WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Sens. John Kennedy (R-La.) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) introduced the Freedom Financing Act this week to ban financial institutions from denying service to certain constitutionally protected industries that are fully compliant with all laws and statutes.  This legislation ensures large financial institutions cannot discriminate against law-abiding companies that sell firearms, ammunition or other sporting goods by refusing to provide these companies their financial services.  Financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets will be exempt from complying with this legislation.

“It’s not a bank’s job to create policy. They need to leave the policymaking to Congress,” said Senator Kennedy. “Banks should not be able to discriminate against lawful customers on the basis of social policy.  The banks should keep in mind that these lawful customers are the same hard-working taxpayers who bailed them out during the recession.  This legislation will ban big banks from refusing to do business with customers that may not share the same political values as the bank.  This kind of power move is an unfair assertion of dominance by the big banks, which is why it should be illegal.” 

“A small number of banks controlling most of the financial sector could effectively illegalize legal commerce by refusing to finance certain industries or process certain transactions,” said Senator Cramer. “Look no further than pro-Second Amendment industries where such discrimination has already occurred. Big banks should not be the arbiters of constitutionality.”

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