Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, delivered the following opening statement during a full Committee markup.
“Good morning, and thank you, Chairman Hill.
As we sit here, Trump has violated the sovereignty of my state of California, federalizing the National Guard and sending the Marines into Los Angeles. This is completely unacceptable to Los Angelenos, but should also be unacceptable to you, because Trump also said he wants ‘troops everywhere’ in America. As Trump perverts our National Guard and military, he is also perverting basic ethics standards and conflicts of interest through his use and abuse of crypto. As a result of his crypto schemes, his net worth has skyrocketed to $5.6 billion, of which, according to Forbes, $1.2 billion is from his crypto scams. This is while our constituents are struggling to pay their mortgage or rent and put food on the table. And Republicans are making Americans’ lives worse by ramming through their Big Ugly Bill to slash funding for food stamps, Medicare, and Medicaid so that billionaires, like the world’s worst ex-boyfriend, Elon Musk, can get a tax cut.
This isn’t Trump Derangement Syndrome. This is Trump Destruction Syndrome because everything this President touches, he destroys.
This Committee should be focused on this unfolding coup, thievery and bribery, and the economic crisis hitting American families. Instead, Republicans are jamming through the ‘CALAMITY Act,’ which not only legitimizes Trump’s corruption, but also creates enormous loopholes that expose investors to fraud and weakens our national security. This bill is bad for startups, giving even more power to megabanks and crypto giants. And, despite the industry’s request for clarity, this bill creates vague new definitions that will result in endless litigation. And while the bill’s sponsors say this is the most significant rewrite of securities laws since 1933, the Committee hasn’t bothered to invite the Chairman of the SEC to testify. In fact, this same SEC Chair has refused to provide Democrats with his thoughts on the bill. I suppose he’s decided that if he can’t say something nice, he won’t say anything at all. Or Trump won’t allow him to say anything.
It is for this reason that Democrats are doing everything we can to make sure the public knows what’s in this bill. We held a Minority Day hearing to give voice to investor advocates, securities experts and national security experts. We’ve written several letters demanding investigations into the numerous schemes the President and his family are engaged in. Yesterday, Committee Democrats hosted a ‘page turn’ with academics and experts. I’ve also introduced my bill, the ‘Stop TRUMP in Crypto Act,’ to block the President, Vice President, Members of Congress, and their immediate families from engaging in crypto corruption and blatant conflicts of interest.
And today, we’re offering several amendments to stop the harm in this bill.
But, let’s call this bill what it is: a rushed, complicated and unnecessary legislation that ignores the rampant crypto corruption happening down the street while leaving our nation’s investors out to dry. We need to go back to the drawing board on this one.
It is ironic that as we consider the ‘CALAMITY Act,’ which is sure to lead to the next financial crisis if passed, we are also considering Mr. Green’s bill, which responds to the failures of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest banks in American history. After today, I urge the Chairman to bring up the other Democratic bills that respond to those bank failures, many of which Republicans have supported.
I’m also pleased that we will consider Rep. Beatty’s bill to strengthen Minority Depository Institutions’ efforts, alongside other community financial institutions, so that they can continue to support small businesses and help underserved communities thrive. Passing this bill today is affirming this Committee’s commitment to MDIs and other small lenders.
With that, I yield back the balance of my time.”
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