Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, delivered the following opening statement during a full Committee hearing entitled, “Beyond Silicon Valley: Expanding Access to Capital Across America.”

Good morning.

Thank you very much, Mr. Hill. Before I begin, I want to comment about the outrageous national security breach reported yesterday. It is my understanding that the details of the attack were shared with someone who wasn’t cleared – putting the lives of those involved in the whole mission in jeopardy. This latest breach follows unlawful access to the critical payments systems and the data of Americans.

Mr. Chairman, I hope you agree that enough is enough. I wish we had more positive information to report on, but the incompetence of this administration is glaring.

With that, I appreciate today’s hearing on capital formation, the reality is that our economic outlook is bleak, and it's entirely of the President’s own doing. Mr. Chairman, I want to take a moment to read excerpts that highlight the magnitude of the economic crisis created by Donald Trump:

• From Reuters: “More than $4 trillion in stock market value has evaporated since Trump took office.”
  
  
• From the Financial Times: “Economists expect Trump’s policies to slow economic growth and fuel higher inflation.”
  
  
• From Inc Magazine: “Trump’s tariffs are causing some startups to scrap their IPOs.”
  
  
• From Reuters: JP Morgan’s Chief Global Economist says the risk of a recession will rise to “probably 50% or above” when Trump’s April 2nd tariffs kick in.
  

This is the state of our economy. As a result of Trump’s disastrous policies and dumb trade wars, our stock markets are in chaos and the strong economy he inherited from President Biden is no more. Right now, instead of expanding their business or investing in their workers, business owners are dealing with a Trump-induced recession and are panicking at the thought of higher prices for goods and raw materials from overseas. All of this is slowing hiring, killing innovation, and making it harder for American companies to compete globally.

But Trump’s economic policies aren’t just hurting American businesses and workers. No, Trump is an equal opportunity destroyer of finances. People preparing to retire, people he has forced to retire, and people he has wrongfully fired have all seen their nest-eggs and hard-earned savings reduced to rubble. Instead of displaying leadership, competence, and care, Trump has been golfing at Mar-A-Lago, promoting his own memecoin, and filming Tesla ads on the White House lawn for the richest man on Earth, Elon Musk.

Unfortunately, that’s not all. This month, Trump signed an Executive Order gutting the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Mr. Chairman, for over 30 years, CDFIs have been strongly supported by Democrats and Republicans. We all have them in our districts and have all seen firsthand the critical work they do in supporting small businesses in underserved communities. Eliminating CDFIs because they serve the underserved is the MAGA equivalent of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

This same Executive Order would also gut the Minority Business Development Agency. And make no mistake, these cuts to working-class families in underserved communities, and the small businesses that they serve are all designed to pay for the only thing the Trump Administration actually cares about – tax cuts for billionaires.

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