Kennedy, Scott, colleagues call on Biden administration to withdraw Basel III Endgame proposal
Nov 13 2023
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today joined Ranking Member Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and all other Republican colleagues on the Banking Committee in urging the Biden administration to withdraw the Basel III Endgame proposal.
Financial regulators will appear before the committee Tuesday to answer questions regarding what impact regulations, such as the Basel III Endgame Proposal, have on Americans.
“We have serious concerns that, as proposed, Basel III will restrict billions of dollars in capital from those who need it most, resulting in costlier and more limited access to credit for millions of Americans. This would create severe, adverse impacts on the entire U.S. economy, from every day American consumers to the small businesses that are the backbone of our economy,” the senators wrote.
“Ultimately, these large increases in capital have not been shown to be evidentially based as the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC have failed to provide proper analysis or data to justify their merits, particularly around the costs they will impose throughout all sectors of the economy,” they said.
The lawmakers highlighted concerns that the proposal would affect affordable housing, mortgage lending, small business lending, consumer lending, limit the availability of access to credit cards and home equity lines of credit and put U.S. companies at disadvantage to foreign competitors.
“As American consumers continue to struggle with persistently high inflation, reduced access to affordable homeownership, and a slowing economy driven by the reckless spending of the Biden administration, any proposed changes to our bank regulatory framework must be based on demonstrable benefits and needs, not pre-determined agendas which will only serve to harm the economy and consumers alike. Accordingly, we urge you to withdraw the Basel III Endgame proposal as written and urge the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and the OCC to operate in a more transparent and justified manner,” they concluded.
Background:
- In July, the Federal Reserve, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a joint notice of proposed rulemaking for revising bank capital requirements, known as Basel III Endgame.
- Revisions to capital requirements in the proposal come from changes to international capital standards, which the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in Switzerland issued in response to the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
- Regulators intend to apply their rule to banks with over $100 billion in assets, which will impact the largest banks in the U.S. and change how they conduct lending and trading.
Sens. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), Todd Young (R-Ind.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) also signed the letter.
The full letter is available here.
Kennedy announces $1.1 million in Hurricane Laura aid for Lake Charles Memorial Hospital
Nov 13 2023
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $1,110,899 in a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant for Louisiana disaster aid.
“Hurricane Laura struck south Louisiana hard and left buildings with water damage. I’m glad to see that this $1.1 million will help Lake Charles Memorial Hospital address mold from the storm,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $1,110,899 to Lake Charles Memorial Hospital for mold remediation as a result of Hurricane Laura.
Kennedy explains why wages are falling under Bidenomics: “They haven’t kept up with inflation”
Nov 07 2023
Watch Kennedy’s comments here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today detailed how real wages have fallen for Americans because of the persistent inflation under Pres. Joe Biden. Kennedy noted that weekly wages, when adjusted for inflation, have decreased 3.9% since President Biden’s first full month in office.
Key comments from Kennedy’s remarks include:
“Pres. Biden’s inflation—which is man-made, and that man’s name is Joe Biden—is costing my people, the average Louisiana family, $806—not a year—a month! Eight-hundred-and-six dollars a month. That's $9,700 a year. Now imagine, if you were making $55,000 a year and you've got to come out-of-pocket with an extra $9,700 a year.”
. . .
“What [Americans] care about is prices going down, and that’s de-inflation, and we do not have de-inflation. The point I'm trying to make is: We're stuck with these high prices. If they get inflation down to zero, those prices are not going down.”
. . .
“Since Pres. Biden has been in office, consumer goods in the United States of America are up 17%.”
. . .
“The average wage of the average American has gone down after inflation. . . . The appropriate way to look at wage increases is not to look at the raw or the aggregate increase—[it’s] looking at the increase after inflation.
“And if you take all the average wage increases in the United States of America, and you look at the average inflation in the United States of America, workers have actually lost ground. Workers today—in Nov. of 2023—are actually making less per hour, after inflation, than they were in Feb. 2021.”
Kennedy’s full remarks are available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, today announced $9,722,145 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants for Louisiana disaster aid.
“So many communities in south Louisiana were left devastated by Hurricanes Laura, Zeta and Ida. I’m grateful to see this $9.7 million help their recovery,” said Kennedy.
The FEMA aid will fund the following:
- $2,766,186 to Tangipahoa Parish for management costs associated with Hurricane Ida.
- $1,819,564 to the Terrebonne Levee and Conservation District to repair damages to the Humble Canal Floodgate resulting from Hurricane Ida.
- $1,608,031 to the Society of the Roman Catholic Church to repair damages to St. Margaret School resulting from Hurricane Laura.
- $1,341,745 to the city of Lake Charles to repair damages to the Henry Heights Recreation Center resulting from Hurricane Laura.
- $1,169,690 to the Office of Risk Management to repair damages to the Elaine Nunez Community College, Office Facilities Corporation and Louisiana University Marine Consortium resulting from Hurricane Zeta.
- $1,016,928 to St. John the Baptist Parish Library for the water removal and mold remediation of LaPlace Library, Roland Borne, Sr. Memorial Library, Garyville Library and Reserve Library.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) co-sponsored Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Sherrod Brown’s (D-Ohio) VA Home Loan Awareness Act of 2023, which would help veterans finance homes with benefits available to them from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Home Loan Program.
“America’s veterans deserve the best loan program option possible when they finance a home for their families. I’m proud to sponsor the VA Home Loan Awareness Act to help make the American dream a reality for those who courageously serve our country by ensuring that more veterans are aware of the loan benefits available to them,” said Kennedy.
“Those who have risked their lives for our freedom should be able to afford a house in the country they’ve sworn to protect. I am glad to lead this bill to inform Hoosier veterans of the benefits they that have earned and deserve,” said Braun.
“By letting veterans and servicemembers know they may be eligible for a VA home loan, we can help make the dream of homeownership a reality for more military families and make sure that the Ohioans who have served our country get the benefits they’ve earned,” said Brown.
The VA Home Loan Program offers benefits for veterans financing their home purchases including no down payment, no private mortgage insurance and lower interest rates than conventional Federal Housing Administration loans.
Currently, just 13% of veterans utilize their VA Home Loan benefit. The legislation would:
- Add a disclosure informing veterans that they may be eligible for a VA Home Loan on the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) form.
- Direct applicants to consult their lenders for more information about the VA Home Loan Program.
- Instruct the Government Accountability Office to conduct a review and report to Congress regarding lenders’ adoption of the URLA form updates.
Full text of the VA Home Loan Awareness Act of 2023 is available here.
Kennedy, Sullivan urge Blinken to seek comprehensive UN sanctions on Iran missile and drone programs
Nov 06 2023
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) in urging Secretary of State Antony Blinken to seek comprehensive United Nations (UN) sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile and drone programs before the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) expires in 2025.
Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Katie Boyd Britt (R-Ala.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), John Thune (R-S.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) also signed the letter.
“We urge you to table a new comprehensive framework for Iran-related sanctions that supersedes UNSC Resolution 2231 and lays the groundwork in advance of the resolution’s slated termination in October 2025,” the senators wrote.
“Iran’s nuclear program remains the number one long-term threat to stability and security in the Middle East and beyond. However, this is not the only threat the Iranian regime poses. Iran’s material support for terrorist organizations like Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and other proxy forces in the Middle East are front and center in the current crisis in Israel, as is Tehran’s assistance for Russia’s war in Ukraine,” they explained.
“In addition to the expiry in October 2020 of the UN’s conventional arms embargo against Iran, the most recent expiration of sanctions on ballistic missiles and drones leaves the world with a rapidly evaporating UN framework for multilateral sanctions on Iran at precisely the time the threat from Iran has become so menacingly clear,” they added.
The senators wrote that a new UNSC resolution should target the same activity the UN permanently sanctioned prior to the 2015 enactment of Resolution 2231, including:
- Involvement in Iran’s enrichment, reprocessing and heavy water production.
- Assistance with its ballistic missile testing, development and launches.
- Transfer of nuclear and missile technology to Iran.
- Transfer of conventional weapons, rockets and drones to and from Iran.
“It should also add a multilateral prohibition on the import of Iranian oil, petroleum products, metals, or investment in its energy sector, essentially multi-lateralizing the objective of American secondary sanctions in these areas,” the lawmakers concluded.
The senators noted that Beijing and Moscow have made common cause with each other and Iran to undermine the global operating system in support of liberty that the U.S. has forged in cooperation with its allies over the last 80 years. They argued that U.S. must open a conversation with those same allies about the path forward should UNSC Resolution 2231 sanctions expire permanently in 2025.
The full letter is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) in introducing the National Oversight of Transported Immigrants to Communities is Essential (NOTICE) Act to require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to notify states and localities when the department transports migrants into their communities.
“The Biden administration is turning every town in America into a border town, and it’s putting Louisianians at risk. I’m proud to support this common-sense bill to give state and local law enforcement agencies the information they need to protect our communities from migrants who commit crime,” said Kennedy.
“Joe Biden’s border crisis has made every single community across the country less safe. You’d think when you have Democrat Governors in deep blue states like Illinois and New York complaining about the strain and cost the bussing of migrants has had on their states that this Administration would start to show some willingness here in Washington to secure the border, but it hasn’t. Nothing about the invasion at our southern border is compassionate, it’s certainly not safe, and absolutely unsustainable. Americans deserve to know who is being pushed into their communities at taxpayer’s expense,” said Marshall.
The legislation would require DHS, Health and Human Services or other agencies to notify states and localities when the Biden administration brings migrants from locations within 100 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border into their jurisdictions. Agencies would also be required to disclose the following information to states about the migrants being brought into a local area:
- The alien’s legal name, country of origin, age and sex.
- Any crimes for which the alien has been convicted.
- Any criminal gang with which such alien is or has been affiliated.
- Security screenings that have been performed with respect to such aliens.
Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Tedd Budd (R-N.C.) are also cosponsoring the legislation.
Full text of the legislation is available here.
Kennedy, Daines introduce bill to redesignate Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization
Nov 02 2023
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) in introducing the Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act to redesignate Ansarallah, more commonly known as the Houthis, as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), given the group’s actions to destabilize the region, the security threat it poses to the U.S., and most recently, its involvement in the ongoing attacks on Israel.
On Oct. 19, 2023, the U.S.S. Carney intercepted cruise missiles and military drones that the Houthis launched from Yemen.
“Sec. Blinken must act now to reverse the Biden administration’s irresponsible decision to revoke the designation of one of Yemen’s most notorious perpetrators of violence as a foreign terror organization. The White House must stand firm against the Houthis, one of Iran’s proxy armies, by imposing sanctions and preventing them from launching further attacks on Israel,” said Kennedy.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated the Houthis as an FTO on Jan. 19, 2021. Approximately one month later, the Biden administration revoked the Houthi’s FTO designation.
“The Biden administration needs to send a strong, decisive message to the Iranian regime that the U.S. will not stand idly by and watch Iran’s proxies try and destroy Israel. The unspeakable horrors that we have witnessed over the past several weeks have been at the hands of Iranian-backed terror groups. As the situation in Israel escalates and the Houthis insert themselves in the conflict, the U.S. must immediately redesignate the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization and enforce sanctions that will help strengthen our national security and weaken terrorist organizations,” said Daines.
Sens. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) also cosponsored the bill.
Full bill text is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) has joined Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act of 2023 to sanction purchases of Iranian oil. The SHIP Act would impose sanctions on foreign ports and refineries that knowingly accept and refine petroleum products from Iran.
“With the cash it’s making from oil sales, Iran is fanning the flames of global instability by enriching uranium and sponsoring terror. I’m proud to support the SHIP Act to hold ports and refineries that Tehran does business with accountable by expanding U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil purchasers,” said Kennedy.
“As the regime in Tehran continues to enrich itself through the sale of sanctioned oil, we must ensure that U.S. sanctions on all individuals and entities linked to the illicit trade of Iranian oil are rigorously enforced,” said Rubio.
The legislation would require the Energy Information Administration to issue an annual report on Iran’s growing exports of petroleum. The president would also be able to waive sanctions under the SHIP Act if vital to national security interests.
Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), John Hoeven (N.D.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) also cosponsored the legislation.
The full bill text is available here.
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. J.D. Vance and all other Republican members of the Senate Banking Committee in urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to reverse its guidance requiring lenders to open lines of credit for illegal immigrants.
On Oct. 12, the CFPB and the Department of Justice issued a joint directive warning lenders against “unnecessary or overbroad reliance” on a borrower’s immigration status.
In a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and Attorney General Merrick Garland, the senators wrote that the new guidance threatens the stability of financial institutions and defies common sense for lenders.
“[Y]our agencies claim that if a creditor has a ‘blanket policy’ on immigration status, then they risk violating fair lending laws. The joint statement also suggests that as long as an applicant for credit has a good credit score and other ‘credit qualifications,’ then his or her immigration status should not matter,” wrote the senators.
“The CFPB and DOJ’s joint directive not only flies in the face of responsible lending standards, risk-based pricing, and sound risk management, but also contradicts and rewrites decades worth of guidance from the CFPB and the federal banking regulators,” they continued.
“Financial institutions have long relied on this guidance in their assessment of credit risk, and the abrupt upending of the CFPB’s interpretation of Reg B and ECOA not only poses serious compliance costs, but could also have detrimental impacts on the safety and soundness of the banking sector, and financial stability in the American economy more broadly,” explained the lawmakers.
“[T]he importance of considering immigration status when assessing the potential of repayment is nothing short of common sense,” the senators added.
“As members of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, we urge you to retract your agencies’ irresponsible joint statement and instead endorse risk-based lending practices that promote safety and soundness in the bank sector,” they concluded.
The full letter is available here.
