Following her historic nomination by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee as the first woman and African American to chair the House Committee on Financial Services, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), issued the following statement: “I am honored to have been nominated by the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee to serve as Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee in the 116th Congress. “I am committed to creating opportunities, ensuring fairness, and protecting th... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full Committee hearing on the Federal Reserve’s supervision and regulation of the financial system with Randal Quarles, Vice Chairman for Supervision, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. As Prepared for Delivery Mr. Chairman, this is the first hearing since the 2018 midterm election, in which voters gave Democrats a majority in the U.S. House of Repres... Read more

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, issued the following statement in response to the 2018 midterm election results, which will give Democrats the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives next Congress: “With a Democratic majority in the House, and a mandate from the American public, the Financial Services Committee will get to work making sure the financial system is fair for all Americans. As the senior Democrat on the Financial... Read more

Today, at a full Committee hearing entitled, “A Failure to Act: How a Decade without GSE Reform Has Once Again Put Taxpayers at Risk,” Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement: As Prepared for Delivery “Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, this hearing will focus on the failure to reform our housing finance system. I would point out that Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House, and there... Read more

Today, at the semiannual Humphrey-Hawkins hearing on monetary policy and the state of the economy with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following opening statement: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome Chairman Powell. Mr. Chairman, I am very concerned about the impact of the reckless economic policies of Donald Trump on hardworking Americans, vulnerable families, and our nation’s economy. ... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Congressman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, announced that they have reached an agreement on a package of strong, bipartisan capital-formation legislation to help America’s small businesses and entrepreneurs and to protect investors. The package, known as the “JOBS and Investor Confidence Act of 2018,” is comprised of 32 individual pieces of le... Read more

Today, at a House Committee on Financial Services markup of bipartisan legislation, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you and Members of the Committee for considering six Democratic bills today that will ensure small businesses have increased access to capital, enhance investor protections and improve investors’ ability to ma... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full committee hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.” This hearing follows Waters’ introduction of legislation to restore fair housing protections eliminated by Secretary Carson: Thank you, Mr. Chairman Mr. Chairman, since Secretary Carson was last before this Committee, he has taken actions and issued proposals that ... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full Committee hearing entitled, “Oversight of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)” with SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, and welcome back, Chairman Clayton. Mr. Chairman, given recent developments regarding the Volcker rule, I’d like to offer a reminder that Congress put the Volcker rule into effect in order to stop b... Read more

Today, at a House Financial Services Committee markup of four bills, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following opening statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, it is disappointing that this is the second markup this month without any major legislation on the agenda to help America’s most vulnerable families, or hardworking Americans struggling to make ends meet. I will note that there are some p... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full Committee hearing on financial industry regulation with Joseph Otting, Comptroller of the Currency. This hearing marks Comptroller Otting’s first appearance before the Committee. As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am looking forward to hearing Comptroller Otting’s testimony, and asking him about his activities at and plans for the Office ... Read more

Today, at a House Financial Services Committee markup of 7 bills, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following opening statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I understand that this is likely the first of several markups this month, as part of an effort to move forward a package of capital markets bills. While it is important for the Committee to consider measures that will help our small business... Read more

Today, at a House Financial Services Committee markup of three bills, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee of Financial Services, gave the following statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I was pleased that last week, the Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance finally held a hearing on homelessness in America. The hearing was the first focused on homelessness during your tenure as Chairman. As you know, I have long requested that t... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full committee hearing on the Federal Reserve’s supervision and regulation of the financial system with Randal Quarles, Vice Chairman for Supervision, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and welcome, Vice Chairman Quarles. I look forward to hearing Vice Chairman Quarles’ testimony today on the Federal R... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full Committee markup to consider the Majority's Views and Estimates on the Budget for FY 2019: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, Committee Democrats are committed to advancing policies that create shared prosperity and economic opportunities for all, ensure fairness in our economy, protect consumers from predatory practices, and suppor... Read more

Today, at the semiannual Humphrey-Hawkins hearing on monetary policy and the state of the economy with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following opening statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman and welcome, Chairman Powell. I look forward to your testimony today on monetary policy, recent economic developments, and the outlook for our economy. I am concerned that the har... Read more

Today, at a House Financial Services Committee markup of 17 bills, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following opening statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman, here we are yet again marking up a large number of bills, many of which could be harmful to consumers, investors, and our economy. Once again, the slate of bills for consideration includes several measures that would roll back or weaken imp... Read more

Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a press conference highlighting House Republicans’ refusal to address Russia’s threat to our democracy and national security: As Prepared for Delivery “Good Afternoon. Beginning in early 2017, I and other Democrats on the Financial Services Committee called upon the Chairman of the Committee to utilize the investigatory powers of the Committee to scrutinize the suspic... Read more

On Wednesday, October 25, 2017, House Financial Services Committee Democrats will lead an additional hearing to examine the massive data breach that occurred at Equifax, and to consider and discuss ideas for ensuring the integrity of our country’s consumer reporting system and safeguarding consumer data. The hearing, referred to as a “Minority Day Hearing,” is the second hearing before the Financial Services Committee during the 115th Congress where Democrats can select the panel of witnesses. E... Read more

Today, at the first full committee hearing of the 115th Congress to examine the future of housing in America under U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, questioned Secretary Carson about the devastation in Puerto Rico and President Trump’s threatening and denigrating tweets on the matter. In the exchange, Ranking Member Waters highlighted President Trump’s tweets, in ... Read more

Today, at a full Committee hearing with U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement: Thank you Mr. Chairman. America is currently in the midst of the worst rental housing crisis that we’ve ever experienced, and it is hitting our lowest income families the hardest. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the United States has a sh... Read more

Today, at a House Financial Services Committee markup of 23 bills, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, gave the following opening statement: Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I must indicate that this is the largest number of bills that I’ve ever experienced being taken care of in Committee, and it does cause me some concern. I know there may have been some questions about filing deadlines, et cetera. However, I do not wish us to get bogged... Read more

Recognizing that the American public deserves answers and a promise to safeguard their personal identifying information, Financial Services Committee Democrats, led by Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-CA), used an obscure parliamentary maneuver to demand a Minority Day hearing to continue to discuss the numerous issues with the current credit reporting system and to cast more light on the many negative repercussions of the Equifax breach for millions of Americans. In their letter to Chairman Hens... Read more

Today, at a full committee hearing to discuss the massive security breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s largest credit reporting agencies, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, delivered the following opening statement: As Prepared for Delivery Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The massive breach at Equifax and the company’s subsequent failures are a lapse on a scale we have never before seen. Equifax’s failure to safeguard consumer data is all the m... Read more

Today, at a press conference to unveil Congresswoman Maxine Waters’ (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Financial Services, groundbreaking legislation titled the Megabank Accountability and Consequences Act (H.R. 3937), Ranking Member Waters delivered the following remarks: As Prepared for Delivery Good afternoon, and welcome. I would like to thank Representatives Green, Ellison, Kaptur, Sarbanes and Jayapal for being here today. I would also like to recognize the consumer groups in the r... Read more