Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, delivered the following opening statement during a Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee hearing entitled, “Lender of Last Resort: Issues with the Fed Discount Window and Emergency Lending.”

Thank you very much. It has been nearly a year since we faced the sudden failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank. I was pleased Treasury Secretary Yellen, the Federal Reserve and FDIC took swift action to stabilize the situation.

Going forward, I support efforts by Biden’s regulators to encourage the use of the Fed’s discount window by banks that need liquidity. I also support FHFA’s work to ensure Federal Home Loan Banks use their advances to support housing and community development instead of propping up failing banks.

Last, I hope we can act on my bill to address NCUA’s bipartisan request to give small credit unions access to emergency liquidity through the Central Liquidity Facility, as we did during the pandemic.

So I look forward to hearing the witness testimony on these issues, and I yield back.

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