6 out of 10 home construction loans.² When a local farmer or entrepreneur needs the capital to expand or initiate their crop for the year, they need someone who understands their particular business and is committed to seeing them succeed and, thereby, their communities succeed. Anecdote · 62 wordsI loved my role as a hometown Main Street community banker and investor. Even to this day, almost three decades later, I smile driving by that restaurant location that I helped grow or driving by a building or a shopping center or a doctor’s practice that our small bank helped finance--finance its construction, finance its future, finance its home for those employees.Anecdote Positioning · 5 wordsCommunity banks make that possible, PositioningClaims · 93 wordsand this bipartisan Main Street Capital Access Act gives them the tools they need to keep capital flowing where it is needed most up and down our main streets in our beautiful country. For decades, Washington has made it harder for community banks to thrive and operate efficiently. The Dodd-Frank Act, passed in the heat and horror of the global financial crisis, took the approach that many community and midsize banks across our Nation were faced with the same rules and the same level of scrutiny of the largest, most systemically important institutions.³ Procedure · 7 wordsIt was just too much, Mr. Speaker.Procedure Claims · 43 wordsThat approach, that overkill, has stifled local lending, constrained economic growth, accelerated industry consolidation--something I hear about from Members on both sides of the aisle all the time--and pushed important financing activity for both families and businesses out of the regulated financial sector. Positioning · 17 wordsAgain, I don’t believe that was a goal by the proponents of Dodd-Frank after the financial crisis.Positioning Claims · 20 wordsOur local lenders, Mr. Speaker, too often now spend more time on check-the-box compliance requirements rather than serving their communities. Anecdote · 55 wordsWhen I made my presentation to our party here in the House to chair our Committee on Financial Services, I said that the impact of Dodd- Frank and other rules had focused Main Street bank presidents staying up all night worrying, not about their loan pipeline, not about where to get their next lending officer.Anecdote Claims · 32 wordsInstead, they are up all night wondering how they can afford another compliance officer to try to meet this standard that is, in my judgment, unreasonable for a small, straightforward, local bank. Positioning · 35 wordsOur committee Republicans, with their great leadership from our subcommittee chair, Andy Barr of Kentucky, have worked mightily over the years to find a bipartisan set of solutions to exactly the problem I outline today.⁷Positioning Claims · 74 wordsRecently, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, ⁴which became law, contained nine community banking provisions that provided this sort of thematic, clear, needed relief to America’s local lenders and expanded financing for both residential mortgages and housing construction and development.⁵ These measures that we are debating today in the Main Street Capital Access Act were in that same philosophy of what we just overwhelmingly passed in both Chambers just a few days ago.⁶ Mr. Speaker, Claims · 103 wordsI say today that we are building on the success of our 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act with Main Street Capital Access Act. We are expanding access to capital, supporting American businesses, and ensuring our financial system remains the most dynamic and diverse in the world. This bill delivers on those goals.Unearned certainty It spurs formation of new banks. It brings this commonsense tailoring back to regulation. It restores fairness and transparency in bank supervision. It helps banks attract, retain, and diversify important funding sources from sources of deposits, and it removes unnecessary barriers that have limited lending in communities across this country. Mr. Speaker, Claims · 65 wordswith all of this effort, we have seen solid bipartisan support, input, and leadership in developing this bill. Expanding access to capital strengthens our local economies. It gives entrepreneurs the confidence to invest, businesses the ability to grow, and families the opportunity to build long-term wealth through that most abundant of American dreams: owning their own home. When Main Street banks succeed, our communities thrive. Thanks · 44 wordsI thank my colleague again, my friend, the chairman of our Subcommittee on Financial Institutions, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr.⁸ Barr), for his tireless efforts in developing this bill and his commitment to strengthening community banking, not only in Kentucky but across our Nation.Thanks Mr. Speaker, Thanks · 30 wordsI also thank his hardworking colleague who has spent hours tirelessly thinking through the best approach to these provisions, and that is the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Foster) of Chicago.Thanks Positioning · 6 wordsTheir collaboration will benefit our country, PositioningThe ask · 17 wordsand I hope that we see a strong, bipartisan vote on this bill in this Chamber today. Mr. Speaker, The ask · 8 wordsI urge my colleagues to support this bill, Procedure · 8 wordsand I reserve the balance of my time.Procedure