February 21, 2020

Brown Statement on CRA Comment Period Extension

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs – released the following statement after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) extended the comment period for their proposed rulemaking on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).

“Comptroller Otting and Chair McWilliams have finally acknowledged what civil rights leaders and others have been saying for months - that communities and lenders need more time to analyze the effects of this misguided proposal,” Brown said. “The Community Reinvestment Act is absolutely essential for the people who most need access to the banking system, and we shouldn’t be rushing this process.”

In December, Brown along with House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters and Rep. Gregory Meeks led all Senate Banking Committee Democrats and House Financial Services Democrats in a letter addressed to the FDIC, Federal Reserve, and OCC calling on the regulators to, at a minimum, include a public comment period of at least 120 days for any proposal reforming CRA to ensure it gets a full vetting and that all interested parties have an opportunity to analyze and comment on the proposal.

In December, Brown blasted the FDIC and OCC for moving forward on a rule that overhauls the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) giving a free pass for banks to discriminate against customers. Brown also led a letter signed by all Banking Committee Democrats demanding that the head of the OCC, Comptroller Joseph Otting, testify before the Committee following the release of the proposed rule. The CRA – meant to address generations of segregation and discrimination in bank lending – is a critical accomplishment of the Civil Rights Movement.

 

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