Maxine Waters

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1060) to provide regulatory relief to charitable organizations that provide housing assistance, and for other purposes, as amended.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise to support H.R. 1060, the BUILD Act, which is bipartisan legislation authored by Representatives Loudermilk and Sherman that will allow nonprofit organizations like Habitat for Humanity, offering mortgage loans for charitable purposes to use alternative forms to satisfy disclosure requirements. Specifically, this bill would allow bona fide nonprofits which are eligible for tax-exempt charitable donations to have the option to use the Truth in Lending, Good Faith Estimate, and HUD-1 forms instead of TRID forms required by the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule. They may only do so in limited circumstances where they offer a zero percent interest loan. Currently, financial institutions that make five or fewer mortgage loans a year are allowed to use these alternative disclosure forms, including the HUD-1 form, instead of the TRID form. This bill simply extends this flexibility to eligible nonprofit charities in very limited circumstances, even if they make more than five mortgage loans a year. Passing this bipartisan legislation will help nonprofits do their important work in helping families in our communities build and improve places to call home. For example, the vast majority of the more than 1,200 local Habitat organizations in all 50 States are small, community-based organizations with very small mortgage portfolios and few, if any, full-time staff and rely on volunteers for much of their operations. The BUILD Act will help charities like Habitat help families get a home of their own, but still ensures the material terms and costs of mortgage loans are clearly disclosed to the borrower. Mr. Speaker, I thank Representatives Loudermilk and Sherman for their work on this bill, and I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1060, the BUILD Act. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman), a senior member of the Financial Services Committee and lead cosponsor of this bill.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate my thanks to the members of our committee, Representatives Loudermilk and Sherman, for working together to craft a narrow piece of legislation that will help nonprofit organizations like Habitat for Humanity have flexibility on which disclosure forms they use when they provide a zero-interest mortgage loan to a family getting a home of their own. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 1060, the BUILD Act, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1037) to increase transparency with respect to financial services benefitting state sponsors of terrorism, human rights abusers, and corrupt officials, and for other purposes.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Member may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1037, the Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act. This legislation requires the Secretary of the Treasury to report to Congress every 6 months a list of the licenses that it issues to financial institutions to provide services to countries and persons subject to certain U.S. sanctions. It also provides Congress with information about foreign financial firms that similarly provide support to those same countries and persons. I support this bill because I believe its disclosure requirements will serve as a useful oversight tool for Congress. Today, when the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, issues a license to a company that allows them to engage in an activity that would otherwise be prohibited by U.S. sanctions, OFAC does not disclose those licenses. I support the bill's other reporting requirement related to foreign financial firms. These lists of foreign financial institutions can provide a useful basis for Congress to review the administration's overall sanction strategy and to press the administration to impose restrictions on these institutions to change their behavior. When a nearly identical version of this bill was considered by the Financial Services Committee last Congress, I supported the bill's disclosure requirements, but I thought it would be counterproductive to have the information revealed publicly. For example, OFAC licenses often contain commercially sensitive information. If companies could no longer expect licenses to remain private, they would be less likely to apply for them, which would be detrimental to humanitarian efforts. I didn't think the public identification of these foreign financial firms would serve a useful policy purpose and could otherwise move legal activity into a shade of gray. For these reasons, a Democratic amendment was adopted in committee by voice vote to allow for Congress to review the lists confidentially. I believe H.R. 1037, which includes this critical change from last Congress, would increase congressional oversight of U.S. sanctions activity appropriately, and I urge my colleagues to support it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 1037, the Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons Act of 2019, will help ensure that Members of Congress have the information they need to provide more effective oversight of the decisions made by Treasury and OFAC and the impact that those decisions have on sanctioned persons. Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Riggleman for bringing this bill forward, and I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this important piece of legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of H.R. 1644, the Save the Internet Act. The Save the Internet Act is a simple and transparent piece of legislation that will restore the widely supported 2015 Open Internet Order rules and reinstate the consumer protections previously applied to industry by the Federal Communications Commission. I am proud to support the Save the Internet Act and thrilled to see Congress doing its job and protecting consumers once again. Across the United States, more than 129 million people are limited to a single provider for broadband internet access. Of those 129 million Americans, about 52 million must obtain internet access from a company that has violated network neutrality protections in the past and continues to undermine the policy today. This leaves over 177 million Americans, in primarily underserved communities, left without any market protection following the repeal of the 2015 Open Internet Order. The FCC's repeal of the 2015 Open Internet Order harmed all internet users, but it disproportionately hurt people of color in underserved communities. This is unacceptable, and Congress must fulfill its duty to represent and protect Americans' interests. My amendment would call on the Comptroller General and the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on the importance of net neutrality and what access to the internet means to those in vulnerable communities. Specifically, it will examine the importance of net neutrality on the socioeconomically disadvantaged, individuals with disabilities, the elderly, racial and ethnic minorities, and individuals from rural communities. By mandating that the study be conducted by the GAO, we can ensure that the data collected is transparent and free of political motivation. With this report, Congress will be able to decide for itself what the best course for it will be for the vulnerable consumer. Over 80 percent of Americans support net neutrality and agree that an open internet uplifts the voices of people of color, rural communities, socioeconomically disadvantaged, the elderly, and disabled. It is no coincidence that all these constituencies have joined together, alongside millions of individual internet users. An open internet levels the playing field and gives all Americans a better shot at prosperity and a better opportunity to achieve the American Dream. Madam Chair, I urge all my colleagues to support gathering critical information to help us improve connectivity for our most vulnerable Americans and to vote in the affirmative for my amendment. Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Michael F. Doyle).

Ms. WATERS. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Madam Chair, I rise in support of H.R. 1585, the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2019. This legislation is the result of the tireless work of advocates, Chairman Nadler, of the bill's original sponsor, my colleague from California, Congresswoman Karen Bass, and most especially, the women who survived domestic violence and sexual assault and bravely shared their stories. Without their courage, this legislation would not be on the floor today. I also appreciate the title in this bill which helps victims of domestic violence access safe housing. Women who are in dangerous situations at home need to be able to quickly transfer to alternative housing, and that is precisely what Title 6 of this bill aims to do. I understand that there are some stakeholders who have raised some questions about how the implementation of this title would work, and I will continue to work with them as this bill moves through the Senate. Though the Violence Against Women Act has led to widespread change in how our Nation understands and responds to domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, much work remains to be done. Twenty-five years after the original Violence Against Women Act passed in 1994, women who came forward are still too often disregarded, disgraced, and humiliated, all because those in power know that if the stories of the trauma and abuse suffered by women are true, then everything--including their power--would need to change. My amendment is another step toward ensuring that women who speak out and refuse to be silenced are supported and heard. Section 303 of H.R. 1585 includes the grant program that provides funds to higher education institutions to combat violent crimes on campuses, including especially, domestic and sexual violence. My amendment would create a new purpose area for section 303 grants, which allows funding to be used by higher education institutions to train employees on how to conduct victim-centered, trauma-informed interviews with the students who report being a victim of sexual assault, domestic violence, stalking, or harassment. The employee would be trained to communicate in a manner which does not blame or judge the survivor for the crimes he or she reports. My amendment stipulates that if a student requests to have a record of their conversations with college employees and administrators, then schools which accept funding for this purpose area must offer a recorded interview. Given the lengthy record of colleges suppressing reports of sexual or domestic violence on campus, recorded interviews can be incredibly important to survivors. Only one in five female college students report their sexual assault, and many cite a fear of retaliation and not being believed as the primary reasons they stayed silent. Students who come forward and report an assault or other crime should never be made to feel that they are at fault, that they will be punished, or that they should feel shame. College administrators should never use their ignorance as to how trauma affects young women--which can often make it difficult for a victim to recall exactly what happened and when--as a reason to discredit those who report. My amendment will help ensure that never happens by facilitating the training necessary for colleges to better support students as they navigate what is likely to be one of the most traumatic moments in their lives. So, Madam Chair, I urge all of my colleagues to support training to promote more effective conversations between students and college employees and vote in the affirmative for my amendment. Madam Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Chairman, I rise to continue to try and educate my colleagues on the opposite side of the aisle about the trauma that is faced by victims of sexual assault, and I am hopeful that they will agree with me, join in this amendment, and support this amendment so that we can create the opportunity to get these conversations going so that, indeed, these women can be supported and understood perhaps in ways this has never happened before. Madam Chair, I yield to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler) who is the chair of the Judiciary Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Madam Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Nadler for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I strongly support H. Con. Res. 24, which expresses the sense of Congress that the report of Special Counsel Robert Mueller should be available to the public and to Congress. Special Counsel Mueller has been appointed to ensure a full and thorough investigation of the Russian Government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election and to examine any links and/or coordination between the Russian Government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump. He has also been appointed with the authority to investigate and prosecute Federal crimes committed in the course of and with the intent to interfere with the investigation, including perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses. The gravity and magnitude of this investigation, given that it goes straight to the heart of our democracy and involves the President of the United States, requires the public release of the special counsel's findings. This is an investigation that affects each and every American, whether it implicates or exonerates the President. Therefore, it must be brought to light so that the American people can see for themselves the findings and determinations made by an objective, impartial investigator who has a reputation for integrity. In addition, the report will provide valuable insight and information for the important investigations being undertaken in the House, including the investigation being conducted by the Committee on Financial Services on money laundering and the President's finances. Special Counsel Mueller has been appropriately deliberate and discreet in conducting this investigation. It is clear from the manner in which the special counsel has approached this investigation that he has taken it seriously and has not conducted what President Trump refers to as a ``witch hunt.'' So far, the special counsel's investigation has resulted in 199 criminal charges, 37 indictments or guilty pleas, and five prison sentences. Whatever his prosecutorial decisions may be going forward, it is in the public's interest to be given full transparency into those decisions and the explanations behind them.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 206) acknowledging that the lack of sunlight and transparency in financial transactions and corporate formation poses a threat to our national security and our economy's security and supporting efforts to close related loopholes, as amended.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks on this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 206, a resolution I have introduced to inform the Congress and the American people about the persistent money laundering loopholes and problems that continue to plague the American financial system. I am pleased to bring this resolution to the floor in recognition of Sunshine Week. As part of Sunshine Week, the Financial Services Committee is shining a bright light on money laundering and discussing ways to strengthen our country's anti-money laundering and counterterrorism finance efforts. Criminals like drug traffickers, human traffickers, fraudsters, kleptocrats, rogue governments, and other corrupt individuals and organizations know our financial system well and work hard to find ways to circumvent our anti-money laundering laws. Congress has enacted numerous laws to improve the transparency of financial transactions that touch institutions in the United States and those on each end of a financial transaction. We have created reporting mechanisms, strengthened law enforcement and intelligence capacities, and promoted responsible, privacy-protecting information regimes to ensure that both the industry and the government have the tools needed to rid the economy of these illicit funds. However, there are still glaring problems and loopholes in our system that Congress must address. The resolution that I have introduced highlights two significant loopholes that remain: the lack of transparency in, number one, the arts and antiquities industry and, number two, the real estate industry. First, we know that ethnic and cultural artifacts are stolen and traded to garner funds for bad actors. According to the Antiquities Coalition: ``The United States is the largest destination for archeological and ethnological objects from around the world.'' We know, too, that terror groups like ISIS have looted and sold these treasures to fund their operations, which the head of UNESCO, the United Nations' cultural heritage agency, said was worth millions of dollars and conducted on an ``industrial scale.'' However, today, dealers in arts and antiquities are exempt from the Bank Secrecy Act, creating a huge loophole for bad actors to launder funds. Second, the significance of the real estate loophole in the United States was acknowledged in 2017 by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN, when it issued Geographic Targeting Orders, GTOs, requiring limited ownership information to be disclosed and reported in some high-end real estate transactions. In fact, FinCEN has noted that ``about 30 percent of the transactions covered by the GTOs involve a beneficial owner or purchaser representative that is also the subject of a previous suspicious activity report.'' The movement of illicit funds throughout the global financial system raises numerous questions regarding the actors who are involved in these money laundering schemes and where the money is going. This is precisely why the Financial Services Committee is investigating the questionable financing provided to President Trump and The Trump Organization by banks like Deutsche Bank to finance its real estate properties. The committee is also concerned that Trump-branded and managed condo buildings, for example, have taken millions from suspect Russians or individuals from former Soviet states through cash transactions, some well above the market value and many through shell companies. Congress must close these loopholes, and financial institutions, including the biggest banks, also must do their part and fully comply with our BSA/AML laws. Although most do, we can continue to see not only failures in compliance, but also egregious acts where money laundering and terror finance are facilitated. Further, many of our largest financial institutions have facilitated money laundering through our U.S. financial system from abroad. One scheme was carried out in Deutsche Bank's Moscow and London branches using mirror trading, in which corrupt traders in Russia managed to move $10 billion in illicit funds out of Russia by buying blue chip stocks in rubles and selling them for U.S. dollars in London. Deutsche Bank was fined nearly $630 million for allowing this mirror trading scheme to take place. Another scheme involved Danske Bank, wherein $230 billion in suspicious funds moved from Russia and other former Soviet states through one of Danske Bank's small Estonian branches to several U.S. financial institutions. We also know that real estate is frequently used to launder dirty money. Bad actors like Russian oligarchs and kleptocrats often use anonymous shell companies and all-cash schemes to buy and sell commercial and residential real estate to hide and clean their money. Today, these all-cash schemes are exempt from the Bank Secrecy Act. This must stop. In passing this resolution today, we also remind our colleagues in the banking industry of their responsibilities. In closing, Mr. Speaker, this resolution has benefited from the comments of the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, Mr. McHenry, and other members of the committee, and I thank them for their thoughtful consideration of this resolution. Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support this resolution that recognizes the need to close these loopholes and to urge financial institutions to comply with the law. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. David Scott), who is a senior member of the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green), the chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations on the Financial Services Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Lynch), a longtime member of the Financial Services Committee.