“2008 was an avoidable economic crisis – a direct result of greed, reckless speculation, and weak regulation. That’s why Dodd-Frank was essential.”

“If we, as members of Congress, forget the visceral harm that families across the country suffered from in 2008, then we risk rolling back the very regulations and defunding the very agencies that could prevent the next financial crash.”

Video (YouTube)

WASHINGTON – In a House Financial Services Committee hearing, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) made plain the vital role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which was created by the Dodd-Frank Act following the 2008 financial crisis, in protecting consumers from predatory lenders and big banks, and preventing a future financial crash.

Rep. Pressley condemned Republicans’ rollbacks of Dodd-Frank and the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the CFPB, which will put Wall Street profits before the financial recovery and wellbeing of everyday people.

A full transcript of her remarks as delivered is available below, and the full video is available here.

Transcript: Pressley Condemns GOP Gutting of Dodd-Frank and CFPB, Affirms Need for Strong Consumer Protections

House of Representatives

July 15, 2025

REP. PRESSLEY: Thank you to our witnesses for joining us today.

In 2008, families across this country lost everything during the Great Recession. It was an economic catastrophe. Millions of people lost homes, lost jobs, and lost hard-earned savings. 

Now, the majority of Gen Z who will see this hearing later were just babies 17 years ago, so I can’t fault them that they are completely unaware of the foreclosures and the pink slips.

But I know my Republican colleagues and I certainly do remember.

Republicans remember the heartache and pain that our country went through. It is estimated there were more than 5,000 suicides as a result of the financial crisis.

2008 was an avoidable economic crisis – a direct result of greed, reckless speculation, and weak regulation.

That’s why Dodd-Frank was essential. I do want to acknowledge the good work of our very own Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank in this drafting of this seminal piece of legislation.

It created basic guardrails: stronger capital requirements so banks couldn’t gamble with our livelihoods. The CFPB – the only agency dedicated solely to protecting consumers. Regular stress tests for banks so we would never be caught off guard again.

But just ten years later, in 2018, while 65% of families still hadn’t financially recovered from the crash, Republicans rolled back key parts of Dodd-Frank. They sent a clear message to their constituents: Wall Street’s profits margins matter more than your recovery and well-being.

Now they’re at it again by dismantling the CFPB.

Just look at how Townstone, a mortgage lender, would repeatedly disparage Black neighborhoods in Chicago with racist comments. The CFPB rightly held them accountable for discrimination in housing in a case that was settled last November.

And when the Trump administration tried to reverse CFPB’s win, a federal judge denied that outrageous request, affirming the critical role of the CFPB in stopping racial discrimination in mortgage lending.

This is just one example of how Republicans’ dismantling the CFPB has real-world consequences, like letting mortgage lenders off the hook for illegal redlining.

To all of our witnesses, loud and proud, yes or no – do you support mortgage lenders getting away with breaking the law discriminating against Black people? Just for the record.

KEN BENTSEN: I do not.

TOM QUAADMAN: We don’t represent mortgage lenders, but personally, I don’t.

PAUL KUPIEC: Not my area of expertise. I don’t want them to discriminate against anybody but –

REP. PRESSLEY: I had a colleague across the aisle a moment ago, who said that it’s just a matter of following the rule of law, basic law. So, this is not even a controversial thing.

Racial discrimination is illegal. So, this is not, this is not a, you know, a trick question. So really quickly, loud and proud, yes or no –

PAUL KUPIEC: I think people should follow the law.

REP. PRESSLEY: Okay, I’ll take that as a no.

DENNIS KELLEHER: I agree.

REP. PRESSLEY: All right, good.

So, [since] its creation in Dodd-Frank, the CFPB, has returned $21 billion to more than 205 million consumers – who were exploited by predatory lenders and big banks.

But today, Trump has fired nearly 90% of CFPB staff, and the agency under his administration has withdrawn over 60 guidance documents, dropped enforcement cases and brought the agency to a halt – leaving hard working Americans vulnerable to exploitation.

To all my witnesses, yes or no – do you agree with the CFPB returning $21 billion to 205 million victims of deceptive and predatory financial practices? Yes or no?

KEN BENTSEN: We don’t engage with the CFPB. So I can’t really comment, because I don’t have a background in the case that you’re citing. So I apologize.

LINDSEY JOHNSON: When a company breaks the law and consumers are harmed, they should have redress. But I have to say – the CFPB’s use of penalties has got to have some parameters. I can tell you firsthand that there are multiple times when they go after salacious headlines and outlandish sums of money, when the company either didn’t break the law or they claimed a U-debt violation on something that was –

REP. PRESSLEY: Okay. So, I’ll take that as a no. Reclaiming my time, because I got to get everyone else on the record here.

Okay, yes or no – do you agree with the CFPB returning $21 billion to 205 million victims of deceptive and predatory financial practices?

TOM QUAADMAN: ICI’s members aren’t regulated by the CFPB,

PAUL KUPIEC: Not my area. No comment.

DENNIS KELLEHER: My only disagreement is it should have been higher.

REP. PRESSLEY: If we, as members of Congress, forget the visceral harm that families across the country suffered from in 2008, then we risk rolling back the very regulations and defunding the very agencies that could prevent the next financial crash.

Thank you and I yield back.

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