Member Spotlight

Congresswoman Nikema Williams (D-GA)

Congresswoman Nikema Williams (D-GA) serves as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. She also serves as a member of the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion and the Task Force on Financial Technology.

Weekend Reads

Bloomberg | Crypto Executives to Face House Lawmakers at Dec. 8 Hearing
Washington Post | Overdraft fees are a menace
American Banker | CFPB pledges to root out illegal overdraft fee practices
The Hill | Treasury redirecting rental assistance funds to address backlogs

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Upcoming Hearing Dates

The Financial Services Committee convened three hearings this week:

Postponed: The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “Ensuring Equitable Delivery of Disaster Benefits to Vulnerable Communities and Peoples: An Examination of GAO’s Findings of the CDBG Program.”
Wednesday, December 8 at 10:00 AM ET: The full Committee will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “Digital Assets and the Future of Finance: Understanding the Challenges and Benefits of Financial Innovation in the United States.”
Thursday, December 9 at 11:00 AM ET: The Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion will convene for a hybrid hearing entitled, “A Review of Diversity and Inclusion Performance at America’s Large Investment Firms.”

All hearings are livestreamed on https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/live/.

Due to COVID-19, all markups and hearings will be in hybrid format. Members and witnesses may participate remotely via Cisco WebEx or participate in-person in room 2128 Rayburn House Office Building.

Committee activities are finalized once an official notice is issued by the House Financial Services Committee. Visit https://democrats-financialservices.house.gov/calendar/ for the most up-to-date Committee schedule.

Chairwoman’s Corner

Chairwoman Waters Delivers Opening Statement at Full Committee Hearing on Oversight of the Treasury Department’s and Federal Reserve’s Pandemic Response

Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), Chairwoman of the House Committee on Financial Services, gave the following statement at a full Committee hybrid hearing entitled, “Oversight of the Treasury Department’s and Federal Reserve’s Pandemic Response.”

Welcome back, Secretary Yellen and Chair Powell.

As this pandemic continues, the Biden Administration and Congressional Democrats remain hard at work to provide protections and essential relief to individuals, families, and small businesses across the country. The emergence of the new Omicron variant shows us that this crisis is not over, and we must remain vigilant to protect our country and our families from the devastation of COVID-19.

Since Democrats have been in power, we have delivered for the American public. Democrats provided rental relief for struggling renters, provided 70,000 vouchers to address homelessness, provided support to state and local governments, and helped our nation’s restaurants. Democrats helped businesses reopen, prioritized vaccine distribution, and because of this work, 74.5 percent of individuals five years and older have received at least one shot. In fact, this Thanksgiving was the first time since the pandemic began that many of us spent time in person with our friends and families.
Under President Biden’s leadership, the economy has created 5.6 million jobs – more than any other Administration’s first nine months – and weekly jobless claims recently fell to 199,000, the lowest total in more than 50 years.

But our work does not stop at pandemic relief. We also enacted landmark bipartisan infrastructure legislation, an achievement that has eluded Republican and Democratic presidents alike for decades.

Read Chairwoman Waters’ full opening statement HERE.