April 24, 2015

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

On Wednesday the House considered H.R. 1195, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Advisory Boards Act. This legislation seeks to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), established as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The CFPB educates consumers on financial products, monitors and acts on complaints, and enforces consumer protections. H.R. 1195 would create three advisory boards focused on small business, credit unions and community banks. The boards would provide the CFPB with guidance during its rule-making process. I voted against this bill in committee because the CFPB had already established 4 advisory boards and councils representing small business, credit unions and community banks. The legislation seemed redundant to me. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that H.R. 1195 will cost $9 million over a ten year period. To offset this cost, the legislation was amended in the Rules Committee. Now, H.R. 1195 caps the CFPB’s budget which the bureau estimates will result in a loss of funds of more than $50 million in FY 2020. I voted NO. H.R. 1195 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

Cybersecurity

This week the House considered two bills related to cybersecurity. The first, H.R. 1560, the Protecting Cyber Networks Act, expands information sharing on potential cyber threats between private companies and the federal government. H.R. 1560 requires the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to establish a framework for how information will be shared and includes consumer privacy protections. In order to encourage maximum cooperation, the legislation includes strong liability language and I have some concerns about this. I think that H.R. 1560 goes too far in protecting private entities from possible legal action associated with the sharing of private data. While the legislation allows private entities to share information with the federal agency that they believe is best equipped to analyze it, that federal agency must immediately provide it to the Department of Defense and the National Security Agency. I voted NO. H.R. 1560 passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

More Cybersecurity

Today the House considered H.R. 1731, the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015. This legislation also promotes the voluntary sharing of information about cyberthreats between the private sector and federal government by providing liability protections to companies sharing information. H.R. 1731 requires that companies take “reasonable efforts” to first remove all personally identifiable information before providing it to the federal government. H.R. 1731 would establish the Homeland Security Department's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) as the lead federal civilian agency on cyber threats. I have some of the same concerns about consumer protection and liability with this bill that I have with H.R. 1560. I also voted NO on H.R. 1731. It passed and the entire vote is recorded below:

What’s Up Next

Next votes are scheduled for Tuesday April 28th. The House is expected start consideration of fiscal year 2016 appropriations bills with the “Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act” and the “Energy and Water Appropriations Act”.