Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement regarding the William (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021, for which she has been appointed a conferee.

“I am very pleased to serve as a conferee for H.R. 6395, the William (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2021. As Chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, I would like to express my appreciation to the Chairs of the Armed Services Committees, and the other conferees, for working with me to include several measures that are within the Financial Services Committee's jurisdiction in the bill. In particular, I appreciate that the Committees agreed to include legislation introduced by Representative Carolyn Maloney to finally end anonymous shell companies, legislation by Representative Emanuel Cleaver to prevent money laundering and other financial crimes around the globe, and language similar to a bill by Representative Ben McAdams to enhance the Securities and Exchange Commission’s tools to recover the ill-gotten gains of bad actors.

“I’m also appreciative of the language to combat international corruption, which includes a measure similar to a bill by Representative Stephen Lynch, as well as a direction by the conferees that builds on the work of Representatives Alma Adams and Madeleine Dean by urging the Administration to use authorities provided to it by Congress to ensure that all student borrowers, and particularly those who are in financial distress, are treated fairly and receive any assistance they are eligible for.

“I would also like to urge conferees to adopt the following additional important measures under the Financial Services Committee’s jurisdiction:

• Division M of the House bill, which Representative Gregory Meeks offered to promote diversity throughout the economy by requiring public companies to disclose the racial, ethnic and gender compositions of their boards and c-suites.
  
• Section 1808 of the House bill, introduced by Representative Juan Vargas, who is one of the conferees on this bill, to increase oversight and transparency of U.S. government efforts under the Defense Production Act and other authorities to provide essential medical supplies and equipment; and,
  
• Section 1798, introduced by Representative Brad Sherman, who is also a conferee, which would require Chinese companies that have shares listed on U.S. exchanges and other trading platforms to be subject to the same audit standards as U.S. companies.
  

“I thank the Members for their work on these important measures and thank the conferees for their consideration.”

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