[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1500 Reported in House (RH)]

<DOC>





                                                  Union Calendar No. 35
116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1500

                      [Report No. 116-57, Part I]

    To require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to meet its 
               statutory purpose, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 5, 2019

   Ms. Waters (for herself, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Ms. 
    Velazquez, Mr. Sherman, Mr. Meeks, Mr. Clay, Mr. David Scott of 
 Georgia, Mr. Green of Texas, Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Himes, 
 Mr. Foster, Mrs. Beatty, Mr. Heck, Mr. Vargas, Mr. Gonzalez of Texas, 
  Mr. Lawson of Florida, Mr. San Nicolas, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Porter, Mrs. 
   Axne, Ms. Pressley, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, Ms. Wexton, Mr. Lynch, Ms. 
Gabbard, Ms. Adams, Ms. Dean, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, and Ms. Garcia of 
    Texas) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
Education and Labor, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
  Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
           within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

                              May 10, 2019

  Reported from the Committee on Financial Services with an amendment
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]

                              May 10, 2019

Committee on Education and Labor discharged; committed to the Committee 
 of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 
                                5, 2019]


_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to meet its 
               statutory purpose, and for other purposes.


 


    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Consumers First 
Act''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act is as 
follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings; sense of Congress.
Sec. 3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Sec. 4. Conforming amendments.
Sec. 5. Executive and administration powers.
Sec. 6. Offices of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Sec. 7. Consumer Advisory Board reforms.
Sec. 8. Effective date.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following:
            (1) The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
        Protection Act (Public Law 111-203) (``Dodd-Frank''), was 
        signed into law on July 21, 2010, in order to, among other 
        things, advance the goals of protecting consumers from 
        predatory financial services practices and products that led to 
        the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
            (2) Title X of Dodd-Frank established a new Federal 
        independent watchdog, known as the Consumer Financial 
        Protection Bureau (``Consumer Bureau''), with broad authority 
        to ensure that all hardworking consumers are given clear, 
        accurate information that they need to shop for mortgages, 
        credit cards, and other consumer financial products or services 
        and to protect consumers from hidden fees, abusive terms, and 
        other unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices through 
        strong implementation and enforcement of Federal consumer 
        financial laws.
            (3) Before the Consumer Bureau was established, Federal 
        financial regulators were tasked with the dual responsibilities 
        of supervising institutions for safety and soundness and 
        compliance with consumer protections under Federal consumer 
        financial laws. These agencies often prioritized the 
        profitability of their regulated entities over the protection 
        of consumers, even when institutions were found to have engaged 
        in practices detrimental to their own customers' financial 
        well-being.
            (4) Congress purposefully created the independent Consumer 
        Bureau within the Federal Reserve System to address past 
        regulatory gaps in our country's financial regulatory regime--
        gaps that resulted in the most severe global financial crisis 
        since the Great Depression. Among other things, Federal 
        financial regulators were too reluctant to exercise their 
        rulemaking, supervisory, and enforcement authorities to protect 
        consumers from the misdeeds of the Consumer Bureau's regulated 
        entities. In creating the Consumer Bureau, Congress explicitly 
        laid out in statute the Consumer Bureau's purpose, five 
        objectives, and six primary functions. Specifically:
                    (A) Section 1021(a) of Dodd-Frank states that the 
                Consumer Bureau, ``shall seek to implement and, where 
                applicable, enforce Federal consumer financial law 
                consistently for the purpose of ensuring that all 
                consumers have access to markets for consumer financial 
                products and services and that markets for consumer 
                financial products and services are fair, transparent, 
                and competitive''.
                    (B) Section 1021(b) of Dodd-Frank authorizes the 
                Consumer Bureau, ``to exercise its authorities under 
                Federal consumer financial law for the purposes of 
                ensuring that, with respect to consumer financial 
                products and services--(1) consumers are provided with 
                timely and understandable information to make 
                responsible decisions about financial transactions; (2) 
                consumers are protected from unfair, deceptive, or 
                abusive acts and practices and from discrimination; (3) 
                outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations 
                are regularly identified and addressed in order to 
                reduce unwarranted regulatory burdens; (4) Federal 
                consumer financial law is enforced consistently, 
                without regard to the status of a person as a 
                depository institution, in order to promote fair 
                competition; and (5) markets for consumer financial 
                products and services operate transparently and 
                efficiently to facilitate access and innovation.''.
                    (C) Section 1021(c) of Dodd-Frank establishes the 
                primary functions of the Consumer Bureau to be, ``(1) 
                conducting financial education programs; (2) 
                collecting, investigating, and responding to consumer 
                complaints; (3) collecting, researching, monitoring, 
                and publishing information relevant to the functioning 
                of markets for consumer financial products and services 
                to identify risks to consumers and the proper 
                functioning of such markets; (4) subject to sections 
                1024 through 1026, supervising covered persons for 
                compliance with Federal consumer financial law, and 
                taking appropriate enforcement action to address 
                violations of Federal consumer financial law; (5) 
                issuing rules, orders, and guidance implementing 
                Federal consumer financial law; and (6) performing such 
                support activities as may be necessary or useful to 
                facilitate the other functions of the Bureau.''.
            (5) In doing so, Congress explicitly laid out these 
        consumer-focused purpose, objectives, and primary functions for 
        the Consumer Bureau to ensure that all consumers and all 
        communities are protected. This is of extreme importance to 
        communities of color who have been disproportionately impacted 
        by the inequities of the financial system, resulting in an 
        extreme racial wealth divide. Decades of segregation and 
        discrimination have prevented consumers of colors from amassing 
        wealth equal to their white counterparts, while predatory 
        financial practices of have stripped consumers of color of 
        their nominal existing wealth. For example, over the past 30 
        years, the average wealth of White families has grown by 84 
        percent--1.2 times the rate of growth for the Latino population 
        and three times the rate of growth for the Black population. In 
        light of historical practices and current-day disparities in 
        banking and lending practices, the Consumer Bureau plays a key 
        role in protecting communities of color from wealth-stripping 
        financial products and ensuring their right to wealth building 
        opportunities. The agency's enforcement actions in auto 
        lending, mortgages, and credit cards, and its rulemaking 
        efforts have sought to address the predatory financial products 
        such as payday loans and prepaid cards that are prolific in 
        communities of color. The Consumer Bureau is essential in 
        protecting vulnerable communities from discriminatory financial 
        practices that has both perpetuated and exacerbated the racial 
        wealth gap.
            (6) Under Dodd-Frank, the Deputy Director of the Consumer 
        Bureau shall serve as the Acting Director in the absence or 
        unavailability of the Director, until the President appoints 
        and the Senate confirms a new Director. Despite the plain 
        letter of the law establishing a succession order to fill a 
        vacancy in the Director's position and the clear legislative 
        history underscoring the importance of having an independent 
        Federal consumer-focused agency, when the Consumer Bureau 
        Director Richard Cordray resigned in November 2017, President 
        Trump refused to recognize the Deputy Director as the rightful 
        head of the agency and instead installed Mr. Mick Mulvaney, the 
        Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, to 
        serve as the Consumer Bureau's Acting Director. This 
        appointment of a White House cabinet official to run the 
        Consumer Bureau raises profound conflict of interest questions 
        and undermines the vital independent nature of the agency.
            (7) Additionally, the position of Acting Director is, by 
        its nature, intended to be a temporary assignment to maintain 
        the status quo at an agency and to ensure the agency is 
        fulfilling its statutory purpose and mandates, until the 
        President appoints, and the Senate confirms a permanent 
        Director. Nevertheless, during his tenure, Mr. Mulvaney 
        instituted drastic and severe changes to the Consumer Bureau's 
        daily operations and priorities contrary to the agency's 
        statutory purpose and mandates.
            (8) The daily operations of a Federal agency are guided by 
        its official mission contained in its long-term strategic plan. 
        The Consumer Bureau's mission should embrace both the spirit 
        and plain letter of the law by fully recognizing the agency's 
        statutory purpose, objectives, and functions. It is troubling 
        that the Consumer Bureau, under Mr. Mulvaney, issued a 
        Strategic Plan for Fiscal Year (``FY'') 2018-FY 2022 that 
        appears to deemphasize the Consumer Bureau's core mandate under 
        section 1021(a) of Dodd-Frank to, ``enforce Federal consumer 
        financial law consistently for the purpose of ensuring that all 
        consumers have access to markets for consumer financial 
        products and services'', by not referencing the importance of 
        enforcement in its mission. Instead, it emphasizes financial 
        education by stating that the agency's new mission is, ``[t]o 
        regulate the offering and provision of consumer financial 
        products or services under the Federal consumer financial laws 
        and to educate and empower consumers to make better informed 
        financial decisions''. This is in stark contrast from the 
        Consumer Bureau's Strategic Plan for FY 2013-FY 2017, which 
        stated that the agency's mission is helping, ``consumer finance 
        markets work by making rules more effective, by consistently 
        and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers 
        to take more control over their economic lives'' (emphasis 
        added).
            (9) Mr. Mulvaney has been praised by the White House for 
        his efforts to undermine the Consumer Bureau, with one 
        anonymous advisor acknowledging in a July 24, 2018, Politico 
        article that, ``His mission was to blow that up, which he has. 
        He is very well-suited to the chaos.''. Mr. Mulvaney's 
        misguided actions have included, among other things--
                    (A) stopping payments from the Civil Penalty Fund 
                to harmed consumers;
                    (B) trying to reduce the Consumer Bureau's funding 
                and staffing by initially requesting $0 be transferred 
                from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to carry 
                out the agency's work, imposing a freeze on hiring 
                professional career staff, and by arbitrarily directing 
                staff to cut the agency's budget by \1/5\;
                    (C) politicizing the work of the Consumer Bureau by 
                making unusual efforts to fill the independent agency 
                with political appointees;
                    (D) reducing the Consumer Bureau's enforcement 
                work, including taking only six enforcement actions in 
                the first three quarters of 2018 (compared with 54 
                enforcement actions taken by the agency in 2015, 42 
                enforcement actions in 2016 and 36 enforcement actions 
                in 2017), and dropping existing lawsuits and 
                investigations into predatory payday lenders;
                    (E) taking steps that would undermine efforts to 
                promote fair lending and combat discriminatory 
                practices, including by hiring, and later refusing to 
                remove, a political appointee with a history of racist 
                written commentary to oversee the Office of 
                Supervision, Enforcement, and Fair Lending, stripping 
                away the enforcement powers of the Office of Fair 
                Lending and Equal Opportunity, seeking to curb the 
                Consumer Bureau's data collection under the Home 
                Mortgage Disclosure Act, and indicating the Consumer 
                Bureau would reconsider its approach toward enforcing 
                the Equal Credit Opportunity Act;
                    (F) changing the role of the Office of Students and 
                Young Consumers and, according to an August 27, 2018, 
                resignation letter from Seth Frotman, the Consumer 
                Bureau's former Assistant Director and Student Loan 
                Ombudsman, ``when new evidence came to light showing 
                that the nation's largest banks were ripping off 
                students on campuses across the country by saddling 
                them with legally dubious account fees, Bureau 
                leadership suppressed the publication of a report 
                prepared by Bureau staff'';
                    (G) abandoning the accepted and efficient practice 
                of having its examiners review, as part of their 
                routine examinations, creditors' compliance with the 
                Military Lending Act in order to ensure the detection 
                and assessment of risky activities that could 
                jeopardize vital protections provided to active-duty 
                servicemembers and their families;
                    (H) creating an Office of Cost Benefit Analysis 
                that prioritizes businesses' expenses over harm caused 
                to consumers, and unduly constrains oversight of the 
                Consumer Bureau's regulated entities;
                    (I) freezing data collection to the detriment of 
                supervision and enforcement;
                    (J) seeking to block the publication of the nature 
                of consumers' complaints and how entities resolved them 
                in the publicly available and transparent Consumer 
                Complaint Database;
                    (K) restricting key input and feedback from a wide 
                range of external stakeholders by effectively 
                terminating members' positions on three advisory 
                boards, including the statutorily mandated Consumer 
                Advisory Board;
                    (L) proposing policies, including those regarding 
                no-action letters, model disclosure pilot projects, and 
                product sandboxes, that could put many kinds of 
                financial institutions in an enforcement-free zone, 
                letting bad actors that harm consumers off the hook 
                entirely from enforcement, and allowing them to ignore 
                the law; and
                    (M) neglecting to impose promptly any civil money 
                penalty on a bank when it was found to be, among other 
                things, improperly obtaining consumer reports and 
                furnishing to consumer reporting agencies inaccurate 
                information about consumers' credit.
            (10) The repeated efforts under Mr. Mulvaney's leadership 
        to hamstring the good work, passion, commitment, and the 
        capacity of dedicated professional, career Consumer Bureau 
        staff to fulfill the agency's statutory mission has likely 
        contributed to low employee morale. According to a government-
        wide annual survey published in December 2018 that was 
        conducted by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public 
        Service, the Consumer Bureau experienced the largest decline in 
        employee morale for a government agency of its size. A 
        workplace with low morale undermines, among other things, the 
        agency's ability to hold bad actors accountable when they harm 
        consumers, and if unaddressed, will distort the functioning of 
        fair and competitive consumer marketplaces.
            (11) Despite the fact that the agency has been referred to 
        as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since it was 
        created in 2010, Mr. Mulvaney opted to change the agency's 
        well-known name. Although this decision is supposedly intended 
        to ensure that the agency is in compliance with Dodd-Frank, 
        when this change is viewed in conjunction with the other 
        detrimental actions to undermine the effectiveness of the 
        agency, it can only be interpreted as an attempt to reduce the 
        public's awareness of, and significant support for, the 
        agency's role as the top Federal consumer cop as well as to 
        obscure the public's ability to easily identify the appropriate 
        Federal agency to contact when faced with predatory behavior by 
        financial actors. As such, while some may view this particular 
        decision as minor, the action served as an important symbolic 
        and literal maneuver by the Trump Administration, through its 
        appointment of Mr. Mulvaney, to diminish and undermine the 
        consumer-focused mission of the Consumer Bureau. Director Kathy 
        Kraninger, who was duly nominated by the President and 
        confirmed by the Senate, announced plans in an email to staff 
        on December 19, 2018, to reverse course and return to utilizing 
        the agency's well-known name. However, questions remain 
        regarding how this change will be implemented and to what 
        extent the agency may continue to utilize Mr. Mulvaney's 
        preferred name in certain circumstances.
            (12) During Mr. Mulvaney's more than 12-month tenure 
        running the agency, he only appeared once before the House 
        Financial Services Committee to discuss his activities at the 
        Consumer Bureau. This is despite the fact that the law 
        requires, at a minimum, the Director's testimony before the 
        Committee semi-annually. This weak congressional oversight 
        under the direction of the previous Republican Majority pales 
        in comparison to their oversight of the Consumer Bureau during 
        former Director Richard Cordray's tenure. During Director 
        Cordray's tenure, he and other senior Consumer Bureau officials 
        testified before Congress more than 60 times; the agency was 
        compelled to produce more than 200,000 pages of documents in 
        response to over 90 letters of inquiry; more than 20 subpoenas 
        were sent to the Consumer Bureau; and several of the Consumer 
        Bureau's former and current employees were compelled to sit for 
        depositions over 21 days, that lasted 136 hours, and produced 
        3,194 pages of transcripts.
            (13) Dodd-Frank gives the Director of the Consumer Bureau 
        broad administrative and executive powers to, among other 
        things: fix the number of, and appoint and direct, all 
        employees of the agency; direct the establishment and 
        maintenance of divisions or other offices within the agency; 
        determine the character of, and the necessity for, the 
        obligations and expenditure of funds; and the use and 
        expenditure of funds. These powers, however, are required to be 
        exercised in a manner consistent with carrying out the 
        responsibilities under Title X of Dodd-Frank, which includes 
        complying with the enumerated Federal consumer financial laws 
        under the Title, and satisfying the obligations in other 
        applicable laws. Mr. Mulvaney's destructive actions have 
        demonstrated the need for legislation to reorient the 
        Director's discretionary authority to ensure the maintenance of 
        all statutorily mandated policies, functions, and offices of 
        the Consumer Bureau regardless of who is leading the agency.
    (b) Sense of Congress.--The following is the sense of Congress:
            (1) The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau should meet 
        its statutory purpose in a transparent and accountable manner 
        by operating in a way that is consistent with both the spirit 
        and plain letter of the law. This includes the agency fully 
        carrying out the agency's statutory purpose, objectives, and 
        functions, and the agency being transparent, timely, and 
        responsive to all requests from Congress.
            (2) Dodd-Frank underscores that the agency is designed to 
        serve as an independent Federal agency that is primarily 
        focused on the protection of all consumers, without any undue 
        influence of partisan whims and special industry interests, in 
        carrying out its responsibilities and duties.
            (3) The official name of the agency should be consistent 
        with this mandate, and the agency should, figuratively and 
        literally, put ``Consumers'' first by using its better-known 
        name as the ``Consumer Financial Protection Bureau''. Thus, any 
        remaining utilization by the agency of the name, ``Bureau of 
        Consumer Financial Protection'', or the acronym ``BCFP'', 
        should cease in all forms.
            (4) The statute establishing the Consumer Bureau has been 
        grossly misinterpreted under Mr. Mulvaney's leadership, in a 
        manner that is inconsistent with the agency's statutory 
        purpose, objectives, and functions. One example of this was Mr. 
        Mulvaney's inane suggestion that the statutory requirement for 
        the Director to appear before relevant Congressional Committees 
        to discuss its semi-annual reports could be interpreted as 
        requiring the Director merely to attend a hearing and not 
        answer questions, despite the well-established interpretation 
        of a similar statutory requirement for the Chair of the Federal 
        Reserve Board of Governors to appear before the House Financial 
        Services Committee and the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban 
        Affairs Committee on a semi-annual basis about the monetary 
        policy report, as required by the Humphrey-Hawkins Full 
        Employment Act. In the face of such blatant and disrespectful 
        attempts to warp the authorizing and oversight role of the 
        first branch of the Federal Government--the United States 
        Congress--by the Trump Administration, Congress must, in this 
        instance, now refine the Consumer Bureau's authority to ensure 
        that the vital role that the Consumer Bureau should be playing 
        within the country's financial regulatory regime is not 
        effectively destroyed by the agency's current leadership.
            (5) The Consumer Bureau, now under a new Director, should 
        promptly reverse all anti-consumer actions taken during Mr. 
        Mulvaney's tenure, including the actions identified by this 
        legislation, to ensure that the agency is fully complying with 
        its statutory purpose, objectives, and functions to protect all 
        consumers, including communities of color and vulnerable 
        populations. One important action is for the Consumer Bureau to 
        resume robust fair lending enforcement to ensure that every 
        consumer has fair and equal access to affordable financial 
        products and services. Another demonstration of this would be 
        for the Consumer Bureau to immediately resume supervision of 
        its regulated entities for compliance with the Military Lending 
        Act to ensure for the most robust and efficient protection of 
        active-duty servicemembers and their families. Other examples 
        include the Consumer Bureau significantly revising its 
        strategic plan to align it with its statutory purpose, 
        objectives and functions, and for the agency to immediately 
        resume coordinating closely with other Federal agencies, such 
        as the Department of Education and the Department of Defense, 
        and State regulators, as is required by section 1015 of Dodd-
        Frank to, ``promote consistent regulatory treatment of consumer 
        financial and investment products and services.''
            (6) While the legislation is a direct response to address 
        many of the misguided decisions that have been orchestrated 
        under Mr. Mulvaney's leadership at the Consumer Bureau that 
        have been exposed to the public, as of the date of the bill's 
        introduction, and sharply criticized by numerous Federal and 
        State officials, including law enforcement, as well as 
        organizations representing servicemembers, senior citizens, and 
        other vulnerable consumer populations, this legislation should 
        not be viewed as an exhaustive list to fix all the damaging 
        actions that may have occurred at this agency since the 
        departure of former Director Cordray in November 2017, 
        particularly since detailed information revealing the full 
        scope, nature, and extent of the current flawed operation of 
        the agency, and the adverse impact resulting from these 
        actions, may not yet be publicly available. Rather, this 
        legislation should be interpreted as an attempt to highlight 
        and resolve a small sample of the publicly known egregious 
        statements, decisions, and actions that have occurred since 
        November 2017.

SEC. 3. CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU.

    (a) In General.--Section 1011(a) of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5491(a)) is amended by striking 
``Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection'' and inserting ``Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau''.
    (b) Deeming of Name.--Any reference in any law, regulation, 
document, record, or other paper of the United States to the ``Bureau 
of Consumer Financial Protection'' shall be deemed a reference to the 
``Consumer Financial Protection Bureau''.
    (c) Name Use Requirement.--Section 1011 of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5491) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:
    ``(f) Name Use Requirement.--The Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau shall refer to itself in any public communication, including on 
any website, as the `Consumer Financial Protection Bureau' or the 
`CFPB'.''.

SEC. 4. CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.

    (a) In General.--The Acts and provisions described under subsection 
(b) are amended by striking ``Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection'' 
each place such term appears (including in headings and items in table 
of contents) and inserting ``Consumer Financial Protection Bureau''.
    (b) Acts To Conform.--The Acts and provisions described in this 
subsection are as follows:
            (1) The Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act of 1982 
        (12 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.).
            (2) The Consumer Credit Protection Act (15 U.S.C. 1601 et 
        seq.).
            (3) The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer 
        Protection Act (12 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.).
            (4) The Expedited Funds Availability Act (12 U.S.C. 4001 et 
        seq.).
            (5) The Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 et 
        seq.).
            (6) The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council 
        Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 3201 et seq.).
            (7) The Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and 
        Enforcement Act of 1989 (12 U.S.C. 1811 note et seq.).
            (8) The Financial Literacy and Education Improvement Act 
        (20 U.S.C. 9701 et seq.).
            (9) Section 626 of the Financial Services and General 
        Government Appropriations Act, 2009 (Division D of Public Law 
        111-8; 12 U.S.C. 5538).
            (10) The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (12 U.S.C. 1811 note et 
        seq.).
            (11) The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 
        2801 et seq.).
            (12) Section 10(a)(4) of the Homeowners Protection Act of 
        1998 (12 U.S.C. 4901 et seq.).
            (13) The Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App 2).
            (14) The Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (15 
        U.S.C. 1701 et seq.).
            (15) The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 
        U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).
            (16) Title LXII of the Revised Statutes of the United 
        States (12 U.S.C. 21 et seq.).
            (17) The Right to Financial Privacy Act of 1978 (12 U.S.C. 
        3401 et seq.).
            (18) The S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 
        5101 et seq.).
            (19) The Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse 
        Prevention Act (15 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.).
            (20) Sections 552a(w) and 3132(a)(1)(D) of title 5, United 
        States Code.
            (21) Section 987(g)(3)(E) of title 10, United States Code.
            (22) Sections 3502(5) and 3513(c) of title 44, United 
        States Code.

SEC. 5. EXECUTIVE AND ADMINISTRATION POWERS.

    (a) Office Responsibilities.--Section 1012 of the Consumer 
Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5492) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Office Responsibilities.--Notwithstanding subsections (a) and 
(b), section 1013(a), and any other provision of law, with respect to 
the specific functional units and offices described under subsections 
(b), (c), (d), (e), (g), and (h) of section 1013 and the advisory 
boards described under section 1014, the Director--
            ``(1) shall ensure that such functional units, offices, and 
        boards perform the functions, duties, and coordination assigned 
        to them under the applicable provision of section 1013 or 1014; 
        and
            ``(2) may not reorganize or rename such units, offices, and 
        boards in a manner not provided for under the applicable 
        provision of section 1013 or 1014.''.
    (b) Duty To Provide Adequate Staffing.--Section 1013(a)(1) of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(a)(1)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(D) Duty to provide adequate staffing.--The 
                Director shall ensure that the specific functional 
                units and offices described under subsections (b), (c), 
                (d), (e), (g), and (h) of section 1013, as well as 
                other units and offices with supervisory and 
                enforcement duties, are provided with sufficient staff 
                to carry out the functions, duties, and coordination of 
                those units and offices.''.
    (c) Limitation on Political Appointees.--Section 1013(a)(1) of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(a)(1)) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) Limitation on political appointees.--
                            ``(i) In general.--In appointing employees 
                        of the Bureau who are political appointees, the 
                        Director shall ensure that the number and 
                        duties of such political appointees are as 
                        similar as possible to those of the other 
                        Federal primary financial regulatory agencies.
                            ``(ii) Political appointees defined.--For 
                        purposes of this subparagraph, the term 
                        `political appointee' means an employee who 
                        holds--
                                    ``(I) a position which has been 
                                excepted from the competitive service 
                                by reason of its confidential, policy-
                                determining, policy-making, or policy-
                                advocating character;
                                    ``(II) a position in the Senior 
                                Executive Service as a noncareer 
                                appointee (as such term is defined in 
                                section 3132(a) of title 5, United 
                                States Code); or
                                    ``(III) a position under the 
                                Executive Schedule (subchapter II of 
                                chapter 53 of title 5, United States 
                                Code).''.
    (d) Public Availability of Complaint Information.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1013(b)(3) of the Consumer 
        Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(b)(3)) is 
        amended--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) by inserting ``publicly available'' 
                        before ``website'';
                            (ii) by inserting ``publicly available'' 
                        before ``database'', each place such term 
                        appears; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following: 
                        ``The Director shall ensure that the landing 
                        page of the main website of the Bureau contains 
                        a clear and conspicuous hyperlink to the 
                        consumer complaint database described in this 
                        subparagraph and shall ensure that such 
                        database is user-friendly and in plain writing 
                        (as such term is defined in the Plain Writing 
                        Act of 2010). The Director shall ensure that 
                        all information on the website or the database 
                        that explains how to file a complaint with the 
                        Bureau, as well as all reports of the Bureau 
                        with respect to information contained in the 
                        database, shall be provided in each of the 5 
                        most commonly spoken languages, other than 
                        English, in the United States, as determined by 
                        the Bureau of the Census on an ongoing basis, 
                        and in formats accessible to individuals with 
                        hearing or vision impairments.''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) Public availability of information.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Director shall--
                                    ``(I) make all consumer complaints 
                                available to the public on a website of 
                                the Bureau;
                                    ``(II) place a clear and 
                                conspicuous hyperlink on the landing 
                                page of the main website of the Bureau 
                                to the website described under 
                                subclause (I); and
                                    ``(III) ensure that such website--
                                            ``(aa) is searchable and 
                                        sortable by both consumer 
                                        financial product or service 
                                        and by covered person; and
                                            ``(bb) is user-friendly and 
                                        written in plain language.
                            ``(ii) Inclusion of complaints submitted 
                        with inquiries.--For purposes of clause (i), in 
                        addition to all complaints described under 
                        subparagraph (A), consumer complaints shall 
                        include any complaints submitted with, or as 
                        part of, an inquiry described under section 
                        1034.
                            ``(iii) Removal of personally identifiable 
                        information.--In making the information 
                        described under clause (i) available to the 
                        public, the Director shall remove all 
                        personally identifiable information.''.
            (2) Rule of construction.--
                    (A) In general.--The Director of the Consumer 
                Financial Protection Bureau shall ensure--
                            (i) that the database and website described 
                        under section 1013(b)(3) of the Consumer 
                        Financial Protection Act of 2010 have, at a 
                        minimum, the same availability, transparency, 
                        and functionality that such database and 
                        website had prior to November 24, 2017; and
                            (ii) that consumers are able, at a minimum, 
                        to submit complaints to the Bureau with respect 
                        to--
                                    (I) any covered person or service 
                                provider; and
                                    (II) any financial product or 
                                service.
                    (B) Definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph, 
                the terms ``covered person'', ``financial product or 
                service'', and ``service provider'' have the meaning 
                given those terms, respectively, under section 1002 of 
                the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010.
    (e) Memoranda of Understanding.--
            (1) Report on current mous.--Not later than the end of the 
        30-day period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, 
        the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall 
        issue a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the 
        House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, 
        and Urban Affairs of the Senate listing--
                    (A) each memorandum of understanding in effect with 
                the Bureau on November 24, 2017;
                    (B) any changes made to such a memorandum of 
                understanding since such date, including any memorandum 
                of understanding rescinded since such date; and
                    (C) a justification for each such change or 
                rescission.
            (2) Semi-annual report on mous.--Section 1016(c) of the 
        Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496(c)) 
        is amended--
                    (A) in paragraph (8), by striking ``and'' at the 
                end;
                    (B) in paragraph (9), by striking the period and 
                inserting a semicolon; and
                    (C) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(10) a list of each memorandum of understanding in effect 
        with the Bureau, any changes made to a memorandum of 
        understanding since the last report was made under subsection 
        (b), and a justification for each such change;''.
    (f) Additional Report Information on Consumer Savings.--Section 
1013 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493) 
is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(i) Additional Report Information on Consumer Savings.--In 
issuing each report required under section 502(d) of the Credit CARD 
Act of 2009, the Bureau shall include a numerical estimate of the 
amount that such Act has saved consumers in fees impacted by such Act, 
relative to the level of such fees prior to the enactment of such 
Act.''.

SEC. 6. OFFICES OF THE CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU.

    (a) Clarification of the Duties of the Office of Fair Lending and 
Equal Opportunity.--Section 1013(c)(2) of the Consumer Financial 
Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493(c)(2)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Office of Fair Lending and Equal 
        Opportunity shall have such powers and duties as the Director 
        may delegate to the Office, including'' and inserting ``powers 
        and duties of the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity 
        shall include'';
            (2) in subparagraph (C), by striking ``and'' at the end;
            (3) in subparagraph (D), by striking the period and 
        inserting a semicolon; and
            (4) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(E) implementing the Bureau's enforcement and 
                supervisory authority with respect to fair lending 
                laws; and
                    ``(F) such additional powers and duties as the 
                Director may determine appropriate.''.
    (b) Office of Students and Young Consumers.--
            (1) In general.--Section 1013 of the Consumer Financial 
        Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493), as amended by section 
        5(f), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Office of Students and Young Consumers.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Director shall, not later than the 
        end of the 60-day period beginning on the date of enactment of 
        this section, establish an Office of Students and Young 
        Consumers, which shall work to empower students, young people, 
        and their families to make more informed financial decisions 
        about saving and paying for college, accessing safer and more 
        affordable financial products and services, all matters related 
        to private education loans (as defined under section 1035(e)), 
        and repaying student loan debt, including private education 
        loans.
            ``(2) Head of the office.--The head of the Office of 
        Students and Young Consumers shall be the Assistant Director 
        and Student Loan Ombudsman, and the Assistant Director and 
        Student Loan Ombudsman shall carry out all functions 
        established under section 1035 through the Office of Students 
        and Young Consumers.
            ``(3) Supervisory, enforcement, and regulatory matters.--
        The Office of Students and Young Consumers shall assist in all 
        supervisory, enforcement, and regulatory matters of the Bureau 
        related to the functions of the Office.
            ``(4) Coordination.--The Director shall enter into 
        memoranda of understanding and similar agreements with the 
        Department of Education and other Federal and State agencies, 
        as appropriate, in order to carry out the business of the 
        Office of Students and Young Consumers.''.
            (2) Renaming and appointment clarification of the private 
        education loan ombudsman.--
                    (A) In general.--Section 1035 of the Consumer 
                Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5535) is 
                amended--
                            (i) in the heading of the section by 
                        striking ``private education'' and inserting 
                        ``assistant director and student'';
                            (ii) in subsection (a), by striking ``The 
                        Secretary, in consultation with the Director, 
                        shall designate a Private Education Loan 
                        Ombudsman'' and inserting ``The Director shall 
                        designate an individual as the Assistant 
                        Director and Student Loan Ombudsman'';
                            (iii) in subsection (b), by striking ``The 
                        Secretary and the Director'' and inserting 
                        ``The Director''; and
                            (iv) in subsection (d)(2), by inserting 
                        ``the Director,'' before ``the Secretary,''.
                    (B) Clerical amendment.--The table of contents 
                under section 1(b) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 
                and Consumer Protection Act is amended, in the item 
                relating to section 1035, by striking ``Private 
                education'' and inserting ``Assistant director and 
                student''.
                    (C) Deeming of name.--Any reference in any law, 
                regulation, document, record, or other paper of the 
                United States to the ``Private Education Loan 
                Ombudsman'' shall be deemed a reference to the 
                ``Assistant Director and Student Loan Ombudsman''.
    (c) Semi-Annual Report to Congress on Certain Offices of the 
Bureau.--Section 1016(c) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 
2010 (12 U.S.C. 5496(c)), as amended by section 5(e)(2), is further 
amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(11) with respect to each of the specific functional 
        units and offices established under section 1013--
                    ``(A) a detailed description of the activities of 
                the unit or office since the last report was made under 
                subsection (b); and
                    ``(B) an analysis of the efforts of the Bureau to 
                achieve the duties of the unit or office; and
            ``(12) with respect to each specific functional units and 
        offices established under section 1013, as well as each other 
        unit and office with supervisory and enforcement duties, a 
        break down of the number of political and professional career 
        staff assigned to and employed by each unit or office at the 
        end of the reporting period.''.
    (d) Function of Any Unit or Office Established To Conduct Cost 
Benefit Analysis.--Any unit or office established to conduct cost 
benefit analysis within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall, 
as its sole function, carry out the considerations required by section 
1022(b)(2)(A) of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 
U.S.C. 5512(b)(2)(A)).

SEC. 7. CONSUMER ADVISORY BOARD REFORMS.

    (a) In General.--Section 1014 of the Consumer Financial Protection 
Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5494) is amended--
            (1) by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
    ``(b) Membership.--
            ``(1) Qualifications.--In appointing the members of the 
        Consumer Advisory Board, the Director shall--
                    ``(A) seek to assemble a diverse and inclusive 
                group of experts in consumer protection, financial 
                services, community development, fair lending and civil 
                rights, and consumer financial products or services and 
                representatives of depository institutions that 
                primarily serve underserved communities, and 
                representatives of communities that have been 
                significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgage loans, 
                and seek representation of the interests of covered 
                persons and consumers, without regard to party 
                affiliation; and
                    ``(B) ensure that at least \2/3\ of the members 
                represent the interests of consumers, including experts 
                in consumer protection, fair lending, civil rights, and 
                representatives of communities that have been 
                significantly impacted by higher-priced mortgage loans 
                and other products that resulted in consumer harm.
            ``(2) Number of members.--The Director shall appoint not 
        fewer than 25 members to the Consumer Advisory Board, and not 
        fewer than 6 members shall be appointed upon the recommendation 
        of the regional Federal Reserve Bank Presidents, on a rotating 
        basis.
            ``(3) Membership rights after charter change.--Any change 
        to the charter for the Consumer Advisory Board affecting the 
        membership shall not preclude prior or current members from 
        applying for consideration to serve on a reconstituted Consumer 
        Advisory Board.''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)--
                    (A) by striking ``meet from'' and inserting ``meet 
                in person from''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following: ``The 
                Bureau shall provide adequate notice to the members of 
                the Consumer Advisory Board of the time and date of 
                each meeting, and of any meeting cancellations.''
    (b) Inclusion of the Director in Meetings and Access to Bureau 
Staff.--Section 1014 of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 
(12 U.S.C. 5494) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Inclusion of the Director in Meetings and Access to Bureau 
Staff.--With respect to each in person meeting of the Consumer Advisory 
Board--
            ``(1) the Director shall attend such meeting in person; and
            ``(2) the Director shall ensure that the members of the 
        Consumer Advisory Board have an opportunity to meet and engage 
        in person with all appropriate staff and office of the 
        Bureau.''.
    (c) Treatment of Members of the Consumer Advisory Board.--
Notwithstanding any other law--
            (1) any member of the Consumer Advisory Board of the 
        Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on November 1, 2017, may 
        continue to serve as a member of such advisory board until 
        March 27, 2020, and may not be removed from such position 
        without cause by the Director of the Bureau until such date; 
        and
            (2) any member of the Consumer Advisory Board of the 
        Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on the date of enactment 
        of this Act, may continue to serve as a member of such advisory 
        board until March 27, 2020, and may not be removed from such 
        position without cause by the Director of the Bureau until such 
        date.
    (d) Additional Requirements for Advisory Committees.--Section 1013 
of the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5493), as 
amended by section 6(b)(1), is further amended by adding at the end the 
following:
    ``(k) Advisory Committee Requirements.--
            ``(1) Qualifications.--In appointing members of any 
        advisory committee, other than the Consumer Advisory Board, the 
        Director shall ensure that at least \1/3\ of the members 
        represent the interests of consumers, including experts in 
        consumer protection, fair lending, civil rights, and 
        representatives of communities that have been significantly 
        impacted by higher-priced mortgage loans and other products 
        that resulted in consumer harm.
            ``(2) Selection of members representing minority-owned and 
        women-owned businesses.--In appointing members of any advisory 
        committee, the Director shall seek to promote diversity and 
        inclusion in making appointments, including by appointing 
        individuals who represent minority-owned and women-owned 
        businesses.''.

SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall take effect on 
the date of the enactment of this Act, except that the Director of the 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau shall have 30 days to complete any 
operational changes to the Bureau required by this Act or an amendment 
made by this Act.
                                                  Union Calendar No. 35

116th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 1500

                      [Report No. 116-57, Part I]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

    To require the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to meet its 
               statutory purpose, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                              May 10, 2019

  Reported from the Committee on Financial Services with an amendment

                              May 10, 2019

Committee on Education and Labor discharged; committed to the Committee 
 of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed