Following the announcement that John Williams will serve as the next president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Financial Services, made the following statement:

“John Williams is an accomplished economist with a long history in public service. His wealth of experience as a leading monetary policy expert will play a critical role in shaping the economic policy decisions that impact all American families. I believe that President Williams can and will do a great job and I will continue to keep the discussion about diversity a top priority.

“For many years, I have been working to create a national discussion on diversity in financial services. I’m pleased that this conversation is now happening at the highest levels and I look forward to continuing this conversation. The senior leaders of the Federal Reserve System should reflect our nation’s rich diversity and a broad cross-section of groups should have a seat at the decision-making table. I will continue to push for diversity within the Federal Reserve System and I call on President Williams to do the same in his new role.

“Senator Warren has raised questions about President Williams’ oversight of Wells Fargo during his tenure as head of the San Francisco Fed. These are legitimate questions to ask and I encourage him to engage with Congress to fully answer these questions.”

Ranking Member Waters has been a leading advocate for increased diversity within the Federal Reserve System. In February, she sent a letter to Chairman Jerome Powell and Co-Chairs of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Search Committee, calling for their commitment to a transparent and inclusive search process to identify candidates to replace Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley.

Waters has previously written to Chair Janet Yellen as well as the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Atlanta calling for search processes that ensure racial, ethnic, gender and occupationally diverse candidates are considered to serve as presidents of the regional Federal Reserve Banks.

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