[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 109 (Monday, July 20, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


   FINANCIAL SERVICES AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2010

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 16, 2009

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3170) making 
     appropriations for financial services and general government 
     for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other 
     purposes:

  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Chair, today I rise today in support of the Financial 
Services and General Government Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 
2010, and to commend Chairman Serrano and the subcommittee for their 
hard work in crafting this bill. I urge my colleagues to support it.
  This bill will fund many of the agencies we rely upon to protect 
consumers, taxpayers and investors, which has become so increasingly 
important over the past year. The housing, financial services and 
economic crises have created a tidal wave of repercussions, all of 
which have substantially increased the burdens and demands on these 
agencies. Therefore, I am pleased to support the increased funding in 
this bill for these purposes.
  For example, the bill includes more than $1 billion for the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), an increase of $76 million 
from Fiscal Year 2009. This funding will enable the SEC to hire an 
additional 140 investigators, attorneys, and analysts, and thus 
substantially increase its enforcement capacity. We need to do more to 
improve the effectiveness of the SEC than simply adding staff, but this 
is a very important first step.
  In addition, the bill includes $292 million in funding for the 
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), more than $30 million more than was 
provided, in Fiscal Year 2009. The FTC is responsible for investigating 
and prosecuting unfair and deceptive trade practices, including 
foreclosure rescue scams, and predatory payday-lending, credit-repair 
and debt-collection services, all of which have been rampant during the 
current crisis.
  Also included is $113 million for the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission (CPSC), a modest increase from Fiscal Year 2009 which will 
help the CPSC continue to protect the American people from dangerous 
and unsafe products. Although the CPSC continues to work through 
implementation issues related to the Consumer Product Safety 
Improvement Act, I support the Act, and the CPSC's continuing efforts 
to implement it in a fair and equitable manner, and the funding 
included in this bill will enable it to do that.
  The bill also includes increased funding for the Inspectors General 
of the Department of the Treasury ($30 million), the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation ($38 million) and the SEC ($4.4 million), to 
enhance their respective abilities to ensure that the agencies are 
functioning effectively and without wasting taxpayer dollars. In 
addition, it requires the Department of the Treasury to report to 
Congress on the progress of the entities overseeing the Troubled Assets 
Relief Program (TARP) in implementing their recommendations for TARP 
reform, and protecting taxpayer investments.
  To help stimulate the economy, the bill includes almost $850 million, 
an increase of more than $230 million, in funding to the Small Business 
Administration (SBA). These funds will enable the SBA to provide $28 
billion in new loans to small businesses despite the continuing credit 
crunch, as well as $25 million in new mirco-lending. In addition, it 
provides $110 million for Small Business Development Centers and $8 
million for technical assistance to low-income small business owners.
  It also includes $244 million, an increase of $137 million from 
Fiscal Year 2009, for Community Development Financial Institutions, 
which help provide credit to low-income communities. The funding 
includes $80 million to launch a competitive grant program for the 
purpose of renovating and developing low-income housing.
  And I am particularly pleased to say that, despite attempts in 
committee and on the floor to cut this funding in half, the bill 
includes $100 million in Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funding to enable 
states to improve the administration of elections and protect the 
integrity of the vote count. Voting is the foundation of our 
democracy--it is the right through which we preserve all others. 
Everything of value must be auditable, and that is especially true of 
our votes. That is why it is so important that states using paperless 
systems have all the funding they need to convert to paper ballot 
voting systems before the next general election, and that all states 
have the funding they need to conduct audits of electronic vote 
tallies.
  Although it has been argued that the states have not claimed all of 
their appropriated HAVA funding, and that they therefore must not need 
it, this argument disregards an important fact. In order to claim their 
HAVA funding, States must first appropriate 5 percent matching funds 
from their own coffers. This was extremely challenging in 2008, given 
the crushing fiscal burdens on States simply to meet their basic fiscal 
needs. And Fiscal Year 2009 bill that appropriated additional HAVA 
funding was not enacted into law until March 2009; therefore, it is too 
early to determine how many states will be able to begin appropriating 
the required matching funds as the economic recovery progresses. 
Therefore, it is not that the states do not need this money; it is that 
they cannot afford it. This is why my Voter Confidence and Increased 
Accessibility Act of 2009, which would require paper ballot voting 
systems and routine random audits as a national standard, removes the 
matching funds requirement.
  In 2010, seven entire states and counties in a dozen others will not 
be able to independently verify the electronic tallies in their 
elections unless they use their HAVA funding to deploy accessible paper 
ballot voting systems now. Every jurisdiction in the country that has 
made a voting system change since 2006 has done this. It is time to 
make it a national standard. I thank the Subcommittee Chairman Serrano 
for his staunch support for and defense of this funding, and for 
engaging in a colloquy on the floor with me about it earlier today.
  This bill funds many agencies that play a critical role in protecting 
consumers, investors and taxpayers, and in stimulating the economy, and 
I urge my colleagues to support it.

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