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Huizenga’s telephone town hall highlights new legislation signed by Trump

Posted at 9:26 PM, Feb 15, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-15 23:09:05-05

KENT COUNTY, Mich-- Congressman Bill Huizenga had his third Telephone Town Hall Tuesday night. People from all over his district dialed in to ask questions.

Congressman Huizenga fielded calls about why some people couldn't dial in last week, immigration policy and what he plans to support President Donald Trump on, and what he will push back on.

The town hall took place just a day after President Trump signed Huizenga's legislation repealing a section of the Dodd-Frank Act, a topic that came up during the conversation.

This was the first bill Trump signed into law since becoming President, the House Joint Resolution 41. The legislation will nix a regulation put in by the Securities and Exchange Commission that Huizenga, who sponsored the bill, said hurt the U.S. economy by putting American companies at a disadvantage.

The repeal is requiring publicly traded oil, natural gas, coal, and mineral companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments, a requirement of the 2010 Dodd-Frank overhaul that was completed in the final months of President Obama's administration.

Critics say the repeal will allow companies to hide their payments to dictators and countries that exploit their own people.

Opponents of this rule thought this would give foreign competitors that didn't have the same requirement to take advantage of business deals, and edge out American companies. There was also concern about the ongoing costs of enforcement .and allegations that the Dodd-Frank made U.S. Banks less competitive against their global peers.

"I met with one of the Securities and Exchange Commissioners today in my office, and he had along with him someone from Uganda who runs their government equivalent to the securities and Exchange Commission," Huizenga said, "We talked about the extract of minerals. The gentleman from Uganda was very concerned about what this rule had been doing to their economy."

Unlike last week's conference, people were able to call in tonight without getting blocked out. Among other topics in Tuesday's town hall was the President's relationship with Russia, repealing parts of the Affordable Health Care Act and how that affects them, and immigration.

You can re-listen to the town halls, and find out how you can call in for the next one by visiting Congressman Huizenga's website.