This letter to Chairman Pete Sessions and Ranking Member Louise Slaughter urges a strong opposition to H.R. 766, the Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2015, introduced by Representative Luetkemeyer. The bill will hamper critical Department of Justice and banking regulator efforts to detect fraud and money laundering, putting consumers and financial institutions at risk of serious financial loss.
It is troubling that the House Committee on Financial Services reported out H.R. 766 in July 2015 and that the bill is now under consideration in the Committee on Rules even after a Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility inquiry found absolutely no evidence of misconduct or targeting of legal businesses by Operation Choke Point. A following report from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Inspector General found that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's involvement in Operation Choke Point was inconsequential to the direction and outcome of the initiative.