Today Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, took to the House floor to oppose H.R. 4790, the “Prioritizing MAGA Policies Over Economic Growth Act. Among many things, this bill would limit investors’ rights to put forward, and vote on, new corporate policies; inhibit investors’ access to crucial information about the companies they own; and reverse the progress many public companies and banks have made towards addressing climate risks, bolstering a more diverse and inclusive workforce, and adopting socially responsible practices.

As prepared for delivery

Mr. Speaker, we are on the brink of yet another government shutdown brought to you by MAGA Republicans. I’ve lost track of how many times this has happened this Congress, and frankly, I and the rest of America are just tired. We’re exhausted. There are real consequences when the government shuts down—it harms our national security, it harms our economy, and it harms service members, veterans, retirees, and vulnerable communities.

So, instead of working to prevent a shutdown, we are debating a bill that seeks to divide America with fake culture wars that are really about denying the real dangers posed by climate change and denying the fact that our country’s rich diversity is one of our greatest resources.

This bill, H.R. 4790, which I am calling the “Promoting MAGA Priorities over Economic Growth Act,” is straight out of the Republican’s Project 2025 playbook. It would restrict voting rights for investors; ban information that MAGA Republicans don’t agree with; and block the government agency responsible for protecting our capital markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission, from directing public companies to report critical information that impacts their bottom line, including climate risks, company diversity, and employee welfare.

This bill flies in the face of the 80 percent of investors who want companies to disclose these metrics, known as Environmental, Social, and Governance or “ESG” policies. Companies that prioritize these metrics perform better financially than their peers that do not. Many studies have shown that companies that embrace the diversity of the United States outperform those that do not. Indeed, companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the least by 53 percent when it comes to shareholder returns. But if we think about it, this is just common sense. When a company includes the views and perspectives that reflect the diversity of America, all of America is likely to see the value of that company.

When I was Chairwoman of the Committee, I created the first of its kind Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion. We received countless hours of testimony from researchers who confirmed that embracing diversity and inclusion is not just the right thing to do, it's also good for the bottom line.

So let me go through in more detail what this bill does. First, H.R. 4790 strips American investors of their legal right to vote on and offer proposals that can influence the direction of the companies they own—particularly those related to ESG policies. The bill does this by giving management, rather than the SEC, the final say on whether a proposal gets included on the ballot at a company’s annual shareholder meeting. And not just ESG proposals. The effect of this bill would deprive investors of what is today, right now, a legal right to have proposals of any kind included.

There is a long history of shareholders pushing America’s corporations to adopt practices that most of us take for granted today. This includes majority-independent boards, say-on-pay executive compensation, and annual director elections. Today, investors are pushing companies to report ESG metrics, board diversity, and how workers are treated. Being able to offer, and then vote on these proposals, is a legal right of investors under current law. That’s right, shareholders are the legal owners of the companies they invest in and corporate executives work at their pleasure. Mr. Speaker, it seems that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, who are so concerned about socialism, might need a refresher about how capitalism really works.

Second, H.R. 4790 undermines another critical component of our equity markets—the bill limits independent analysis and research, by impeding key providers that investors use, known as “proxy advisors.” Proxy advisors are neutral third parties that provide shareholders, and their representatives, with independent analysis about items up for a vote on the corporate ballot. Proxy advisors also solve an important problem by doing the research on thousands of corporate votes that investors would otherwise have to do themselves. Management doesn’t want ordinary investors to have this information as it may not align with their recommendations. To be clear, investors pay for these services and do so because they don’t just want to take management’s word. By restricting what analysis and research ordinary investors can purchase and use, H.R. 4790 is effectively another MAGA book ban.

Third, H.R. 4790 severely limits the SEC’s authority to direct companies to report data about their climate risks, diversity hiring, and employee welfare. Instead of allowing the SEC to determine what information investors should see, as is currently settled law, under this bill, companies themselves would make this determination. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a company management is not inclined to share more than it has to, and if it gets to choose, you can imagine that many companies wouldn’t share much of anything. Congress authorized the SEC to be the arbiter of what is disclosed because our markets only work when investors have sufficient information to make informed investment decisions.

Finally, H.R. 4790 undermines the government’s ability to coordinate with international partners and take commonsense steps to address financial risks like those posed by climate change. In fact, if the Federal Reserve hears from a European counterpart that requiring companies to guard against wildfire risk is important, the Fed would have to jump through several new hurdles before it could implement it, even in an emergency. This extreme measure would even make it harder for our bank regulators to encourage banks to expand small business lending, an issue I tried to fix through an amendment but was blocked. 

To be clear, this bill doesn’t just have one or two poison pills in it. When each bill was separately considered in Committee, not a SINGLE Democratic member voted them.

H.R. 4790 strips the right of investors to vote and offer their own proposals to strengthen the companies they own, strips their access to independent research and analysis about the companies they own, and strips the government regulator of its authority to compel those companies to provide the market with critical information.

Is this America?

Mr. Speaker, I urge ALL members to vote NO on H.R. 4790.

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