Maxine Waters

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 77) expressing the sense of Congress that financial institutions and other companies should work proactively with their customers affected by the shutdown of the Federal Government who may be facing short-term financial hardship and long-term damage to their creditworthiness through no fault of their own, as amended.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 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 to urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 77, as amended. President Trump's historic 35-day shutdown of the Federal Government has had a deeply harmful impact on millions of Americans and the U.S. economy. While this shutdown recently came to an end, we must not forget the recovery has just begun for a wide range of affected consumers, including Federal employees, contractors, small businesses, and other individuals. Many of those people will not receive back pay. Many of them have various financial obligations, like a mortgage, or a student loan payment that they may have missed. However, they did not cause the shutdown and should not suffer any negative consequences from it. Financial institutions and other entities, like landlords and consumer reporting agencies, can play a key role in helping these innocent people. Given the financial hardship and emotional distress these consumers face, through no fault of their own, I introduced H. Res. 77 to send a strong message to the financial industry that they should do what they can to help these innocent consumers. Specifically, the resolution expresses the sense of Congress that financial institutions and other entities should work proactively to help all consumers affected by the shutdown. This includes waiving fees, ceasing evictions and foreclosures, and otherwise providing forbearance for any affected consumer, as well as taking steps to ensure their creditworthiness is not impaired because of the shutdown. Financial regulators agree that it is appropriate for financial institutions to offer prudent accommodations to help their affected customers. On January 10, I wrote to the regulators to encourage them to provide public guidance to financial institutions to underscore they could affirmatively make prudent workout arrangements consistent with safety and soundness without fear of being subject to examiner criticisms. I am glad that they made such a statement the very next day. On January 18, I wrote a letter to various financial services trade organizations, as well as the three largest credit reporting agencies, to encourage their institutions and member companies to take all prudent and appropriate actions, including those outlined in the regulators interagency statement, to help any consumer who may be affected by the shutdown. While I appreciate that many financial institutions have already announced various accommodations for affected consumers, I believe it is important that there be a robust effort by all financial institutions, consumer reporting agencies, and others to do what they can to help in the weeks and months to come which H. Res. 77 seeks to encourage. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H. Res. 77, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), who is a senior member of the Financial Services Committee and chairwoman of the Small Business Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is intended not only to help Federal employees as such, but contractors, small businesses, and others that are connected to government in ways that you may not be able to absolutely identify here. You may have folks who are consultants who are not considered contractors. You may have others who will be affected by this who maybe had a contract with the Federal Government that is now in litigation that has to be dealt with. That is what we are intending to do, not just have a blanket, blanket, blanket, but some connection to the Federal Government.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, let me say this: I know that we all want to help all of those who have been affected by the shutdown, and so I hope I was able to clarify that, so that people can help the constituents in their districts even in ways they may not have understood. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Lawson).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time to close. Mr. Speaker, this shutdown has inflicted tremendous harm on consumers and the U.S. economy. The Congressional Budget Office estimated the initial cost for the recent shutdown is more than $11 billion and wrote: ``Among those who experienced the largest and most direct negative effects are Federal workers who faced delayed compensation and private-sector entities that lost business. Some of those private-sector entities will never recoup that lost income. . . . And people who lost income and consequently borrowed money during the shutdown will see an increase in expenses as they pay interest on that debt.'' I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle would agree that it would be unfair if these innocent consumers were to suffer any negative consequences from the shutdown and that financial institutions and others should do what they can to help. Mr. Speaker, I just want to try and give some comfort to those who think that maybe there are individuals who are not federally connected who would be getting help with this kind of approach, but that is absolutely not true. I could not list every possible way, but I am reminded that my husband was an Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. I am reminded of the families who were there. I am reminded of the children whose education we paid for while they were in that country, and the education of other families of ambassadors and diplomats for whom the Federal Government pays. We would not want to not reimburse for the education of our children in foreign countries, et cetera. So there are many ways that people who are connected to the Federal Government are impacted by this. Mr. Speaker, I would like to say to Mr. McHenry: Thank you so very much for your support. Again, this is a fine example of how both sides of the aisle can agree on a commonsense resolution that will help all those who have been impacted by this shutdown. I am very pleased to have the support of Mr. McHenry. We have been trying desperately in the work that we do, as we began this session of Congress, to show that you can work cooperatively with both sides of the aisle working together on a bill, resolution, legislation, et cetera, that really does support and help our families and all the people in the country who are looking to us for support and leadership. Again, I thank Mr. McHenry, and I thank all the Members on the opposite side of the aisle who get this and who understand it and whose contractors and others are on them saying: What are you going to do? What are you going to do? This is our effort, and I appreciate their support. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I have a motion at the desk on the resolution (H. Res. 77) expressing the sense of Congress that financial institutions and other companies should work proactively with their customers affected by the shutdown of the Federal Government who may be facing short-term financial hardship and long-term damage to their creditworthiness through no fault of their own.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I am very pleased to have worked with Ranking Member McHenry on this bipartisan bill, H.R. 624, the Promoting Transparent Standards for Corporate Insiders Act. The bill is designed to promote strong enforcement against financial fraud by ensuring that corporate executives cannot indirectly and illegally trade on material nonpublic information that they know about their companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission prohibits insider trading as a fraud that hurts both company investors and the integrity of our capital markets. Those accused of illegal insider trading may defend themselves by using the SEC's rule for trading plans, Rule 10b5-1, and state that any trades that occurred while they possessed inside information were made pursuant to a pre-approved training plan. But the rule for trading plans has several shortcomings that may allow corporate insiders to get away with insider trading. My bill would require the SEC to study whether to amend its rule for trading plans to limit the ability of corporate insiders to, for example, adopt multiple, overlapping plans or change their plans to indirectly take advantage of inside information. The bill would then require the SEC to report to Congress and revise its rules based on the results of the study. This bill is much needed as fraudulent stock sales by high-ranking executives can erode confidence in our markets. For example, in November of 2017, the CEO of Intel reportedly sold $39 million in stock after he learned of two security flaws in Intel processors and within days of revising his trading plan for the second time that year. This bill is supported by investor and consumer advocates, public pension funds, and State securities regulators, including Public Citizen; Americans for Financial Reform; California Public Employees' Retirement System, CalPERS; the California State Teachers' Retirement System, CalSTRS; the Council of Institutional Investors; Healthy Markets; and North American Securities Administrators Association. I thank Ranking Member McHenry for joining me in reintroducing this bill this Congress, and I urge Members to vote ``yes.'' Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Velazquez), who is a senior member of the Financial Services Committee and the chairwoman of the Small Business Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes), who is a senior member on the Financial Services Committee and on the Intelligence Committee.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Casten).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. I am pleased that I was able to work in a bipartisan manner with the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. McHenry), the committee's ranking member. This bill shows that protecting our capital markets is something that both sides of the aisle should support. The SEC is indeed our cop on the block, and they need this bill and additional funding resources in order to make sure that our markets and our investors are safe from fraud. Another thing that the SEC needs is stability. During the recent government shutdown, the longest shutdown in American history, the SEC essentially closed its doors, furloughing 94 percent of its staff and suspending its enforcement efforts. For 34 days the agency was forced to police the markets with a skeleton crew of 110 enforcement staff. This may translate into unacceptable delays in holding bad actors accountable and obtaining relief for their victims. The SEC wasn't the only agency impacted. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Trump shutdown cost our economy $11 billion, and $3 billion of that will never be recovered. What is more, the White House wouldn't even rule out the chance of another shutdown in 3 weeks. Mr. Speaker, we should fully fund our government and focus our efforts on bipartisan compromises like H.R. 624. Again, I am pleased that one of the first bills to be brought to the floor for a vote from the Financial Services Committee is a bill that is cosponsored by Ranking Member McHenry that seeks to strengthen the ability of the SEC to punish fraudsters and protect investors. So, Mr. Speaker and Members, again, I am pleased to have had the opportunity to work with the ranking member and to come together and present a bill that is extremely important and will go a long way to getting rid of insiders who would basically cheat the system. So Mr. McHenry and I have not only worked on this bill together, we developed a relationship some time ago. And I know that there are those who are thinking that, oh, I don't know if both sides are going to be able to get together in an atmosphere that really is not conducive to getting along sometimes, but Mr. McHenry and I have shown that it is possible, and we are looking forward to other opportunities. We are not going to agree on everything and we are going to oppose each other on some things, but this bill here today indicates that we are willing to work together to try and see what we can do as cosponsors and coauthors of important pieces of legislation that both sides of the aisle should be supporting. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Ms. WATERS

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 502) to require the Comptroller General of the United States to carry out a study on how virtual currencies and online marketplaces are used to buy, sell, or facilitate the financing of goods or services associated with sex trafficking or drug trafficking, and for other purposes.

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 support H.R. 502, the Fight Illicit Networks and Detect Trafficking Act, which would advance efforts to counter the illicit uses of virtual currencies and marketplaces in drug trafficking and sex trafficking. The study in the report designed to drive action from government and its partners is needed now more than ever. In 2017, more than 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses, a 10 percent rise from the previous year. The percentage of those deaths from synthetic drugs like fentanyl and its analogs increased sharply as well. It is said that Americans are now more likely to die from opioid overdose than a car wreck, dropping our collective life expectancy. Further, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are 4.8 million people trapped in forced sexual exploitation globally. Online marketplaces and cryptocurrencies facilitate this abuse, not just abroad, but in our own communities, where victims are exploited by bad actors, forcing men, women, and children into horrifying situations from which it is difficult to escape. The bill would require the GAO to study how online marketplaces and virtual currencies are being used for drug and sex trafficking. It will examine the participants in these trafficking supply chains and how they cash in and out of their digital marketplaces, returning their illicitly gained proceeds to the formal banking system. The study will also tell us about existing Federal and State efforts to impede such activities, so we can identify how to better tackle these crimes. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Vargas and Congresswoman Wagner for introducing this bipartisan legislation. Mr. Speaker, I urge support for this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Vargas), the sponsor of the bill.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Tlaib).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts (Ms. Pressley).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Massachusetts.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Pennsylvania (Ms. Dean).

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 502, the FIND Trafficking Act, is an important bill in the fight against human trafficking and drug trafficking. There are millions of victims trapped in forced sex exploitation globally, and there were over 70,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2017. This bill will study how virtual currencies and online marketplaces facilitate human trafficking and drug trafficking, and it will study the participants who are abusing these mediums. The research that results from this bill will assist Congress in finding effective measures to address these harmful, illicit trades. Lives can be saved because of this legislation. Once again, I thank Congressman Vargas and Congresswoman Wagner for introducing this bipartisan legislation. Again, this is the second bill that we have here on the floor today where we have bipartisan cooperation. They are great bills that both sides can support. Again, I am very grateful for the vision of Congressman Vargas and Congresswoman Wagner, in introducing this legislation, and I urge support for the bill. I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.