Member Spotlight

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH)

This week, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, chaired a virtual hearing entitled, “Holding Financial Regulators Accountable for Diversity and Inclusion: Perspectives from the Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion,” which included all OMWI directors.

Watch the virtual hearing here.

Weekend Reads

Politico | Citigroup becomes first megabank to hire female CEO
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The Hill | US deficit officially hits $3 trillion amid pandemic

Committee Holds Virtual Hearing Examining the Role of the OMWIs In Tracking Diversity and Inclusion Performance Inside Federal Agencies

On Tuesday, the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion held a virtual hearing entitled, “Holding Financial Regulators Accountable for Diversity and Inclusion: Perspectives from the Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion.”

The virtual hearing panelist included:

Joyce Cofield, Executive Director, Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI), Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC)
Sheila Clark, Director, OMWI, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Fed)
Lacey Dingman, Director, OMWI, Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY)
Nikita Pearson, Acting Director, OMWI, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Monica Davy, Director, OMWI, National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
Lorraine Cole, Director, OMWI, U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury)
Pamela Gibbs, Director, OMWI, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Sharron Levine, Director, OMWI, Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
Lora McCray, Director, OMWI, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

Click here to watch the virtual hearing.

Committee Holds Virtual Hearing on The Need for Financial Aid to America’s States and Territories During the Pandemic

On Thursday, the Full Committee held a virtual hearing entitled, “The Need for Financial Aid to America’s States and Territories During the Pandemic: Supporting First Responders, Assisting Schools in Their Efforts to Safely Educate, and Preventing Mass Layoffs.”

The virtual hearing panelist included:

The Honorable Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor, State of New Mexico
The Honorable Tim Walz, Governor, State of Minnesota
The Honorable Laura Kelly, Governor, State of Kansas
The Honorable Lourdes “Lou” Leon Guerrero, Governor, Territory of Guam
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President, American Action Forum

Click here to watch the virtual hearing.

Chairwoman Waters Delivers Statement on Need to Save Our States as Trump and Senate Republicans Fail to Act

On Thursday, Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), gave the following statement at a full Committee hearing entitled “The Need for Financial Aid to America’s States and Territories During the Pandemic: Supporting First Responders, Assisting Schools in Their Efforts to Safely Educate, and Preventing Mass Layoffs.”

“The coronavirus pandemic crisis continues to cause terrible harm across the nation. Over 189,000 people have lost their lives to the virus in the United States, and there have been over 6.3 million cases nationwide. Last week’s jobs numbers showed an unemployment rate still over 10 percent for Black, Hispanic, and Asian workers, and millions of families are in danger of being evicted from their homes as they struggle just to make ends meet.

Today, we will be discussing the urgent need for Congress to provide financial relief to the nation’s states and territories during this crisis. It would have been interesting to hear the perspective of Republican governors at today's hearing. Unfortunately, the minority opted not to invite any. Nevertheless, I look forward to hearing from Governors Kelly, Lujan Grisham , Leon Guerrero and Walz. ….”

See the full text of her statement here.

Waters Statement on Announcement of New Citigroup CEO

On Friday, Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), made the following statement in response to Citigroup’s announcement of a new chief executive officer.

“Earlier this year, I and Congresswoman Beatty, Chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee’s historic Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion which I created, released a report on the diversity and inclusion at the nation’s largest banks, to hold them accountable for their workforce, board and supplier diversity, pay equity, investment with diverse asset managers, and diversity and inclusion practices and policies. The report documented the lack of diversity among those banks’ executive ranks and boards. This report was one part of my work as the Committee’s first Chairwoman to prioritize and give intentional focus to diversity and inclusion, and to press for new opportunities for women and minorities….”

See the full text of the statement here.

Chairwoman’s Corner

On Friday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, issued statements in response to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report entitled, “Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Efforts to Promote Diversity and Inclusion.” The report is part of a series of reviews on diversity and inclusion requested by the Representatives.

“Under my leadership, the Committee has had a strong focus on diversity and inclusion,” said Chairwoman Waters. “This is work that began when I was Ranking Member and joined with Representatives Maloney and Beatty to request a series of reports from the GAO on diversity and inclusion. Then, as now, I was concerned that, despite the many qualified women and people of color who can contribute to the GSEs’ workforce, supplier, broker-dealer, senior management, and board diversity, their talents have not been utilized. This GAO report demonstrates that despite efforts to increase diversity, there has been a troubling lack of growth in diversity and inclusion at Fannie and Freddie. According to the report, the percentage of women of color in senior management roles at both Fannie and Freddie remained in the single digits from 2011 to 2019. The GSEs can and must do better. However, I am also concerned that GAO has failed to make any recommendations to the Federal Housing Finance Agency as to how its oversight could be improved to better hold Fannie and Freddie accountable for achieving real diversity and inclusion results.”

“This GAO report shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have made insufficient progress in diversifying their boards, workforce, and use of broker-dealers,” said Chairwoman Maloney. “The two GSEs were responsible for more than 60% of U.S. residential mortgages outstanding in 2019 and the report makes clear that they need to improve their diversity and inclusion efforts to better reflect and understand the customers they serve. In 2018, women represented 45% of employees at Fannie Mae and 46% at Freddie Mac, compared to 58% across firms in the private sector. To make matters worse, the report showed the share of female employees at both GSEs declined from 2011-2018. It is key for the GSEs to recruit more women in these lower-level positions, as they are better positioned to be promoted and considered for future senior management positions, like board membership. As I’ve stated before, improving board diversity is good governance, good business, and good policy, but promoting diversity and inclusion requires a holistic approach – from the highest levels of management to lower-level employees.”

“This GAO report – produced at the request of Chairwoman Waters, Rep. Maloney, and myself – proves that, while some progress has been made to make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac more diverse and inclusive while under government conservatorship, much more needs to be done to create a truly diverse and inclusive workforce at the two government-sponsored entities (GSEs),” said Chairwoman Beatty. “Study after study has proven that companies that are more diverse and inclusive are more profitable and perform better financially. It is in the interest of the American people that the GSEs lead the industry in diversity and inclusion to help bolster their bottom-line and ensure they never need another taxpayer-funded bailout. I strongly recommend the leadership of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to review the findings of the GAO report and take decisive action to increase diversity and inclusion within their workforces.”

See the full text of the release here.