Issues

Whether it’s a mortgage loan to buy your first home, or a business loan to turn your ideas into reality, access to capital is the gateway to opportunities. As a member of the House Financial Services Committee, I have been working hard to protect access to credit for Georgians in every income bracket. I have also been working to protect your financial privacy, ensure your access to the most robust capital markets in the world, and to make it easier for you to buy a home.

In the 118^th Congress, I introduced several pieces of legislation aimed at protecting Americans’ personal financial data and depoliticizing our financial system.

Depoliticizing Financial Regulators

Last Congress, two of my bills, H.R. 4823, the American Financial Institution Regulatory Sovereignty and Transparency (American FIRST) Act and H.R. 4648, legislation to hold America’s largest asset managers accountable, passed the U.S. House. Both bills were included as part of a larger package, H.R. 4790, the Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act, to combat the influence of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives in our nation’s financial system.

H.R. 4823, the American FIRST Act (Division D)

This legislation de-politicizes bank regulation, ends meddlesome foreign influence on the banking system, and removes unnecessary political appointments from the financial supervisory regime. It ensures Congress is fully aware of how international agreements affect domestic banking policy. The America FIRST Act has three key elements:

1. Removes Politics from Bank Regulation: The bill requires major federal bank regulators (The Federal Reserve, the FDIC, the OCC, the NCUA, and the FHFA) to report to Congress when implementing non-binding recommendations from Executive Orders or the Financial Stability Oversight Counsel.
2. Ensures U.S. Authority over U.S. Bank Regulators: The bill Increases transparency and congressional oversight of federal banking regulators and their interactions with international organizations, particularly non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to limit their influence over U.S. banking policy.
3. De-politicize Federal Reserve Supervision: Calls for the elimination of the Vice Chairman of Supervision at the U.S. Federal Reserve. This role was intended to centralize supervisory power within the Fed, but in recent years has been used to further political aims, particularly by promoting the Biden Administration’s climate agenda through bank regulation.

This legislation is a compilation of four previously introduced bills, including:

• H.R. 4649, the Ensuring U.S. Authority Over U.S. Banking Regulations Act, sponsored by Rep. Loudermilk (GA-11). 
• H.R. 4737, the Stop Executive Capture of Banking Regulators Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Flood (NE-01).
• H.R. 4601, the Banking Regulator International Reporting Act, sponsored by Rep. Andy Barr (KY-6).
• H.R. 4630, the Supervision Reform Act, sponsored by Rep. Andy Ogles (TN-05).

H.R. 4648, a bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to provide for duties of certain investment advisors, asset managers, and pension funds with respect to voting on shareholder proposals and for other purposes (Included in Division C)

This legislation requires America’s largest asset managers to be more transparent with the public when voting the shares entrusted to them by investors. These large firms have historically relied on external proxy advisory firms, some of whom are foreign-owned and operated, to guide how they vote the shares they manage for other investors.

This bill would also require these large firms to disclose how often they vote shares in-line with proxy advisory firms, and to explain how their votes are in the best interests of their shareholders.

Protecting Americans’ Personal Financial Data

H.R. 4551, the Protecting Investors’ Personally Identifiable Information Act would help prevent accidental or intentional data breaches by restricting the SEC’s ability to collect personally identifiable information. With this legislation, the SEC would only be able to request this data if they are investigating or enforcing violations of federal securities law.