Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement on the confirmation of Janet Yellen as Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
“As Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, I worked closely with Janet Yellen during her service as Chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and can attest first hand to her dedication, effectiveness and deep expertise. As Fed Chair, she demonstrated admirable leadership through the longest economic expansion in American history, and made our economy better prepared for the pandemic by instituting important financial regulations that created a safer system.
“My Committee investigated Wells Fargo and found an egregious pattern of consumer abuses with regulators failing to hold them accountable, and I was pleased that Janet Yellen made Wells Fargo face real consequences and imposed a cap on the bank’s total assets until they cleaned up their operations. In addition, to her great credit, she initiated a practice of highlighting persistent racial economic disparities during her semi-annual testimony before the Financial Services Committee, and I introduced a bill in the last session of Congress to codify that practice. She also took steps to improve the diversity of the Federal Reserve’s leadership, including by overseeing the appointment of the first African American and first openly gay man to serve as Federal Reserve Bank president in history, Raphael Bostic. Her strong leadership, attentiveness to racial and economic inequalities, keen awareness of the challenges facing working families, and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable populations make her the right person for the job. In this critical moment, Janet Yellen will provide a steady hand during this time of crisis.
“Additionally, climate change is an existential threat that has systemic implications for our economy and financial system, and I am pleased Secretary Yellen is heeding my call to the Administration to appoint a senior Treasury official that will lead a new climate risk hub at the Department to develop financial and tax policies to mitigate this threat.
“I applaud her historic confirmation as the first woman to serve as Treasury Secretary and I am delighted to work with Secretary Yellen in her new role to strengthen the U.S. pandemic response, ensure there is a robust and inclusive economic recovery for all communities, and provide stability to our financial system.”
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