[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5935]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      A MODEL OF FEDERAL/STATE COOPERATION ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 13, 2011

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, one of the most troubling 
inconsistencies in our political dialogue is the one in which many 
conservatives argue on some issues that the Federal Government must be 
respectful of states' rights and not intrude on the prerogatives of the 
States, but, on the other hand, when any significant group of 
businesses is offended by regulatory actions at the State level, that 
one national federal standard is necessary.
  This has been particularly the case in the area of financial 
regulation. In 2004, under President Bush, the Comptroller of the 
Currency--a holdover from the Clinton administration to make this 
somewhat bipartisan--preempted all state laws regulating the activities 
of national banks. This cancellation of a variety of State consumer 
protection laws contributed to our national crisis, because many of the 
States would have prohibited the kind of irresponsible loans to people 
who could not afford them, which contributed to our financial crisis. 
In the Financial Reform bill last year, we restored the status quo that 
existed before 2004, in which the Federal Government had the power to 
prevent inconsistent and excessively intrusive regulation, but did not 
seek to prevent the States from taking steps to protect their citizens 
from abuses.
  In fact, sensible public policy recognizes a role for both the 
Federal Government and the States in this area, and I am very pleased--
but not surprised--that Elizabeth Warren, on behalf of the Consumer 
Financial Protection Bureau, created a financial format, and the 
Presidential Initiative Working Group of that National Association of 
Attorneys General recently announced an agreement on principles to 
govern their joint activities in this area.
  Mr. Speaker, as this agreement shows, consumer protection is an area 
where Federal and State policies can and should be coordinated to the 
benefit of our citizens, and the conflict that some have tried to 
foment between Federal and State activities in this area is based not 
on any commitment to federalism, but rather on a desire to hinder 
effective financial regulation in the service of those businesses that 
would prefer to work unhindered by any such rules.
  Elizabeth Warren, Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to 
the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB, and North Carolina Attorney 
General Roy Cooper, who is President of the NAAG, in announcing this 
important agreement, make this point clear.
  Mr. Speaker, the need for there to be Federal/State cooperation in 
consumer protection--and the fact that this can be done in the context 
of a healthy and vigorous financial system, and in the true spirit of 
American federalism--is not only important in itself; it provides a 
model for how we can work together in appropriate regulation in other 
areas and I ask that the statement announcing this agreement from the 
U.S. Treasury Department Office of Public Affairs be printed here.

           U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Public Affairs

     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 11, 2011
     CONTACT: CFPB Public Affairs, (202) 435-7454


   CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU AND NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF 
 ATTORNEYS GENERAL PRESIDENTIAL INITIATIVE WORKING GROUP RELEASE JOINT 
                        STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

     Consumer Bureau, State Attorneys General Partnership Will 
         Help Better Protect American Consumers of Financial 
         Products and Services from Unlawful Acts and Practices
       Washington--The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) 
     and the Presidential Initiative Working Group of the National 
     Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) today announced 
     agreement on a Joint Statement of Principles, the first step 
     in forging a new partnership between federal and state 
     officials to protect consumers of financial products and 
     services.
       Elizabeth Warren, Assistant to the President and Special 
     Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB, 
     highlighted the agreement in her remarks at the NAAG 
     Presidential Initiative Summit today in Charlotte, NC.
       ``I anticipate that our cooperation will have a profound 
     effect on the consumer financial markets,'' Warren told state 
     attorneys general and others gathered at the summit, 
     according to her prepared remarks. ``Together, we can pose a 
     greater deterrent to unscrupulous financial services 
     providers. We can protect more consumers, and we can ensure 
     that more institutions follow the rules.''
       ``People are hurt every day by unfair financial products,'' 
     said North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who serves 
     as President of the NAAG. ``This agreement will put more cops 
     on the beat to protect consumers and businesses that are 
     doing the right thing.''
       The Joint Statement of Principles was developed to advance 
     three goals shared by the CFPB and state attorneys general to 
     ensure protections for consumers of financial products and 
     services: protect consumers of financial products or services 
     from unlawful acts or practices; provide clear rules that 
     improve the marketplace for consumers and remove unfair 
     competition for the benefit of law-abiding businesses; and 
     find ways to promote understanding and address concerns 
     raised by consumers about financial products or services as 
     efficiently and effectively as possible.
       In the Joint Statement, the parties agree to:
       Develop joint training programs and share information about 
     developments in federal consumer financial law and state 
     consumer protection laws that apply to consumer financial 
     products or services;
       Share information, data, and analysis about conduct and 
     practices in the markets for consumer financial products or 
     services to inform enforcement policies and priorities;
       Engage in regular consultation to identify mutual 
     enforcement priorities that will ensure effective and 
     consistent enforcement of the laws that protect consumers of 
     financial products or services;
       Support each other, to the fullest extent permitted by law 
     as warranted by the circumstances, in the enforcement of the 
     laws that protect consumers of financial products or 
     services, including by joint or coordinated investigations of 
     wrongdoing and coordinated enforcement actions;
       Pursue legal remedies to foster transparency, competition, 
     and fairness in the markets for consumer financial products 
     or services across state lines and without regard to 
     corporate forms or charter choice for those providers who 
     compete directly with one another in the same markets;
       Develop a consistent and enduring framework to share 
     information and to coordinate enforcement activities to the 
     extent practicable and consistent with governing law;
       Share, refer, and route complaints and consumer complaint 
     information between the CFPB and the state attorneys general;
       Analyze and leverage the input they receive from consumers 
     and the public in order to advance their mutual goal of 
     protecting consumers of financial products or services; and
       Create and support technologies to enable data sharing and 
     procedures that will support complaint cooperation.

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