Washington D.C. (September 19, 2024) | This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) released the following statement after his 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, both 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.

“America’s banking regulators have been hijacked and are pushing highly partisan environmental, social, and governance (ESG) policies, reversing long standing efforts to be objective,” said Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11). “The American FIRST Act will de-politicize banking regulation, remove unnecessary political influence from the financial supervisory regime, and restore transparency and accountability in our financial system. I am proud to see this legislation pass the House today; and I thank Speaker Johnson, Leader Scalise and the House Financial Services Committee Republicans for their commitment in getting it to the House Floor for a vote. I strongly urge the Senate to pass this legislation.”

“The Biden-Harris administration’s Federal banking regulators are pushing climate policies via financial supervision with little to no way for Congress to conduct meaningful oversight. My provision in this package requires transparency on the regulators’ meetings with global governance groups that create these policies with which regulators comply under the guise of international standardization. This legislation will shine a light on how regulators are being influenced by non-elected, non-American governance groups and ensure Congress can hold U.S. agencies accountable for overstepping their mandated authority,” stated Rep. Andy Barr (KY-6).

“The Biden Administration has repeatedly tried to use the regulatory power of executive branch agencies to enact the policy wish list of activists. The Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act helps ensure that federal agencies don’t impose ESG and other radical policies on our financial markets. This package is critical to stopping the Biden Administration’s regulatory overreach and I appreciate the work of Congressman Loudermilk and everyone who stepped up to contribute to this effort,” stated Rep. Mike Flood (NE-1).

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: The bill 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.

Read the full text here of H.R. 4790, the Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act, which includes H.R. 4823 and H.R. 4648.

Washington D.C. (September 20, 2024) | This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Chairman of the Committee on House Administration's Oversight Subcommittee revealed that days before January 6, 2021, President Trump met with senior Pentagon leaders urging them to do their jobs to protect lives and property. The transcripts released show Trump gave senior Pentagon leadership directives to keep January 6 peaceful - including using the National Guard - which the Pentagon leaders ignored. This revelation directly contradicts the conclusions drawn in the flawed DoD IG report on January 6, 2021.

In response to these revelations, Rep. Loudermilk released the following statement:

“Pentagon leadership prioritized concerns of optics over their duty to protect lives,” said Rep. Loudermilk. “President Trump met with senior Pentagon leaders and directed them to make sure any events on January 6, 2021 were safe. It is very concerning that these Senior Pentagon officials ignored President Trump’s guidance AND misled Congressional Leaders to believe they were doing their job, when they were not. The DoD IG’s report is fundamentally flawed. It does not draw conclusions from the interviews they conducted, but pushes a narrative to keep their hands clean. We have many questions for them, and we will continue to dig until we are satisfied the American people know the truth."

Click here to see key excerpts from these transcripts.

Click here to read the transcripts in full.

See below for a full breakdown of the Pentagon leaders' choices to ignore President Trump's directives.

Days before January 6, 2021, President Trump met with senior Pentagon leaders urging them to do their jobs to protect lives and property. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Mark Milley, recalls a conversation between the Acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, and President Trump:

Milley: “The President just says, ‘Hey, look at this. There’s going to be a large amount of protestors here on the 6th, make sure that you have sufficient National Guard or Soldiers to make sure it’s a safe event.’… [POTUS said] I don’t care if you use Guard, or Soldiers, active duty Soldiers, do whatever you have to do. Just make sure it’s safe.' [SecDef] Miller responds by saying, 'Hey, we’ve got a plan, and we’ve got it covered.'”

On January 5, the Secretary of the Army, Ryan McCarthy, placed unprecedented restrictions on DCNG Commander Major General William Walker to prevent any movement to the Capitol without Secretary McCarthy’s explicit permission on January 6 and 7.

On January 6, 2021, the outer perimeter on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol was breached by rioters at 12:53pm. The DCNG arrived five hours later. Click here to view the timeline.

These transcripts prove President Trump’s senior Pentagon leaders were focused on OPTICS, instead of doing their job, as the Capitol was breached:

Miller: “There was absolutely – there is absolutely no way I was putting U.S. military forces at the Capitol, period.”

Director of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Walter Piatt: “Was optics a concern for us as we prepared to use soldiers downtown in Washington D.C? Absolutely.”

As “optics” concerns were being discussed and Secretary McCarthy claims he was ‘developing a plan’, the DCNG was ready to move, less than 2 miles from the Capitol – awaiting Secretary McCarthy’s authorization.

Walker’s General Counsel, Colonel Earl Matthews: “We were seeing the Congress of the United States being overrun, and the Guard – and the Capitol Police, the MPD, they need help. We had people at the D.C. Armory who are able to help, and they’re not moving. They’re not allowed to move.”

DCNG Command Sergeant Major Michael Brooks: “They were ready to go, and they just couldn’t understand why they were still sitting there. Literally sitting on a bus, just waiting to drive to the Capitol and do the best they could do to support Capitol Police.”

At 3:04pm, Miller provided verbal approval to Secretary McCarthy for immediate deployment of the DCNG. What was Secretary McCarthy doing between receiving this approval, and 5:08pm, when the order eventually reaches the D.C. National Guard? Why didn’t he communicate this approval for a full two hours?

At 3:18pm, Secretary McCarthy told Congressional Democrat Leadership that the DC National Guard had the “green light” and “is moving”. Two hours would pass before Secretary McCarthy’s deployment order would ACTUALLY be communicated to the DCNG.

In these vital hours, the DCNG had been trying but was unable to reach Secretary McCarthy.

DCNG Adjutant General Aaron Dean: “[Walker] tried to call Secretary McCarthy three times between 2:30 and 5pm. He said, ‘I haven’t heard from him all day.’ When he tried to call his cell phone, it went straight to voicemail.”

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) supported several critical pieces of legislation this week to fight for transparency in the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), counter DEI mandates, guarantee students' First Amendment rights in higher education, and protect the retirement plans of hardworking Americans against radical woke economic policies. He also voted for legislation to reverse the Democrats' failed open border policies that have left our communities less safe and stop incentivizing the flood of illegal immigration. Top bills are as follows:

H.R. 4790 – Prioritizing Economic Growth Over Woke Policies Act – Bill Huizenga (MI-4)

This legislation curbs the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to politicize our financial system through regulatory efforts that support partisan activists in their push for radical environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives on job creators and the American people.

• To appease progressive activists and jam through their radical, far-Left climate and social priorities, Biden-Harris regulators have:
  • Overhauled the public company shareholder proxy process;
  • Adopted rules and guidance that exceed their statutory authority;
  • Redefined the “materiality standard,” which guides Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) disclosure standards; and
  • Ceded authority over American financial regulation to global governance bodies.
• These regulatory mandates will increase costs and burdens for American public companies, create obstacles for American public companies to compete effectively on a global scale, and harm job creators, workers, and everyday investors.
• H.R. 4790 is a compilation of four bills that counter the ESG movement and strengthen our financial system. Specifically:

• • H.R. 4709 - Guiding Uniform and Responsible Disclosure Requirements and Information Limits (GUARDRAIL) Act of 2023: Ensures companies are only required to disclose material information to the SEC and requires the SEC to publicly list and explain any non-material disclosure demands.
    • The SEC has adopted new climate disclosure rules requiring publicly traded companies to disclose information to investors about their climate-related risks and impacts.
  • H.R. 4655 – Businesses Over Activists Act: Limits the SEC’s control in the shareholder proposal process to ensure it cannot compel companies to disclose certain shareholder proposals and emphasizes the role of state regulations in governing shareholder proposals.
    • Activist proposals currently account for over 60% of all shareholder proposals.
  • H.R. 4767 – Protecting Americans’ Retirement Savings from Politics Act: Improves the shareholder proposal and proxy voting processes to prioritize corporate growth over partisan political issues.
    • Shareholder proposals and proxy voting are ways shareholders can participate in corporate governance. Proxy advisors and activists are injecting politics into corporate governance in a way that’s harmful to retirement accounts.
  • H.R. 4823 – American Financial Institution Regulatory Sovereignty and Transparency Act of 2023: Limits international influence over U.S. banking policy by increasing transparency and congressional oversight of federal banking regulators’ interactions with international organizations.

H.R. 3724 – End Woke Higher Education Act – Rep. Burgess Owens (UT-4)

This legislation upholds Americans’ constitutional rights and restores a diversity of viewpoints at institutions of higher education to ensure students are educated, not indoctrinated.

• Postsecondary education should set students up for future success but campus activists, woke faculty, and partisan administrators continue to push radical ideologies and punish students who think for themselves, ultimately undermining the value of a college education.
• Rather than holding higher education institutions to high standards of excellence, some accreditors are requiring institutions to push one-sided ideological agendas, including incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
• H.R. 3724 includes two measures that ensure we do not surrender higher education to woke ideologues and bureaucrats:
  • H.R. 3724 - Accreditation for College Excellence Act of 2023:
    • Require accreditors to confirm their standards do not require, encourage, or coerce an institution to support or oppose specific partisan or political beliefs, viewpoints on social or political issues, or support the disparate treatment of any individual or group;
    • Prohibits accreditors from assessing an institution’s commitment to any ideology, belief, or viewpoint for the purposes of receiving accreditation for federal Higher Education Act (HEA) funding;
    • Protects a college’s religious mission and ability to require adherence with religious practices or codes of conduct; and
    • Ensures that an accreditor cannot require, encourage, or coerce an institution to violate any right protected by the Constitution;
  • H.R. 7683 – Respecting the First Amendment on Campus Act:
    • Requires institutions of higher education to adopt and adhere to First Amendment principles as a stipulation for receiving Title IV HEA funding;
    • Ensures students are educated on their First Amendment rights;
    • Safeguards the freedoms of association and religion on campus;
    • Prohibits institutions from forcing students, faculty, or applicants to take political litmus tests; and
    • Requires all institutions to disclose annually First Amendment policies held by the institution.

H.R. 5339 – Protecting Americans' Investments from Woke Policies Act – Rep. Rick Allen (GA-12)

This legislation protects the retirement savings of American workers, retirees, and their families by ensuring financial institutions focus on maximizing returns in retirement plans, rather than on the Biden-Harris Administration’s radical environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda.

• The Trump Administration issued a rule clarifying that managers of retirement funds could not engage in ESG investment if it would have a negative impact on retiree’s savings or expose them to additional risk. Unfortunately, in December 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration rescinded this guidance and issued a new rule enabling and encouraging retirement plan fiduciaries to consider or choose investments based on ESG factors. ESG funds are notoriously higher-risk and provide lower returns on investments.
• Allowing activist investors to funnel Americans’ retirement savings into woke, left-wing causes puts retirees and their families’ futures at risk. The Biden-Harris Administration should not promote their radical agenda at the expense of American workers.
• H.R. 5339 places the priority on retirees, not Democrats’ woke political agenda, and includes the following measures:

• • H.R. 5339 – Roll back ESG To Increase Retirement Earnings (RETIRE) ACT: Clarifies that financial institutions must base investment decisions solely on economic factors.
  • H.R. 5337 – Retirement Proxy Protection Act: States that the decision to exercise a shareholder right is subject to the prudence and loyalty duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and that proxies held by ERISA plans must be voted in the economic interest of the plan, not used to advance radical policies.
  • H.R. 5338 – No Discrimination in My Benefits Act: Declares that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin may not be taken into consideration when selecting a fiduciary, counsel, employees, or service provider of an ERISA plan.
  • H.R. 5340 – Providing Complete Information to Retirement Investors Act: Implements a notice requirement on defined contribution plans explaining the difference between choosing from investments selected by ERISA fiduciaries and choosing from investments through a brokerage window.

H.R. 7909 – Violence Against Women by Illegal Aliens Act – Rep. Nancy Mace (SC-1)

This legislation protects American communities and cracks down on crime due to the Biden-Harris Administration’s open borders policies by creating new grounds of inadmissibility and removability and expanding current grounds for aliens who commit sex offenses and domestic violence offenses.

• More than 5.6 million illegal aliens have been released into the U.S. and another 1.9 million illegal alien “gotaways” have escaped into the country under the Biden-Harris Administration.
• As a result of this administration’s refusal to enforce our immigration laws, every community across the country is dealing with real-world consequences of the border crisis, including a surge in criminal illegal aliens.
• The Biden-Harris Administration is removing far-fewer criminal aliens than the Trump Administration. For example, in Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 41% fewer aliens with criminal convictions and criminal charges than in FY20 and nearly 60% fewer than in FY19.
• H.R. 7909 will make our streets safer in the face of President Biden and “Border Czar” Harris’ immigration failures by:

• • Creating a ground of inadmissibility for aliens who are convicted of, who admit having committed, or who admit committing acts that constitute the essential elements of a sex offense, as defined by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, and creating an identical ground of removability for aliens who are convicted of such offenses.
  • Closing a loophole in immigration law by establishing a new ground of inadmissibility for several domestic violence-related offenses and expanding the existing ground of removability related to domestic violence crimes.

H.R. 5717 – No Bailouts for Sanctuary Cities Act – Rep. Nick LaLota (NY-1)

This legislation holds sanctuary cities accountable for exacerbating the Biden-Harris Border Crisis and flouting federal immigration law by prohibiting the use of taxpayer dollars to fund housing, healthcare, and other benefits for illegal immigrants in such municipalities.

• Despite the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act explicitly prohibiting any restriction on communication between state or local entities and federal immigration authorities relating to an individual’s immigration status, many Democrat-led jurisdictions like New York and California refuse to cooperate and enforce federal immigration law.
• Sanctuary policies incentivize illegal immigration, which has already hit historic levels thanks to the Biden-Harris Administration’s open borders policies, by promising free taxpayer funded benefits. Woke mayors and governors are prioritizing illegal immigrants at the expense of residents, who are facing overburdened schools, hospitals, and other social services. They are also endangering the safety of both community members and the law enforcement officers who protect them by permitting criminal aliens to roam freely.
• American taxpayers should not foot the bill for Democrat’s radical immigration policies. H.R. 5717 will ensure American families don’t bear this burden by prohibiting sanctuary cities from receiving federal funding intended to be used for the benefit of illegal immigrants, including for the provision of food, shelter, healthcare services, legal services, and transportation.

In case you missed it, this week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) questioned witnesses about the widespread threat of confidence scams. Victims of these scams are primarily seniors on a fixed income who are targeted from stolen data sets from large scale data breaches. Victims will also build trust and rapport with these criminals over the course of weeks and months, not realizing their true intentions, with some even losing their entire life savings.

He asked Matthew Noyes, the United States Secret Service's (USSS) Cyber Policy and Strategic Director about what other factors besides age and income that criminals use to target victims of large-scale data breaches. They also discussed what steps victims can take to protect themselves against these attacks.

Click here or below to tune in.

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined all the Republican Members of the Georgia Congressional Delegation in sending a letter to United States Postal Service (USPS) Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, expressing concerns with the Atlanta Regional Processing and Distribution Center's (RPDC) ability to process mail-in absentee ballots for the upcoming election.

In the letter, the Members write: "Our constituents and all residents of Georgia—most of whom have always viewed the USPS as reliable—depend on the delivery of mail to pay their bills, receive their paychecks, file their taxes, and send their ballots. However, over the past year, many of our constituents have lost faith in mail delivery by the USPS in Georgia due to delays caused by the implementation of the United States Postal Service Delivering for America (DFA) Plan. As members of the United States House of Representatives, we have received many calls from constituents frustrated with the abrupt delay in delivery and receipt of their mail due to processing issues at the Atlanta RPDC."

The Members continue: "With that in mind, ensuring the integrity of absentee ballots is crucial for maintaining trust in the democratic process. Voting is a sacred right and the most important tool in shaping our republic. The USPS plays a crucial role in processing mail-in ballots during elections and is tasked with working closely with local and state election officials to ensure the secure delivery of absentee ballots.

"The state of Georgia allows absentee ballots to be requested any time between 78 and 11 calendar days prior to Election Day, and all absentee ballots must arrive at their county election office by Election Day. We want assurances that the USPS will be able to guarantee delivery and return of the absentee ballots in such a short turnaround time of at least 11 days."

Click here to read the full text of the letter.

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined Jen Kiggans (VA-2) in cosponsoring the Pay Our Troops Act, legislation to ensure members of the military are paid in the event of a government shutdown. The bill will protect members of the military, including the Coast Guard, as well as certain U.S. Department of Defense civilian employees and contractors should Congress fail to provide temporary or full-year federal funding by September 30, 2024.

Currently, if the government shuts down without a funding bill for the Department of Defense signed into law, those serving in our Armed Forces will not receive their paychecks. Only those deemed "essential" would receive back pay once a shutdown ends and new federal funding is approved.

BACKGROUND

Specifically, the Pay Our Troops Act would make available such sums from the Treasury as are necessary to provide pay for our Armed Forces as well as civilian employees and contractors of the Department of Defense whose responsibilities are determined by the Secretary of Defense to contribute to the mission execution, well-being, and readiness of the Armed Forces. According to the Pentagon, there are about 804,000 civilian defense employees. Roughly 166,000 of those employees do not rely on congressional funding and would continue to work during a shutdown. Almost 200,000 would be required to work without pay because they are considered “necessary to protect life and property.”

The Pay Our Troops Act is cosponsored by Reps. Kat Cammack (FL-03), Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06), Don Davis (NC-01), Scott DesJarlais (TN-04), Pat Fallon (TX-04), Brad Finstad (MN-01), Andrew Garbarino (NY-02), Sam Graves (MO-06), Jared Golden (ME-02), Tom Kean (NJ-07), Young Kim (CA-40), Debbie Lesko (AZ-08), Barry Loudermilk (GA-11), Brian Mast (FL-21), Rich McCormick (GA-06), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-01), Frank Mrvan (IN-01), Chris Pappas (NH-01), Michael Rulli (OH-06), Dale Strong (AL-05), Derrick Van Orden (WI-03), and Brandon Williams (NY-22).

This week, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (GA-11) joined Reps. Greg Murphy (NC-3) and Deborah Ross (NC-2) in cosponsoring H.R. 8545, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act to remove barriers in the legislation. These barriers prohibit veterans from securing benefits that they are entitled to.

BACKGROUND

Enacted in 2022 as part of the PACT Act, the Camp Lejeune Justice Act allows veterans and civilians to file tort claims against the U.S. government for damages related to harm caused by exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina between August 1, 1953, to December 31, 1987.

This bill addresses unforeseen consequences of the Camp Lejeune Justice Act by clarifying the right to jury trials, capping attorneys' fees, and expanding jurisdiction to alleviate the backlog of cases.

To read the full bill text of H.R. 8545, click here.

Blaze Media:

What should have been a straightforward order for the District of Columbia National Guard to quell rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 turned into an hours-long debacle ensnared by concerns over “optics” and interference by Pentagon officials who were not even in the Guard’s chain of command.

Those conclusions were reached by former D.C. National Guard Col. Earl G. Matthews, three additional former Guard members who testified before a U.S. House subcommittee on April 17, and a senior civilian Army official who spoke to Blaze News.

....

U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the Committee on House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight, said information uncovered by his investigators was ignored by the now-defunct Jan. 6 Select Committee and left out of the Pentagon inspector general report issued in November 2021.

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