Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement regarding the potential inclusion of legislation to weaken capital requirements for big banks in Senate Republicans’ HEALS Act:

“Senate Republicans have been asleep at the wheel for months while this crisis continued to balloon in scale. Now, they have put forth half-baked legislation which does absolutely nothing to avert the impending eviction crisis, prevent homelessness, or provide urgently-needed relief to renters who are struggling to make rental payments. This legislation once again shows that Republicans are willfully ignoring the reality of the crisis that is going on across the nation.

“Now that Republicans have finally come out with a proposal, there are credible reports that they plan to load it up with giveaways for Wall Street. Specifically, it appears that Senate Republicans are planning to weaken capital requirements that were put in place in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. This is nothing short of a Christmas in July gift for the big banks. It is unconscionable that Senate Republicans and big banks are teaming up to use this pandemic as cover to roll back important financial regulations. How dare you!

“I remain focused on the emergency need to provide housing relief. At the beginning of July, 36 percent of renters could not pay their rent in full, and 21 percent of renters weren’t able make a payment at all.

“Any legislative compromise with the Senate on coronavirus legislation must make housing relief a priority and must not include giveaways to Wall Street.”

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