[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 132 (Tuesday, September 16, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1423-E1424]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         INSURANCE CAPITAL STANDARDS CLARIFICATION ACT OF 2014

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JEB HENSARLING

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2014

  Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5461, the 
Insurance Capital Standards Clarification Act of 2014, sponsored by our 
colleague Mr. Barr of Kentucky.
  This bill is a common sense fix to several problems that have arisen 
from the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act--problems that are 
detrimental to our economy and needlessly limit opportunities for our 
fellow Americans to live better lives.
  Mr. Speaker, we all know that today 19 million Americans are 
unemployed or underemployed. No matter how hard many of them try to 
find work, the jobs just aren't there in this economy because the 
President's economic policies have failed them. Clearly, job number one 
for Congress continues to be job creation and economic growth. That's 
why the House has passed more than 40 bills aimed at creating jobs, 
many of them I am proud to say originated in the Financial Services 
Committee, which I chair. These are common sense ideas, many of them 
bipartisan, aimed at supporting wage earners, strengthening small 
businesses, and removing Washington's onerous red tape road blocks that 
stifle growth and kill opportunity.
  Yet Senate leaders have failed to bring a single one of these jobs 
bills up for a vote, even though they are supported by both Republicans 
and Democrats. Before time during this Congress runs out, I once again 
call on the Senate's leaders to get to work. They can start with H.R. 
5461. Both Democrats and Republicans strongly support this bill. Even 
the Ranking Member of the Financial Services Committee--who has 
announced she will be voting against H.R. 5461--acknowledges in a 
``Dear Colleague'' letter circulated to all our offices that the bill 
offers ``bipartisan, sensible regulatory relief;'' yet still for some 
reason she will vote against it.
  Let me briefly describe this bill and why it's needed to help the 
American people.
  H.R. 5461 provides the Federal Reserve with the flexibility to set 
capital standards for insurance companies under its supervision. 
Because of the onerous Dodd-Frank Act, Washington regulators are 
imposing one-size-fits-all capital standards designed for banks onto 
firms that are not banks but insurance companies. Research has shown 
that applying capital standards that are meant for banks to insurance 
companies could massively increase costs between $5 billion to $8 
billion. This increase in costs will result in higher premiums and 
reduced benefits for policyholders. Many policies could simply become 
unavailable to consumers as companies stop offering certain insurance 
products. H.R. 5461 ensures proper capital standards are applied to 
insurers under the purview of the Fed and that

[[Page E1424]]

these institutions can continue serving American consumers.
  In addition, H.R. 5461 incorporates three other bills that originated 
in the Financial Services Committee and previously received 
overwhelming bipartisan support: H.R. 634, the Business Mitigation and 
Price Stabilization Act; H.R. 3211, the Mortgage Choice Act; and H.R. 
4167, the Restoring Proven Financing for American Employees Act.
  In this time when there seems to be so little that Republicans and 
Democrats in Washington agree on, I think it's important to note just 
how much bipartisan support all of these bills earned.
  H.R. 634 passed the Financial Services Committee 59-0 on May 7, 2013 
and then passed the House 411-22 on June 12, 2013. This bipartisan bill 
exempts manufacturers, ranchers and small companies that buy and sell 
derivatives to hedge against business risk from burdensome margin and 
capital requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act.
  H.R. 3211 passed the committee unanimously by voice vote on May 22 of 
this year and then passed the House by voice vote on June 9. This 
bipartisan bill increases access to mortgage credit for low- and 
middle-income Americans by modifying the definition of ``points and 
fees'' for the purposes of determining whether a mortgage is eligible 
for treatment as a ``Qualified Mortgage'' under Dodd-Frank.
  H.R. 4167 passed the committee 53-3 on March 14, 2014 and then passed 
the House by voice vote on April 29. This bipartisan bill addresses 
unintended, harmful economic consequences for collateralized loan 
obligations caused by the final version of Dodd-Frank's Volcker rule.
  Mr. Speaker, not a single one of these ideas is divisive. All are 
bipartisan, and each one offers common sense regulatory relief to our 
struggling economy. Anyone who tries to claim otherwise is simply 
misstating the facts because the record is absolutely clear.
  I urge House passage of this bipartisan bill, including its 
provisions that were previously and overwhelmingly approved by the 
House with support from Republicans and Democrats, and I call on Senate 
leaders to put partisanship aside and to stop their dilatory tactics. 
The House once again is offering bipartisan solutions to help our 
economy and create jobs. There's no excuse why the Senate should not do 
the same.

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