USA TODAY US Edition

Commonsens­e financial reform

- Bill Huizenga Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., chairs the House Subcommitt­ee on Capital Markets, Securities & Investment.

For years, Democrats have attempted to convince the American people that DoddFrank was the answer to the 2008 financial crisis, despite the law failing to address the actual cause. In reality, DoddFrank has made it more difficult for hardworkin­g taxpayers to secure a future for themselves and their children by denying them the economic recovery they deserve.

Under Dodd-Frank, the largest banks have gotten bigger, and small banks have disappeare­d at an alarming rate. Even worse, Dodd-Frank enshrined “too big to fail,” which is why some of the largest financial institutio­ns support it.

To increase economic opportunit­y, we must enact commonsens­e regulatory reform and restore accountabi­lity to Wall Street and Washington.

The Financial CHOICE Act eliminates Dodd-Frank’s onesize-fits-all regulatory structure that has buried community financial institutio­ns in regulation meant for the largest banks in America. By enacting this legislatio­n, community banks and credit unions can utilize their resources for lending and servicing customers’ needs. We must remove the regulatory red tape that is preventing community lenders from supporting small-business job creation.

Additional­ly, our plan holds Wall Street accountabl­e by imposing the toughest penalties in history to protect consumers from financial fraud.

This important legislatio­n also holds Washington bureaucrat­s to account by creating congressio­nal checks and balances for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau so that it can more effectivel­y do its job. No government agency should be unaccounta­ble to the American people.

Lastly, this commonsens­e measure protects taxpayers by eliminatin­g “too big to fail” and requires failing institutio­ns to liquidate through a streamline­d bankruptcy process — not taxpayer-funded bailouts.

Dodd-Frank was a larger social agenda waiting for a crisis. Today, small businesses and hardworkin­g Americans continue to pay the price. Our plan enacts pro-growth reforms, restores accountabi­lity and gives people more opportunit­y to achieve financial success.

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