Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions hearing entitled, “Better Together: Examining the Unified Proposed Rule to Modernize the Community Reinvestment Act.”

Thank you, Chair Perlmutter, for holding this hearing on the regulatory proposal to update Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rules. Under my leadership, Committee Democrats shut down the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine the law’s original intent. So, I’m pleased to see the agencies worked together on a new proposal to ensure that banks are meaningfully investing in all communities—not just some.

Although the CRA was enacted to eliminate redlining, disparities for people of color persist today. For example, the Black-White homeownership gap is at a 120-year high, and the megabanks are reportedly denying Black homeowners the opportunity to refinance their mortgage at significantly higher rates than White homeowners.

So, I look forward to the hearing, and I’m hoping that our witnesses can shed some light on what is going on.

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