May 05, 2022

Brown Applauds Interagency Community Reinvestment Act Rule

Today, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement after the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) together proposed updates to modernize and strengthen implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

“The Community Reinvestment Act was a landmark civil rights law, passed by Congress to begin to undo the shameful legacy of redlining and lending discrimination – and to spur new investment in all neighborhoods and communities that had been excluded for decades. Today’s joint proposal is a critical step to ensure that banks honor their commitment to communities,” said Sen. Brown. “I thank Vice Chair Brainard for her leadership and applaud Chair Powell, Acting Chair Gruenberg, and Acting Comptroller Hsu for advancing this proposal. I look forward to working with them to fulfill the promise of the CRA.”

Brown has long fought to strengthen the CRA. During the last Administration, he blasted the former Comptroller of the Currency for pushing forward with a CRA proposal as he exited the agency. Brown also led his colleagues in a letter urging regulators not to adopt the OCC’s proposed rule and to end attempts to weaken the CRA. In May 2021, Sen. Brown urged the OCC to rescind the Trump-era rule weakening the CRA. A few months later, he applauded the banking agencies for rescinding it and announcing they would work together on a new CRA proposed rule.

 

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