Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Committee on Financial Services, delivered the following statement at a full Committee hearing entitled, “Combating the Economic Threat from China.”

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. As we discuss how to bolster our economy and to counter threats from China, I’d like to start by saying that if House Republicans continue their brinksmanship over the debt ceiling, it will result in even more severe interest rates hikes, a plunging stock market, major job losses, and a recession of epic proportions. Such a global financial crisis would hand the Chinese Communist Party a massive win by boosting the Chinese government’s standing in the world. We’ve been down this road before, and there have been real harms to our economy in the past, just by coming close to a default. This Committee should be doing everything it can to avoid that calamitous outcome. I believe this is what our Committee should be focused on so I would like to submit for the record a letter that I have sent to you, Mr. Chair, requesting a hearing on the economic harm that will be caused by nearing, or triggering, a national debt default. 

I also want to point out the fact that anti-Asian-American violence has skyrocketed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled significantly by former President Donald Trump’s dangerous and xenophobic language. While we must hold the Chinese government accountable for its harmful actions, we have a responsibility to avoid language that stokes hatred and fuels xenophobia and violence against the Asian-American community. I am proud that last Congress, House Democrats led the legislative effort to put an end to this violence by passing the “COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act.” 

Right now, the authoritarian regime of the Chinese Communitist Party is trying to reshape the international order to supplant U.S. leadership. We must confront this challenge by defending our values and securing our interests globally. And that’s exactly what Democrats, particularly Committee Democrats, have done.  

We’ve taken critical steps to protect our nation’s security and ensure U.S. businesses and our economy can successfully compete with China by passing critical legislation, including:  

• the America COMPETES Act, which had provisions to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s growing economic influence; 
  the longest reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank to preserve and create millions of jobs right here in America and to support American businesses as they compete with China;  
  
• the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020, which included a government-wide strategy to combat illicit finance;  
  
• the Corporate Transparency Act to prevent the use of shell companies to hide dirty money in the U.S.; 
  
• the CHIPs and Science Act of 2022 to ensure we win the technology race for the 21st century;  
  
• the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which, for the first time in decades, poured significant funds into our aging infrastructure to not only support business here, but to attract investment from around the world; and, 
• the Inflation Reduction Act to finally reassert American leadership and displace China as the key supplier of critical equipment for the technologies that are needed to fight climate change. 
  

Still, there’s more work to do to, including making sure U.S. companies, like hedge funds, private equity firms and Wall Street are not investing in ways that hurt our economy or funding the adversarial actions of the Chinese government. 

I look forward to hearing from our witnesses all about what more this Committee can do to support our economy. 

I thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.

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