“I am asking the House to take up this bill now.”

“Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1438, I call up the bill (H.R. 6955) and ask for its immediate consideration by the House. The Clerk read the title of the bill. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Bost). Pursuant to House Resolution 1438, in lieu of the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on Financial Services, printed in the bill, an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 119-35 is adopted and the bill, as amended, is considered read. The text of the bill, as amended, is as follows: Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. Sec. 101. Promoting New Bank Formation. Sec. 102. New Bank Application Numbers Knowledge. Sec. 103. CDFI Fund Transparency. Sec. 104. CDFI Bond Guarantee Improvement. Sec. 201. Taking Account of Institutions with Low Operation Risk. Sec. 202. Small Bank Holding Company Relief. Sec. 203. Tailoring and Indexing Enhanced Regulations. Sec. 204. Community Bank Regulatory Tailoring. Sec. 301. Halting Uncertain Methods and Practices in Supervision. Sec. 302. Fair Audits and Inspections for Regulators’ Exams. Sec. 303. Supervisory Modifications for Appropriate Risk-based Testing. Sec. 304. Financial Integrity and Regulation Management. Sec. 401. FDIC Board Accountability. Sec. 402. Stop Agency Fiat Enforcement of Guidance. Sec. 403. Regulatory Efficiency, Verification, Itemization, and Sec. 501. Bringing the Discount Window into the 21st Century. Sec. 502. Keeping Deposits Local. Sec. 601. Bank Competition Modernization. Sec. 602. Merger Agreement Approvals Clarity and Predictability. Sec. 603. Merger Process Review. Sec. 604. Bank Failure Prevention. Sec. 701. Least Cost Exception. Sec. 702. Enhancing Bank Resolution Participation. Sec. 703. Failing Bank Acquisition Fairness. Sec. 801. Merchant Banking Modernization. Sec. 802. Bank-Fintech Partnership Enhancement. Sec. 803. Discretionary surplus fund. ``Sec. 114A. Guarantees for bonds and notes issued for community or ``Sec. 177. Periodic adjustments to thresholds. ``Sec. 178. Periodic adjustments to thresholds established by rule.’’.”

“I want the House to pass this bill. It cuts regulations for community banks so they can lend more money to local families and small businesses.”

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Main Street Capital Access Act. As 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. During the financial crisis, they were there. During the COVID pandemic, they were there, staying up all night to close emergency paycheck protection loans. Every Member of this body knows this and knows it well. 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. When 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, as I have said on this House floor many times this year, our banks under $10 billion make 6 out of 10 home construction loans. 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. I 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. Community banks make that possible, and 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. It was just too much, Mr. Speaker. That 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. Again, I don’t believe that was a goal by the proponents of Dodd-Frank after the financial crisis. Our local lenders, Mr. Speaker, too often now spend more time on check-the-box compliance requirements rather than serving their communities. When 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. Instead, 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. Our 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. Recently, the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, which 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. 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. Mr. Speaker, I 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. 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, with 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. I thank my colleague again, my friend, the chairman of our Subcommittee on Financial Institutions, the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), for his tireless efforts in developing this bill and his commitment to strengthening community banking, not only in Kentucky but across our Nation. Mr. Speaker, I 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. Their collaboration will benefit our country, and I hope that we see a strong, bipartisan vote on this bill in this Chamber today. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.”

“I support these bills because they will help local banks and credit unions grow, serve customers, and help local economies.”

“Mr. Speaker, our next speaker has worked tirelessly to assemble this package of bills that will help our Main Street banks and credit unions thrive, grow, better serve their customers, and, in turn, be able to see their local economies benefit. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr), the chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions.”

“I want the House to pass this bill. It cuts regulations for small community banks so they can lend more money to local businesses and families. The government should not treat small hometown banks the same as huge global banks.”

“Mr. Speaker, I want to start by applauding my good friend from Arkansas, Chairman French Hill, for his leadership on this critical legislation. Great job working across the aisle for bipartisan support for this legislation that will help strengthen Main Street America. The Main Street Capital Access Act is exactly the kind of reform needed to advance this committee’s goal of making community banking great again. Over the past 18 months, we have worked hard to develop over two dozen banking reform bills--many of them with strong bipartisan support--and combined them into one multifaceted package designed to strengthen our community financial institutions, not big banks, like the ranking member is referring to, community banks, Main Street banks, midsize banks. If we want to help hold big banks accountable, then what we need is competition. Competition and choice are good for America, good for consumers, and good for financial stability. Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a link to 14 letters of support from the Consumer Bankers Association, the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, the Independent Community Bankers of America, the National Association of Home Builders, and others: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:US:4c869bbb-74d2-4d1e- befb-1b3aba1a0be3 Community banks and credit unions are the financial backbone of this country. They finance farms, factories, first-time home buyers, and the local entrepreneurs who create jobs in every corner of America. These institutions don’t just serve communities. They are part of the community. Here is the hard truth: Community banks have suffered under a regulatory framework that forgot who the system should serve. For too long, Washington has been writing rules as if every bank and credit union in America is a trillion-dollar global institution. They are not. They are our hometown banks and community financial institutions. These guardrails that the ranking member talks about rolling back, we are not rolling back guardrails for big, multitrillion-dollar banks. We are talking about small community financial institutions. The goal is simple: Regulation should follow the risk, not the ZIP Code or the political fashion. A $500 million community bank in rural Kentucky, rural Arkansas, or rural Michigan should not be regulated under the same framework built for a trillion-dollar institution operating around the globe. That means higher costs, fewer loans, more forced consolidation. This hurts everyday Americans by reducing both access to credit and opportunities for small business growth. The Main Street Capital Access Act is about changing that. It is about rightsizing this regulatory framework to ensure that community lenders get back to what they do best: serving their customers and their communities. Main Street opens the door for new bank formation, improving transparency in the chartering process, making applications more predictable, and ensuring rural and underserved communities can once again see new institutions formed instead of watching their local banks disappear. You want to hold big banks accountable? Allow new banks to form. It also restores proportionality to regulation, updating capital leverage and enhanced prudential standards to actually reflect a bank’s risk profile, not just an arbitrary static asset threshold. That means less money spent on regulatory gymnastics and more money available for loans in your communities. We are also bringing fairness and due process back to the supervision process. Banks and credit unions should not be governed by opaque examiner preferences. They should be governed by clear risk-based and transparent standards that focus on core financial performance rather than foot faults and check-the-box compliance. Main Street also addresses the structural problems that are driving consolidation. This legislation requires regulators to ensure clarity and predictability in the merger process so that healthy banks can grow and troubled banks can find partners before they fail. It ensures that when banks do fail, like Silicon Valley Bank, community banks aren’t shut out of the resolution process by design. Finally, this legislation recognizes reality: Innovation is happening. The question is whether it happens inside the banking system, where it is supervised and safe, or outside, where it isn’t. This bill lets banks partner, modernize, and compete. Community banks, Mr. Speaker, are the financial infrastructure of America--rural America, suburban America, urban America. When they thrive, small towns thrive. When they are regulated out of existence, capital dries up and opportunity for local ownership disappears. The Main Street Capital Access Act is a critical step toward restoring the financial backbone of this country. Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.”

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“I am giving my time to the gentleman from Michigan. He knows from his business background how local banks help our economy grow.”

“Mr. Speaker, our next speaker has worked in this House for over a decade, speaking on behalf of Main Street Michigan. From that real estate community, from his own background, his own business entrepreneurship and that of his family, he knows the value of how our local financial institutions help grow an economy and have more opportunities. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), the vice chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services.”

“I want the House to pass this bill. It cuts regulations for small and midsize banks so they can lend more money to families and local businesses. It also makes it easier to start new banks and protects competition.”

“Mr. Speaker, as a small business owner, I have seen it. I have lived it. When community banks disappear, families and small businesses lose the local lenders who know their communities and their customers best. Less competition means fewer financing options, higher borrowing costs, and less investment on Main Street, not Wall Street, as some of my colleagues are trying to assert. This bill lowers unnecessary regulatory costs for community and midsize banks, not those big business center banks on Wall Street and in New York and around the world. In fact, this ends debanking. Mr. Speaker, it restores the flexibility these institutions need to better serve you and your family. I am also pleased that this bill includes two of my bills: the FDIC Board Accountability Act, which strengthens governance of the FDIC board on behalf of smaller institutions, and the Enhancing Bank Resolution Participation Act, which simply seeks to bring more qualified bidders into failed-bank resolutions when disaster strikes. Better oversight and broader participation can protect depositors. It is going to promote competition. It reduces further concentration in the banking system, and I would think, Mr. Speaker, we would want that. However, it appears that some on the other side do not. This package makes it easier to form new banks, strengthens local funding and liquidity, and helps community lenders put more deposits to work financing homes, small businesses, and entrepreneurial dreams. At a time when Americans are struggling with everyday expenses, Washington should not make credit more expensive through needless red tape. H.R. 6955, the Main Street Act, will promote competition. It will expand access to capital and help make life more affordable for American families. I thank the chairman both of the full committee as well as our subcommittee, and I urge passage.”

“I support this bill because it helps community banks compete with big Wall Street banks. It cuts rules and costs for well-run local banks. It also gives them more capital and lets them buy failing local banks instead of letting mega-banks take them over.”

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let me address that comment that the ranking member has articulated, which is that somehow this bill reduces the power of community banks to compete with the big, globally systemic banks that she described. I would really argue just the contrast. This bill tailors the regulatory compliance so that a bank with a straightforward, simple business plan that is well managed, that is well capitalized can have a lower tailored compliance cost compared to the one-size-fits-all approach that was a part of Dodd-Frank aimed at those big, Wall Street globally systemic banks. Secondly, if you don’t want them to grow, then you want community banks to have access to more capital. That is offered in this bill. You want them to be more successful. That is offered in this bill. You want them to be able to buy a failing bank on their own or with partners to compete with the biggest banks in the country who are just simply given banks that need resolution at the FDIC. If a small bank fails in some State, they just let the big banks bid on them. This bill creates competition. Chairman Barr walked through that. This actually increases the chance for entrepreneurs to acquire, unfortunately at the demise of a local bank, so that it is not sold to some big Wall Street lender. I could go on with all the benefits of this bill that is tailored and focused on the growth and success of our Main Street institutions, but I can think of no better person to help me make that case than the next speaker. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Loudermilk), the vice chairman of our Financial Institutions Subcommittee.”

“I want the House to pass this bill. It makes banking rules fit the size of each bank instead of treating small banks like giant ones. It also makes regulators share reports on applications for new banks.”

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of the Committee for his hard work on this and for including several of my provisions in this bill that is designed for the small guy. I obviously rise in support of H.R. 6955 not only because it is a good bill, but also because I recognize the need to rightsize Federal regulations and gain more transparency into the financial regulatory process. For too long, Federal financial regulators have taken this one-size- fits-all approach. If we applied that same status to ourselves, then let’s just issue every Member of Congress one suit of clothes so that we all wear the same suit of clothes. Now, we wouldn’t accept that because we would only have clothes to fit the largest Member of Congress. What we are saying is that is what we have in the financial services industry right now. We need to tailor the regulations to fit the business model of the business, especially the small business. That is why I am proud that my TAILOR Act has been included in this package. I can’t stress enough the importance of the TAILOR Act because it is for the little guy. It is important because it requires all future regulations to be tailored to the risk of the regulated institution. It rewards institutions that adopt sound risk management practices with fewer regulations and punishes those who take an unhealthy amount of risk. I also wish to highlight my New BANK Act, which requires Federal financial regulators to publish annual reports on applications received for creating new financial institutions. These reports will help give critical insights to the current de novo chartering process and how Congress can reduce complexities and redundancies in the system. To conclude, Mr. Speaker, I believe this legislative package with my bills included is much more aligned with the goal of a safe and sound financial system that works for all the American people, and I urge my colleagues to support this bill.”

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“I support this bill because it helps new, local banks get started. These start-up banks can better serve fast-growing communities and compete with the biggest financial companies.”

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Loudermilk who spoke a moment ago. The vice chairman of our Subcommittee on Financial Institutions made a very good point also about how this bill strengthens competition. Chairman Andy Barr of Kentucky, Ranking Member Waters of California, and Mr. Loudermilk all mentioned the importance of encouraging de novo banks, meaning start-up banks, particularly in our fast-growing communities that have seen disproportionate business and population growth, like south Florida or other places across the Nation. All three of those Members have something in common, which is they support greater de novo provisions. We had Ms. Waters in the housing bill, and we have two in this bill that encourage start-up banks and encourage the regulators to work and have a better strategy for start- up financial institutions because that means that they can meet the growth. What does that do, Mr. Speaker? It increases competition for the biggest companies because they are close to customers, they have a business strategy, and they are unique to the marketplace. That is another example of how this bill is, in fact, counter to the assertion that it is only geared towards Wall Street institutions. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser), who understands finance from both the point of view of one of our biggest and most industrial States, Pennsylvania, having been a statewide officer as well as a highly successful manufacturer and entrepreneur. Mr. Meuser is the chair of our Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.”

“I want the House to pass this bill. It cuts regulations on community banks so they can offer more home and small business loans. It also stops regulators from cutting off legal businesses from bank services.”

“Mr. Speaker, I commend our chairman, French Hill, for his excellent leadership. I do rise in support of the very appropriately named Main Street Capital Access Act introduced by Chairman Hill and Subcommittee Chairman Barr. The legislation does exactly what it says. It supports access to capital for Main Street. At the start of this Congress, Chairman Hill said one of our Committee’s priorities was to make community banking great again. Since then, we have advanced the package of bills before us that is the largest community bank deregulatory reform effort since the 1990s. Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago, community banks financed 65 percent of home loans in this country. Today, it is less than 30 percent. This bill helps reverse that trend. It lowers capital hurdles so new community banks can form, and it tailors bank regulations so small and midsize banks are regulated fairly. These changes allow banks to extend more mortgages, be more competitive on small business loans, and improve access to credit for all Americans. This is a housing bill, a small business bill, an affordability bill, and an access to capital bill. Importantly, the bill also includes legislation to codify President Trump’s executive order preventing debanking, such as my bill, the SAFE Guidance Act, which affirms guidance does not have the effect of law. Both guidance and reputational risk were weaponized under previous administrations to debank legitimate, legal businesses. This bill corrects those wrongs. This legislation supports community banks, protects Main Street across the country, and I urge support.”

“I support this bill. It cuts regulations for small, rural, and new banks so they can better help local businesses in places like Guam.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6955, the Main Street Capital Access Act. When the people of Guam set out to enterprise new business ventures, we turn to our community banks to raise capital. However, much of America’s financial system is not designed with small businesses in mind. While big banks have the resources to cut through red tape, small community ventures often struggle to comply with a regulatory regime that never had them in mind. The Main Street Capital Access Act makes commonsense reform, tailoring regulations so small lenders can comply, while opening more resources to the new banks, small banks, and rural banks which serve communities like Guam. This bill will give the Guam business community a fair chance, and I thank the Financial Services Committee for their work on this legislation.”

“I want the House to pass this bill. Too many federal banking rules are hurting small local banks and forcing them to close or merge with big banks. This bill cuts back on those rules so small banks can stay open and lend money to everyday Americans.”

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6955, the Main Street Capital Access Act. For the vast majority of our Nation’s history, community banks were the primary artery into progress for all Americans. That reality is being threatened today by sloppy and ineffective policies that originate right here in Washington, D.C. Whether it is the Dodd-Frank regulatory structure or the millions of rules and regulations that are in existence today, community banks have been choked out by these all-encompassing regulations. With administrative costs rising every year, local banks simply cannot afford to operate. We can see this most clearly in 1980 where there were more than 14,000 community banks in the United States. Now because of the regulatory structure of the current market, there are roughly 4,000 community banks. This stifles lending, reduces competition, and makes it harder for Americans, especially in rural communities, to access capital. Put plainly, the current regulatory climate punishes community banks, and it benefits larger international banks. My home State of North Carolina has long had a proud history of vibrant community banks. Today, there are very few exceptions to this, but there are really only two choices for community banks in today’s market if they want to survive. That is to grow large enough to be acquired or to merge with another institution. Whether it was Wachovia, First Citizens, BB&T, or Bank of America, each of these began in North Carolina as a local community bank before growing and becoming a key player in our economy through a merge or an acquisition. It is time to restore a market that welcomes and protects community banks, a market that encourages competition, and most importantly, one that serves the American citizen. H.R. 6955 does just that. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Hill for his important work on this legislation, and I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill today.”

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