Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, joined Vice President Kamala D. Harris, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) to announce that the Biden-Harris Administration has made over $8.28 billion of investments through the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP) to benefit community financial institutions, including minority depository institutions (MDIs) and community development financial institutions (CDFIs). Chairwoman Waters delivered the following remarks: 

Good afternoon. First, I would like to thank Vice President Harris and Secretary Yellen for the invitation to participate in this call and for their ongoing and steadfast support of my work to strengthen community development financial institutions and minority depository institutions.

I would also like to commend my colleague, Senator Mark Warner, for being a collaborative partner in passing the bipartisan legislation we drafted to provide capital investments for our nation’s MDIs and CDFIs.

As Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, financial inclusion has been my top priority. That is why, today, I am proud that the Biden-Harris Administration is announcing that they have turned our legislation into reality by providing more than $8 billion in capital investments to strengthen 162 community financial institutions. 

Since the 2008 financial crisis, I have been dismayed that we saw one-third of our MDIs close, and even worse, more than half of the nation’s Black banks have been lost. These are losses that our communities cannot afford. 

MDIs as well as CDFIs have proven critical to distributing capital, credit, and financial services to their local communities. Their support is critical because these communities are often underserved and ignored by other financial institutions. 

Throughout the pandemic, we have seen the outstanding that work that CDFIs and MDIs have done in deploying Paycheck Protection Program loans to thousands of small businesses, especially those owned by people of color, helping them to stay open. 

So, we must do our part to further support the tremendous work they are doing. The more than $8 billion in capital investment being deployed today, including more than $671 million to MDIs and CDFIs in my home state of California, is an unprecedented and game-changing investment. It will allow them to expand their efforts to continue supporting low-income communities and communities of color, and along with it, help close the racial wealth gap and fuel long-term economic growth.  

So, I applaud the Biden-Harris Administration once again for fulfilling the commitments they have made. I look forward to continuing to work with them to secure further support these community financial institutions need to expand economic opportunity and to build a more equitable economy for all. Thank you.

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