Washington, DC (May 2, 2017) Today, the House Committee on Financial Services continued its work on the Financial CHOICE Act. Congressman Steve Pearce provided the following opening remarks:

"Of all the parts of America that were affected by Dodd-Frank, I think the poor rural areas, like the ones I represent in Southern New Mexico, were the hardest hit. It's there where my constituents, 50% of them, own manufactured houses... Dodd-Frank made it almost impossible for banks to lend to anyone who is just trying to buy a mobile home to get in out of the rain. They did that by saying all balloon notes are bad, but that's not where the damage ended. Small Businesses in rural New Mexico have an extraordinarily hard time getting loans now. They were fine before.

"The community banks in rural parts of America did not cause the problems, yet that is where the heaviest burden of the regulatory regime lies. So when we talk about making changes to Dodd-Frank, some of the greatest beneficial effects are going to be felt in my district. It's in my district where one oil field worker who's just trying to get by each month said, 'what business does the government have if I borrow $100 bucks on Monday and on Saturday when I get my paycheck I give back $120 bucks? Whose business is that other than mine?'

"Wall Street is not going to come to New Mexico to lend for a trailer house, Wall Street is not going to come to New Mexico and lend [to] small businesses. This Dodd-Frank regulation needs repealed, it needs overhauled, and the CHOICE Act does that, and I support it."