The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“FRAUD ENFORCEMENT AND RECOVERY ACT OF 2009” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H5686-H5688 on May 18, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FRAUD ENFORCEMENT AND RECOVERY ACT OF 2009
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the House amendments to the Senate bill (S. 386) to improve enforcement of mortgage fraud, securities fraud, financial institution fraud, and other frauds related to federal assistance and relief programs, for the recovery of funds lost to these frauds, and for other purposes.
The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
The text of the Senate amendment to the House amendments is as follows:
Senate amendment to House amendments:
On page 31, line 13, after ``the Commission'' insert: ``, including an affirmative vote of at least one member appointed under subparagraph (C) or (D) of subsection
(b)(1)''
Resolved further, That the Senate agree to the amendment of the House of Representatives to the title of the aforesaid bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) each will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Virginia.
General Leave
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentleman from Virginia?
There was no objection.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, the bill, S. 386, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009, is a bill crafted to combat the financial fraud that contributed to causing, and worsening, our Nation's mortgage crisis, as well as other financial schemes such as securities fraud, ID theft, and organized retail theft. Not only does the bill clarify certain Criminal Code sections, but more importantly, it provides resources to law enforcement agencies to enforce present antifraud statutes.
This is essentially the same bill the House passed 2 weeks ago, with a minor amendment that the Senate added before it approved the House-
amended bill last week, by unanimous consent.
It also keeps the independent bipartisan commission proposed by the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Larson) to examine more broadly the circumstances giving rise to the current financial crisis.
The Senate has clarified the subpoena power of the commission to specify that at least one Republican-appointed commissioner must approve the issuance of any subpoena.
I would like to thank, once again, the chairman of the full Judiciary Committee, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers); the ranking member of the full committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Smith); the ranking member of the Crime Subcommittee, Mr. Gohmert; and other Members of the committee, such as the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) as well as the gentlelady from Illinois (Mrs. Biggert), and our colleagues in the other body for their help in making this such a strong bipartisan bill.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill and to send it to the President.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, S. 386, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 improves current criminal and civil fraud statutes to help the Federal Government bring predatory lenders and unscrupulous financial institutions to justice.
Judiciary Chairman Conyers and Ranking Member Smith sponsored the companion legislation in the House, H.R. 1748, the Fight Fraud Act of 2009. S. 386, as amended, merges these two important pieces of legislation together to provide comprehensive and effective solutions to combating mortgage fraud, securities fraud, and other financial crimes.
The House passed this legislation in early May with overwhelming bipartisan support.
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The Senate has returned the bill to us with one important change. Section 5 of the bill creates a Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission within the legislative branch. This commission is charged with examining the causes, both domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States and reporting its findings to Congress.
The bill grants the commission the authority to issue subpoenas, as necessary, to conduct its investigation and meet its obligation to Congress. A subpoena may be issued only by the agreement of the chairperson and vice chairperson or by approval from a majority of the commission's members.
The Senate amendment clarifies that a majority vote must include the vote of at least one Member appointed by either the minority leader of the House or the minority leader of the Senate.
This provides additional assurance that the examination undertaken by the commission, and in its exercise of subpoena authority, will not be politicized. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. POE of Texas. I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess.)
Mr. BURGESS. I thank the gentleman for yielding. My concern today involves just that creation of a financial commission. I spoke on this when the bill passed this House earlier this month.
Madam Speaker, I'm generally not in favor of commissions. I think Congress needs to do the work that the people sent us here to do. But if we have to create a commission then, please, let us create that commission so it is above reproach, so that it does not appear to have a political agenda.
The 9/11 Commission really should be the model that this body uses for the creation of this financial commission. After all, the events we saw in September of 2008 have been very devastating to this country, even as the events of September 2001 were devastating to this country.
We have not looked back into the causes of this crisis. We have not held anyone accountable. Most importantly, since we don't know what went wrong, we don't know how to keep it from happening again.
Congressman Brady from Texas and myself introduced a bill earlier this year for just such a commission, H.R. 2111, but it differs substantially from the bill under consideration today. The bill we are considering again creates a 10-member commission, but composed of 6 Democrats and 4 Republicans.
The 9/11 Commission was split 50-50. So why would we unbalance this commission and, quite frankly, if there's guilt on one side, there's guilt on the other. And why would we tip the scale in one direction or the other?
S. 386 allows the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee to select a commissioner. The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee may have been part of the problem.
This bill allows the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee to appoint a representative to the commission. The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee may have been part of the problem.
S. 386 creates an accountability commission focused on protecting not the people, but the government. H.R. 2111, however, creates an accountability commission focused on protecting taxpayers and restoring public confidence, something that is missing at this critical juncture.
This commission that we are authorizing today is little more than a fig leaf to provide some measure of congressional cover. And, Madam Speaker, when do we get the report? December of 2010. Conveniently timed a month after the next election. If we are so serious about doing this, what is to prevent us from wrapping this work up within a year's time, or September of 2010 at the latest, so that the American people would have this information before they go to the polls next fall?
Now, I just want to close by quoting a few lines from Investors Business Daily, an article entitled: ``Probe Yourselves, from April 16, 2009.'' The article says: ``Regulators also deserve blame for lowering lending standards that then contributed to riskier home ownership and the housing bubble.'' Exactly correct.
Continuing to quote: ``As such, the proposed commission will be little more than a fig leaf to cover Congress' own multitude of sins.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. POE of Texas. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.
Mr. BURGESS. I thank the gentleman. ``Letting Members, the true creators of this financial mess, to bash business leaders as they pose as populist saviors of Main Street from Wall Street.''
Continuing to quote: ``On NPR Thursday,'' back in April, ``a reporter confronted Representative Frank, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, with the fact that his $300 billion Hope for Homeowners program passed with much fanfare a year ago that has so far helped one homeowner.'' One. One homeowner. And the response was: ``It was the fault of the right. And Bush.''
Quoting again: ``Truth is, the chairman's party has been in charge since 2006. And during that time, Democrats have presided over one of the most disgraceful and least accomplished Congresses in history. This financial mess began on their watch, yet they pretend otherwise.''
Further quoting from the Investors Business Daily, the commission that is outlined ``won't get to the bottom of our financial crisis; it will carefully select scapegoats to be ritually shamed by the liberal media, stripped of their wealth, and exiled. Then new rules will be imposed that will no doubt make things worse. And the cycle will begin again.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has again expired.
Mr. POE of Texas. I yield the gentleman an additional 2 minutes.
Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, quoting again: ``Wall Street didn't create this subprime mess. Congress, through repeated interventions in healthy markets, did. And when the whole thing failed, it was Congress' fault.''
Investors Business Daily concludes by saying: ``We'd be happy to support a 9/11-style commission to look into the causes of the financial meltdown. But only if Congress agrees to put itself under the microscope. Anything less would be a sham.''
Madam Speaker, they're exactly correct. It will be a sham. The American people will see through this. We should do this correctly. If we're going to have a commission, it should be a 50-50 bipartisan split.
Let's investigate. Let's figure out what went wrong. Most importantly, rather than just assigning blame, let us create an environment where this never is able to happen again.
Mr. POE of Texas. I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Madam Speaker, the bill as it's before us passed the Senate by unanimous consent. I urge my colleagues to concur in the Senate amendment, thereby passing the bill so it can go to the President so that resources can be made available to law enforcement and those who are guilty of fraudulent schemes can be held accountable. I would urge us to pass the bill.
Mr. DINGELL. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of S. 386, the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act. This legislation provides the Department of Justice with the tools it needs to fight fraud in the use of funds under TARP and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. S. 386 has a number of provisions that seek to protect Americans by ensuring the agencies tasked with investigating and prosecuting mortgage and financial fraud have the funding and personnel they need to do so. I am also pleased the House recognizes the need for increased accountability for mortgage lending businesses not directly regulated or insured by the Federal Government, an industry responsible for nearly half the residential mortgage market before the housing crash.
I am more hesitant to support other provisions of S. 386. This bill includes an amendment to establish a special commission to investigate the causes of the current financial crisis. I believe that any such commission should be comprised of members of this body, who are furthermore from the committees of jurisdiction relevant to the matter. I have introduced a resolution, H. Res. 345, to do precisely that. It is my long-held belief that the Congress should, contrary to the prevailing fashion of the times, conduct, its own oversight work. For the simple fact that members of this body will ultimately write the legislation to re-impose a strict regulatory framework upon the financial services industry, they should be personally involved in vigorous efforts to expose the many and sundry causes of this country's recent economic collapse. In brief, well-informed members of Congress write more effective legislation.
With this in mind, I voice my support for aggressive oversight of the financial services industry, but respectfully object to the manner in which S. 386, as amended, mandates it be performed.
Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Scott) that the House suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the House amendments to the Senate bill, S. 386.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
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