[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 14, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1729-S1730]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ECONOMIC GROWTH, REGULATORY RELIEF, AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT--
                               Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 5 
minutes before we begin voting.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, we are about to witness a rare bipartisan 
moment in the Senate that has been years in the making. We have had the 
opportunity to highlight this bill over the

[[Page S1730]]

last 2 weeks, and I have been very encouraged by my colleagues' support 
for its critical results.
  Again, I thank each of the Senators who support this bill--including 
many members of the Banking Committee--for their interest, involvement, 
and the many discussions, hearings, and personal conversations we have 
had to get to this point.
  I want to stop at this point and give a special thanks to my staff, 
who has spent countless hours, weeks--actually months and years--
getting us to this point on this legislation, and the staff of the 
other Members who have worked so closely with us as we worked to find a 
yes to difficult problems and solutions that we are facing.
  Since the bill passed out of the Banking Committee, supporters have 
worked in good faith to include provisions that different Members have 
offered, including those who do not support the bill. The substitute 
amendment we introduced last week reflects the additional provisions 
that the bill supporters were able to agree to.
  The final bill we are about to vote on today is the product of 
careful negotiations and good, old-fashioned statesmanship. The 
majority of us in this body recognize that our community financial 
institutions have been struggling to keep up with the regulatory 
demands coming out of Washington and that it was time to revisit 
current law and make changes where necessary.
  While there are certain provisions that I would like to have included 
in this bill, I believe the package on which we were able to reach 
consensus is an important step in the right direction and will deliver 
much needed relief and economic growth to Main Street America.
  When this bill is signed into law, it will right-size regulation for 
financial institutions, including community banks and credit unions, 
making it easier for consumers to get mortgages and to obtain credit. 
Those are the real victims of this regulatory overreach--individuals 
who find it difficult to get access to credit, to get a loan for 
college, to get a mortgage for a house, or small businesses seeking to 
start up or to expand that cannot get necessary access to capital not 
because they are not creditworthy but because the system we have 
created makes it so that our smaller financial institutions that do the 
relationship banking throughout so much of America don't have the 
ability to serve them anymore. It also increases important consumer 
protections for veterans, senior citizens, victims of fraud, and those 
who have fallen on tough financial times.
  This bill has received widespread support for good reason. The cycle 
of lending and job creation has been stifled by onerous regulation. 
Absent excessive regulatory burdens, local banks and credit unions will 
be able to focus more on lending and in turn propel economic growth and 
create jobs.
  Not to be overlooked, this is also an important moment for 
bipartisanship and working across the aisle to legislate. Many people 
are worried about the gridlocks in Congress. This bill shows that we 
can work together and can do big things that make a big difference in 
the lives of people across this country.
  Those who support this bill have recognized that, with the right 
regulation, tailored regulation, we can promote local economic growth 
through our Nation's smaller financial institutions.
  I will end with this: This bill was a bipartisan compromise. The 
changes are common sense, and it will allow financial institutions to 
better serve their customers and communities, while maintaining safety 
and soundness and important consumer protections. At a time of intense 
political polarization, we have proven that we can work together to get 
things done.
  This is good for small financial institutions, good for small 
businesses, and good for families across America, and I encourage my 
colleagues to support its passage.
  I yield back my time.


                        Vote on Motion to Waive

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question now occurs on agreeing to the 
motion to waive.
  The yeas and nays were previously ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. 
Heinrich) is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cotton). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The yeas and nays resulted--yeas 67, nays 31, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 53 Leg.]

                                YEAS--67

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Carper
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--31

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Casey
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hirono
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Smith
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Heinrich
     McCain
       
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 67, the nays are 
31.
  Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in 
the affirmative, the motion is agreed to and the point of order falls.
  The bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading and was read 
the third time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the bill having been 
read the third time, the question is, Shall the bill pass?
  Mr. BARRASSO. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk called the roll.
  Mr. CORNYN. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Arizona (Mr. McCain).
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. 
Heinrich) is necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 67, nays 31, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 54 Leg.]

                                YEAS--67

     Alexander
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Burr
     Capito
     Carper
     Cassidy
     Cochran
     Collins
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Cotton
     Crapo
     Cruz
     Daines
     Donnelly
     Enzi
     Ernst
     Fischer
     Flake
     Gardner
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hassan
     Hatch
     Heitkamp
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johnson
     Jones
     Kaine
     Kennedy
     King
     Lankford
     Lee
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Moran
     Murkowski
     Nelson
     Paul
     Perdue
     Peters
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rounds
     Rubio
     Sasse
     Scott
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Stabenow
     Sullivan
     Tester
     Thune
     Tillis
     Toomey
     Warner
     Wicker
     Young

                                NAYS--31

     Baldwin
     Blumenthal
     Booker
     Brown
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Casey
     Cortez Masto
     Duckworth
     Durbin
     Feinstein
     Gillibrand
     Harris
     Hirono
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Markey
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murphy
     Murray
     Reed
     Sanders
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Smith
     Udall
     Van Hollen
     Warren
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                             NOT VOTING--2

     Heinrich
     McCain
       
  The bill (S. 2155), as amended, was passed.

                          ____________________