Sessions Supports Legislation to Curb Scope of DOJ’s ‘Operation Choke Point’

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Congressman Pete Sessions (R-TX), chairman of the House Rules Committee, today issued the following statement after voting in favor of a measure that prevents a federal banking agency from suggesting or ordering an institution to terminate accounts or discourage an institution from relationships with specific groups of customers, which is the result of the Department of Justice’s 2013 initiative known as Operation Choke Point:

“The overzealous regulatory pressure that the Department of Justice under President Obama has placed on certain financial institutions and businesses they do not favor, such as the gun industry, cannot stand. Public institutions should never be used for political reasons to enact personal agendas, especially when these agendas compromise the success of certain businesses by choking-off their access to the financial services they need to survive. Simply put, picking winners and losers in the marketplace is un-American, and this legislation takes an important step towards ensuring unelected bureaucrats at federal banking agencies are not abusing their power by targeting perfectly lawful businesses they simply don’t like.”

For more information on H.R. 766, The Financial Institution Customer Protection Act, click here

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Created:
Feb 4, 2016