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Financial Services Committee
As a small business owner before being elected to office, U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga was fittingly named to the exclusive House Financial Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over all issues pertaining to the economy, the banking system, housing, insurance, and securities and exchanges. It also oversees monetary policy, international finance, international monetary organizations, and efforts to combat terrorist financing. He is the Committee's highest-ranking freshman.
Huizenga was also named to three subcommittees, where he will focus on: Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit; International Monetary Policy and Trade; and Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology.
Huizenga has a unique perspective on both finance and public service. Before being elected to office, he was a REALTOR and entrepreneur. He made his first real estate investment in college. In 1999, he became co-owner of Huizenga Gravel, Inc., in Jenison, MI, which has given Huizenga the real-life experience of dealing with the issues small business owners face, as a business owner himself.
ABOUT THE COMMITTEE AND HUIZENGA’S SUBCOMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS:
The Financial Services Committee is chaired by Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-AL, and has jurisdiction over monetary policy, international finance, international monetary organizations, and efforts to combat terrorist financing. Agencies under oversight by the Committee include: the Federal Reserve, Treasury, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the Export-Import Bank.
The Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Shelly Moore Capito, R-WV, and oversees all financial regulators, such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), as well as all matters pertaining to consumer credit and access to financial services, as well as the safety and soundness of the banking system. The subcommittee will play an active role examining internet gambling, interchange fees, credit card regulation, credit reports and credit scores, bank regulation, Community Reinvestment Act, and small business lending.
The International Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Gary Miller, R-CA, and is responsible for oversight of U.S. policy in international institutions such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian and African Development Banks, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The Subcommittee will play an active role in reviewing and assessing the annual report to Congress from the Secretary of the Treasury on the state of the international financial system and the IMF. Additionally, the Subcommittee will monitor developments related to the exchange rate policies of the United States’ major trading partners, as well as monitoring the progress of the U.S.’s trading partners in meeting their financial services and investment commitments under existing trade and investment agreements.
The Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Ron Paul, R-TX, and plays an important role in the semi-annual Humphrey-Hawkins hearings at which the Committee receives the testimony of the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (“the Fed,”) about the state of the economy and monetary policy. Additionally, the Subcommittee will provide regular oversight of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to carry out its regular responsibilities and ways that the Fed’s activities become more transparent. Lastly, the Subcommittee will conduct oversight of the activities of the Bureau of the U.S. Mint and Bureau of Engraving and Printing as they relate to the printing and minting of U.S. currency and coins, and to the Mint programs for producing Congressionally authorized commemorative coins and Congressional gold medals.
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