Comment on House Financial Services Committee Mark-up for Jan. 22, 2026
The Honorable French Hill, Chair
The Honorable Maxine Waters, Ranking Member
Honorable Members
House Financial Services Committee
Washington, DC 20515
Re: Bills Slated for Committee Consideration on Jan. 22, 2026
Dear Committee members,
On behalf of more than one million members and supporters of Public Citizen, we offer the following comment on a suite of bills slated for a vote before the House Financial Services Committee on Jan. 22, 2026. We support the responsible resolution on Artificial Intelligence along with a modest measure improving investigation of crimes involving cryptocurrency. We oppose the other deregulatory bills, notably H.R. 7056, the “Community Bank Regulatory Tailoring Act.” Community banks serve as the bedrock of small business lending only when they are healthy. That health turns on careful inspection by regulators.
Meanwhile, we believe the committee must not forfeits its oversight responsibilities and attend to the massive financial policy misconduct emanating from the Oval Office. This includes President Trump’s assault on Federal Reserve independence; his unprecedented corruption through cryptocurrency, including a recent application to own a national trust bank; and his decimation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
We first address the two bills we support, followed by those we oppose, in order of ascending bill number.
Bills Public Citizen Supports
- Res. 1007, Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the use of artificial intelligence in the financial services and housing industries. This measure updates a previous bipartisan resolution that reflects the committee’s efforts through its Bipartisan AI Working Group, where Public Citizen provided testimony. The resolution recognizes both the potential benefits and dangers of this developing technology. Public Citizen also testified Dec. 10, 2025 before the committee highlighting certain AI dangers, including discrimination and consumer manipulation. We reject efforts by large technology companies to preempt or roll back state-level AI regulations and oppose industry-favored regulatory “sandboxes” or “safe harbors,” which act as liability shields for wayward companies. Public Citizen supports this resolution.
H.R. 5877, the Combating Money Laundering in Cyber Crime Act. This bill expands the authority of the Secret Services to investigate alleged crimes involving digital assets. Since a major use case of certain cryptocurrency digital assets involves illicit finance, as documented by the Treasury Department, we welcome expanded enforcement authorities. We support this bill.
Bills Public Citizen Opposes
H.R. 4171, the Small Entrepreneurs Empowerment and Development (SEED) Act. This bill would provide small issuers with a micro-offering exemption to raise up to $250,000 without needing to provide any disclosures to their investors. We believe investors deserve robust disclosures and oppose this bill.
H.R. 6967, the Public Company Advisory Committee Act. This bill would establish a Public Company Advisory Committee within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) composed of corporate employees. We oppose this effort that would wrap the abiding efforts of public company representatives to reduce investor disclosures and protections with the imprimatur of a government advisory board. The SEC hears from corporate America loud and clear already and does not need to afford this influential constituency another platform. We have opposed this bill in the past and continue to oppose.
H.R. 7127, the Restoring Secondary Trading Market Act. This bill would preempt state laws for off-exchange, secondary trading for companies who make certain current public information available (such as Regulation A or SEC Rule 15c2-11.) Public Citizen opposes efforts to preempt state oversight of securities markets. Some of the most common fraud takes place by smaller firms, as documented by the North American Securities Administrators Association. We oppose this bill.
H.R. 7056, the Community Bank Regulatory Tailoring Act. This bill would increase some three dozen thresholds for rule compliance by banks and credit unions based on nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth. Banking law generally excuses or limits compliance based on size. Smaller banks face less scrutiny and must oblige fewer consumer safeguards than larger banks. This bill would change those thresholds based on increases in the GDP. At issue is a broad swath of laws, from the Bank Holding Company Act; the Community Reinvestment Act; the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act; the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; and more. Specific rules involve bank solvency (capital) standards; mortgage disclosures; the Volcker Rule prohibition on proprietary trading; executive compensation safeguards, and more. Beyond the scope of these exemptions, use of the GDP accelerates exemptions. Normally, inflation serves as an index. Ideally, GDP grows faster than inflation – a sign of a healthy economy. The regional banking crisis of 2023 should serve as caution for those who want to “tailor” regulation by size. After Congress raised from $50 billion to $250 billion the level at which banks would face “enhanced” supervision, the likes of Silicon Valley Bank promptly grew towards this new threshold, failed at basic interest rate risk management, and collapsed.
H.R. 7085, a bill to amend the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to repeal certain disclosure requirements related to conflict minerals. This bill would repeal Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. That law requires public companies that use certain minerals extracted from the Congo and neighboring countries to disclose whether their purchases exacerbate conflict in the region. Public Citizen supports disclosure; investors should be aware when their companies engage in life-threatening operations. Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division co-authored a report titled “The Deadly Cost of Cobalt Mining in the Congo” that details the issue. We oppose this bill.
Again, we urge the committee to conserve its limited time to address urgent issues, namely the downward spiraling financial policy decisions at the White House.
For questions, please contact Bartlett Naylor at bnaylor@citizen.org.
Sincerely,
Public Citizen