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 WEEKLY ROUNDUP
COVID-19 Edition
October 4, 2020

        

Committee Holds Virtual Hearing on Examining the Legal Framework Governing Who Can Lend and Process Payments in the Fintech Age

On Tuesday, the Task Force on Financial Technology, chaired by Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA), held a virtual hearing entitled, “License to Bank: Examining the Legal Framework Governing Who Can Lend and Process Payments in the Fintech Age.”

The virtual hearing panelist included:

  • Raúl Carrillo, Policy Counsel, Demand Progress Education Fund; Fellow, Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund

  • Everett K. Sands, Chief Executive Officer, Lendistry

  • Arthur E. Wilmarth, Jr., Professor Emeritus of Law, George Washington University Law School

  • Brian Knight, Director, Innovation and Governance Program, Mercatus Center

Click here to watch the virtual roundtable.


Waters Floor Statement on Updated Heroes Act

On Thursday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), gave the following floor statement in support of the updated Heroes Act:

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the House Amendment to H.R. 925, the updated version of the Heroes Act.

Mr. Speaker, Democrats have been working every single day to respond to this pandemic and provide much-needed relief and protections for families across the country. 139 days ago, House Democrats voted to pass the Heroes Act. Unfortunately, President Trump, Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans have blocked the bill, and prevented the essential relief the legislation provides from reaching our neighborhoods and our communities.

Meanwhile, the nation continues to suffer during this crisis. Even before this pandemic, over half a million people in the United States were experiencing homeless, including more than 50,000 families with children. It is likely that this number has grown significantly due to the pandemic. We also continue to head toward a catastrophic eviction crisis, as families struggle to pay rent and months of unpaid back rent pile up. Today, the rent is due but an estimated 14.2 million renter households cannot pay it and are at risk of eviction and homelessness. In my state of California, there are 1.7 million renter households who are behind on rent and facing eviction. At the same time, more than 8 million homeowners, including almost 780,000 homeowners in California, have already fallen behind on their mortgage payments. Making matters worse, over 1 million small businesses have closed ….”

See the full text of her statement here.



Waters Urges SEC to Rescind Proposed Amendments that Reduce Capital Market Transparency

On Friday, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton, urging the SEC to rescind harmful proposed amendments to rule 13-F and rule 13f-1 of the of the Securities and Exchange Act which would reduce transparency in capital markets.

“I have encouraged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), on several occasions, to prioritize efforts that are responsive to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and halt rulemaking unrelated to the pandemic,” wrote Chairwoman Waters. “However, as this proposal demonstrates, the Commission has refused to do so. Instead, inconsistent with its mandate to protect investors, maintain fair and orderly markets, and facilitate capital formation, the Commission continues to propose and adopt deregulatory rules that suppress shareholder rights, impair shareholder engagement, reduce capital market transparency and decrease investor protection, overall. For that reason, I cannot support the Proposed Amendments and urge the Commission to withdraw the proposal.”

Click here to read the full release

 
Tweets of the Week

 
Member Spotlight

 
Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA)

This week, Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton’s (D-VA) Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act passed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan vote. Rep. Wexton’s legislation, H.R. 6270, the Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act of 2020, would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue rules requiring publicly traded companies to annually disclose imports of manufactured goods and materials that originate, or are sourced in, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It would also require the SEC and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to provide information to Congress regarding these disclosures, as well as oversight.

Read Rep. Wexton’s statement on the passage of H.R. 6270 here.

Read Chairwoman Waters’ floor statement in support of Uyghur Forced Labor Disclosure Act here.

Watch here for additional remarks from Chairwoman Waters during floor debate on H.R. 6270.


Weekend Reads


Waters, Leahy Call on GAO to Review Sustainability of World Bank’s International Development Association’s New Financing Model

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requesting it analyze the International Development Association’s financing model, financial viability, and risk management.

“To assist the Congress in carrying out its responsibility to oversee U.S. participation in the multilateral development banks, and oversight of U.S. contributions to IDA in particular, and to prepare for upcoming negotiations for the next scheduled IDA replenishment in 2023 and beyond, we request that GAO analyze IDA’s financing model, financial viability, and risk management,” wrote the lawmakers.

The International Development Association is the arm of the World Bank that provides grants and concessional loans to the world’s poorest countries, and it recently adopted the most significant shift to its financing framework since it was created in 1960.

See the full text of their letter here.


Chairwoman’s Corner

Chairwoman Waters Slams Trump Administration for Using Pandemic Funding Allocated for PPE for Defense Spending- On Tuesday, Chairwoman Waters gave the following statement regarding reports that the Trump Administration used funding allocated by Congress for the pandemic response for unrelated defense purposes: 

“The Trump Administration has failed to use the funding provided by Congress to produce medical equipment and supplies to protect the American people from COVID-19. When the CARES Act was passed in March, I urged the Administration to use the funds provided to carry out the Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) for medical equipment and supplies necessary to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in April, Senator Brown and I urged Secretary Esper to use those funds to produce personal protective equipment (PPE), including N95 masks, and to use other programs created by Congress to support defense contractors. The Administration, abetted by Senate Republicans on the Appropriations Committee, ignored these concerns, and continued to use those scarce funds to help boost the defense industrial base.

“In July, I and four other chairs of the House wrote to Secretary Esper and called on the Administration to stop allocating DPA funds until they could provide us with a report on what funds they may have used to support production of these key supplies and equipment, and how they plan to meet the growing needs. Indeed, we cited the Administration’s own estimate that the country would need 3.3 billion N95 masks for 2020 to safely reopen, and that the Administration did not have plans to meet those needs. We still have not received an answer to this letter….”

Click here to read her full statement.
Sent from the Committee on Financial Services

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