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On Tuesday, Congressman Bill Huizenga spoke on the House floor in support of repealing the anti-arbitration rule recently put forward by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Through the Congressional Review Act, the House voted to eliminate this onerous anti-consumer regulation by a vote of 231 to 190. This is the 16th time the House has utilized the Congressional Review Act to repeal a burdensome Obama-era regulation. Thus far, President Trump has signed 14 of these regulatory reforms into law, including one authored by Congressman Huizenga.

Congressman Bill Huizenga:

Let’s talk about a stacked deck: Trial attorneys putting cash over conscience. That is not the answer that we are in search of, but it’s the answer that others, who are opposed to this, certainly are.

The CFPB, the so-called Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, has a study itself that shows that consumers who actually use arbitration reach more favorable outcomes then those who are roped into lawsuits with cash-starved trial lawyers.

It is astounding that only 13% of these lawsuits provide any benefit to actual consumers but the Bureau is still pushing this ill-advised rule. Arbitration decisions also come much more quickly for consumers. Again, the Bureau’s own study concludes that arbitration decisions come 12 times faster than lawsuits.

So let’s review. A faster, more favorable outcome for consumers versus helping trial lawyers line their pockets. This should not be hard.

According to the D.C. Circuit Court, unelected Bureau Director Cordray has more unilateral authority than any single commissioner or board member in any other independent agency in the entire U.S. Government. Congress must begin to use its authority to hold this agency accountable for its anti-consumer policies and actually provide the checks and balances that our founders would have intended. That is the stacked deck we have right now folks.

The CFPB’s flawed arbitration rule does absolutely nothing to protect the consumers it is charged with protecting, instead it is nothing more than a windfall for trial lawyers and well connected Washington elites. The rule’s only accomplishment will be to create more class-action lawsuits, lining trial-lawyers pockets with more cash, while providing no real protection to consumers.

This anti-consumer rule will have the effect of making consumers wait longer for worse decisions as they seek resolutions for their disputes. In no way, shape, or form does this rule actually do what the Bureau was created to do - protect consumers.

This CRA is an important step in allowing Congress to reign in this rogue agency.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.