Hensarling Statement on Financial Services Hearing on Impact of Financial Regulations on U.S. Competitiveness and Jobs
WASHINGTON – House Republican Conference Chairman and Financial Services Committee Vice Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) issued the following statement today as the committee held a hearing to examine how new regulations in the Dodd-Frank law could negatively impact U.S. competitiveness and job creation in the global economy.
“When job creators are tied in red tape, millions of job seekers are inevitably punished. When the United States ties itself in red tape, and our competitors refuse to do the same, our economic standing in the world naturally slumps.
“As we approach the first anniversary of the Obama administration’s so-called ‘summer of recovery,’ we now have 1 in 7 Americans on food stamps. New business creation is at a 17-year low. It now takes 10 months for out of work Americans to find a new job. Unemployment has been north of 8 percent for 28 months – the longest period of sustained high unemployment since the Great Depression. On top of all of this, we have the Dodd-Frank law which is fraught with intended and unintended consequences that I believe have and will harm job creation in America.
“With our financial institutions still sorting through Dodd-Frank’s 2,300 pages of regulations, it’s no wonder that so many job-creating industries and entrepreneurs have decided that operating in America is no longer good for business. One provision or another in Dodd Frank has either restricted access to capital or increased the cost of it – diminishing the number of job opportunities in our economy. As a result, vast amounts of capital and job opportunities have fled overseas in search of friendlier environments.
“Not even the chairman of the Federal Reserve knows what the full impact of Dodd-Frank’s regulations will be. When asked if anyone had analyzed what the ultimate cost might look like, Ben Bernanke responded, ‘I can't pretend that anybody really has. You know, it's just too complicated.’ Regulators need answers to these kinds of questions in order to move forward and shore up certainty in our economy.
“The House Republican Plan for America’s Job Creators is based on the premise that America can and must remain the world’s most hospitable venue for enterprise, innovation, and competition. Lifting regulatory burdens off the backs of our job creators will empower our businesses to build – not bolt – and help our economy rebound and Americans get back to work.”
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For additional information, contact:
House Republican Conference Press Office (conferencepress@mail.house.gov)
