WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, delivered the following statement at a Subcommittee hearing on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion entitled, “Understanding Stablecoins' Role in Payments and the Need for Legislation.”

Thank you very much, Chair Hill and Ranking Member Lynch, and I thank all the witnesses for testifying today. 

Let me start by saying, last Congress, my staff and I worked extensively with then-Ranking Member McHenry on legislation to provide a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. Absolutely correct about that. However, what did not happen was, we did not complete the negotiations so that we could move forward. And unfortunately, a lot of things have happened in between. And of course, in addition to FTX and a lot of other things going on, this bill that we have posted, in no way represents any final work, and because so much has happened in between, we needed to get back together in negotiations.

But Mr. McHenry alarmed me somewhat, when he said that the members on his side of the aisle have come up with a whole new bill, and I said to him, “Well, they [will] come to any negotiation having made up their mind already.” And I suggested that if he was going to have a Republican bill, then we would go back to work with a Democratic bill. Then, we’ll get together and then we’ll decide what we’re going to do to work out the differences, etc. That has not happened.

So let me just say, the posted bill in no way recommends the final work on stablecoins by negotiations between the two of us. The bill has been posted. The Chair wanted to post the bill. It does not represent any final product of any kind. And so, I think we’re starting from scratch to deal with stablecoins. We must deal with it. We must get a stablecoin bill. I think we can do that, but disregard the bill that has been posted altogether. 

I yield back.