Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services and Conference Committee member of the America COMPETES Act of 2022, delivered the following statement at the first Conference Committee meeting on H.R. 4521, the America COMPETES Act, which includes several key provisions led by the Financial Services Committee:

Thank you very much, Chair Cantwell, and of course, my friend, Chairman Sherrod Brown. I'm honored to serve as a Conference Committee member of the America COMPETES Act of 2022. With this legislation, we will strengthen the competitiveness, safety, and security of American businesses, combat illicit finance, and counter the anti-competitive actions taken by China.

My colleagues on the Financial Services Committee and I have authored several provisions within the America COMPETES Act that are essential to achieving these goals. These include provisions to empower U.S. interests in multilateral development banks to respond to China’s predatory loan arrangements and to provide debt relief to developing countries, in part, as a counter to Chinese influence.

Our House-passed proposals also strengthen anti-money laundering authorities at the Treasury Department and improve the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, the bipartisan House support for the SAFE Banking Act is evident in its inclusion in America COMPETES, and I urge my fellow conferees to support its inclusion in the final conference report.

I recently led a CODEL to the Caribbean and saw first-hand the aggressive tactics that China is pursuing to spread its influence in this region. America must do more to counter these efforts, and we must actively engage with allies and neighbors to do so.

America COMPETES and its wide range of proposals move our nation in the right direction, improving our competitiveness and fortifying our global response at home and abroad.

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