•    "On behalf of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, I urge you to oppose [the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act]. Last year, representatives of The Leadership Conference and other organizations met with House Judiciary Committee majority staff to discuss the important work of housing counseling agencies and their record of success in helping homeowners to avoid foreclosure. There was no dispute over the effectiveness of such work. Instead, the sponsors take issue with the process by which the settlements were reached, and with several of the specific groups that received funds for housing counseling work under the Bank of America and Citibank settlements. We remain puzzled by this objection. The Department of Justice had no control over which of the more than 2,000 HUD-approved organizations received contributions from either of these banks. Both of these defendant banks, to their credit, maintain strong relationships with a wide range of community-based organizations, and they had sole discretion to determine (sic) which of these organizations whose housing counseling work they chose to support. Ultimately, it appears to us that the sponsors… are more troubled with who the banks chose to support than with any broader legal or policy principle." Source: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights in a letter opposing a similar bill

•    "We urge you to oppose [the Stop Settlement Slush Funds Act]... [S]ettlements from federal enforcement actions can include payments to third parties to advance programs that assist with recovery, benefits, and relief for communities harmed by lawbreakers, to the extent such payments further the objectives of the enforcement action. H.R. 732 would cut off any payments to third parties other than individualized restitution and other forms of direct payment for “actual harm.” That restriction would handcuff federal enforcement officials by limiting the ability of federal enforcement officials to negotiate real relief for harms caused to the public by illegal conduct that is the subject of federal enforcement actions. This bill would be a gift to lawbreakers at the expense of families and communities suffering from injuries that cannot be addressed by direct restitution… These forms of relief are crucial when harm is difficult to monetize, such as damage to the environment, the collateral consequences to communities resulting from predatory lending by financial institutions, or unknown health outcomes to individuals resulting from chemical exposures in the workplace." Source: Alliance for Justice in a letter opposing a similar bill