Maxine Waters
Representative for California · Democratic · United States
“After all, my friend knows that today is Dodd-Frank's birthday, and he is the skunk at the party. There is so much that we could point out that the average citizen knows in dealing with their banks. The average citizen is tired of being treated in the way that they are treated by their banks.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, proponents say this bill is just for community banks, but here we have another example of the Big Banks sneaking in their rollbacks. I have four postings from the Bank Policy Institute, which represents all of the largest banks, like Wells Fargo.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, I have another letter that says: ``This dangerous bank deregulation package would undermine core safeguards and supervision, push risk into the shadows, and make the next publicly financed bailout more likely.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
“Moreover, it is deceptive to suggest that banks need merchant banks to make affordable housing and small business investments, because most banks can and do extend commercial credit for these purposes already.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
“Even Chairwoman Foxx admitted that this bill is all about deregulation and rolling back Dodd-Frank, a law she said she strongly dislikes. Chairman Hill said they received drafting assistance from Trump's regulators and banks, but not from organizations that represent workers or consumers. Mr. Speaker, we are not stupid.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
“6955 The bill's supporters argue that H.R. 6955 will help local banks. What the bill actually does is weaken fair lending transparency, reduce CRA and HMDA accountability, make bank mergers easier, limit meaningful community input, and make supervision more difficult.”
House of Representatives21 July 2026Source ↗
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“Rather, it sets a reasonable limit at $5 per overdraft charged by the biggest banks in America. Despite what opponents may claim, the rule does not impose a hard cap on this fee. It provides flexibility for large banks to charge more if their estimated costs and losses in providing this service are higher than $5. The rule even allows big banks to charge higher fees if they provide a simple, upfront disclosure to consumers. Think about that. Why is it if you want to charge more money than the $5, you don't want to tell your customers that you are raising and charging more? I don't get it. That is right, the biggest banks can feel free to charge higher fees, but they just have to tell consumers that they plan to do so. Furthermore, this rule does not apply to any small community banks or credit unions.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“It doesn't seem like the President cares about prices anymore, saying: ``I couldn't care less. I hope they raise their prices because, if they do, people are going to buy American-made cars. We have plenty.'' Trump doesn't care that prices for cars and other goods will rise significantly. We are here today because Republicans now want to overturn a rule that limits bank overdraft fees to $5, down from $35 or more, and saves consumers $5 billion a year. Not surprisingly, more than 80 percent of Americans, including Republicans, want to get these high overdraft fees under control, yet Republicans will vote to take off the limits on these fees and say that higher fees are good for America. Let's clear up a few myths. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's rule does not ban overdraft fees.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“``If you are going to stand idly by when the Nation's consumer watchdog is decimated--if you push a legislative agenda of more junk fees, abusive medical debt collection practices, Big Tech domination, and predatory lending--then the answer is pretty clear.'' Mr. Speaker, S.J. Res. 28 is opposed by nearly 200 consumer, civil rights, religious, and good governance organizations. It was also opposed by a bipartisan group of Senators. I urge my colleagues to vote for American consumers, not the unelected Elon Musk and other Big Tech oligarchs and billionaires that are just waiting to take over this country. Vote ``no'' on this bill. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, Seth Frotman, CFPB's former general counsel and student loan ombudsman summed up our current situation well. He testified: ``You, your family, your neighbors, and your community are at risk today because President Trump, Elon Musk, and Russell Vought have corruptly handed over the keys of our Nation's consumer watchdog to the largest banks and tech companies in the world. What is happening at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is an insult--to Congress, to the rule of law--to all of us.'' ``When you look past the rhetoric--the deceptively labeled bills touting through-the-looking-glass `reform'--what is going on in the executive branch, alongside what is being talked about here in Congress, really boils down to the one time-tested proposition: Which side are you on?”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Moreover, when Democrats led passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, we empowered the CFPB to supervise any large nonbank, including Big Tech, when they facilitate payments or offer financial products to consumers to ensure that consumers are always protected, no matter who they are dealing with. Mr. Speaker, what we are dealing with now through Trump's and Musk's unapologetic conflicts of interest and self-profiteering poses far greater risks. {time} 1300 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is extraordinarily important. We worked hard for consumers to have somewhere to go when they have complaints about being ripped off. Why is it that we would have any Member of Congress in any way oppose protecting our consumers? I can't answer that. I don't know why. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Speaker, this is a point that everybody should pay attention to: The President of the United States and his family have created their own crypto companies. In addition to that, in the middle of us trying to negotiate on Stablecoin to come to some agreement about guardrails to protect the average investor, he has now founded a new company where he is going to own Stablecoin. As a matter of fact, Republican efforts to dismantle and weaken the CFPB's authority allows Trump and Musk's companies to conveniently avoid the CFPB's oversight and supervision. When I was chair of the Committee on Financial Services, Democrats held Big Tech companies to account, including convening a hearing with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg over his plans to develop cryptocurrency called Libra.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Speaker, we know that side of the aisle wishes to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Republicans have tried in every way possible. Yet, this side of the aisle maintains that our constituents send us here to represent them. Consumers need somewhere to make complaints. Those complaints need to be investigated. Organizations need to be fined if those operations or organizations are abusing them or misusing them. Mr. Speaker, as we debate this issue, I remind everyone what is truly happening. Through this CRA, Republicans are opening the door for President Trump and co-president Musk to further enrich themselves and all of their business ventures with their own digital payment systems, including X and Trump's new payment system, Stablecoin. Mr.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, CFPB's larger participant rule does not apply any new consumer protection standards. It only helps the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ensure that Big Tech companies comply with the laws they must already follow. Both banks and nonbanks are already subject to Federal consumer financial protection laws, but Consumer Financial Protection Bureau supervision is a key tool to ensure that Big Tech follows the law and does not misuse consumer data and that consumers are not being scammed, defrauded, or unlawfully debanked. This rule allows the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to also conduct routine exams of the 17 largest nonbank payment apps that facilitated $12.8 billion payment transactions in 2021 with a total dollar value of about $1.7 trillion.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Well, all of them run companies that will directly benefit from passing this resolution. Enough is enough. I urge Members of this House to show some courage and stand up for consumers. Stand up for the rule of law and reject this harmful legislation. Mr. Speaker, I have a lot more to say, but I reserve the balance of my time.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Families and businesses across America are struggling as Trump raises taxes on Americans nationwide through tariffs. It makes no sense to pass legislation that eliminates oversight of these big Big Tech apps while millions of people are being defrauded, scammed, and basically ripped off. We see this bill for what it is: a thank-you gift to Elon Musk and other Big Tech billionaires who came to Trump's rescue during the 2024 election. We all saw them front and center at Trump's inauguration. You saw those billionaires accompanying him. Why are all the billionaires getting together? They are getting together because they don't want to pay more taxes. They want to get rid of employees who are providing all kinds of services to the constituents of this country in order for the richest people in the country to pay less taxes.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Instead, Democrats have to fight back against both Trump's efforts to kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Republican efforts to gut the authorities of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I am hopeful that we are making progress in stopping these efforts to protect big Big Tech and predatory lenders. A district court judge blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau before the administration appealed the ruling, and even this terrible resolution before us received bipartisan opposition in the Senate. Mr. Speaker, as we stand here and discuss these anticonsumer CRAs today, our constituents are deeply concerned about losing Social Security and Medicaid because of Elon Musk's reckless cuts to government.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“I have received more and more complaints from constituents who have been tricked, scammed, and defrauded out of their hard-earned money on these payment apps. Consumer use of payment apps is only increasing, with lower income households experiencing a disproportionate share of complaints. Between 2018 and 2021, fraud-related complaints involving Venmo, Cash App, and other payment apps surged by over 460 percent while financial losses skyrocketed by more than 360 percent. Candidly, we should be working together across the aisle to tackle this rise in payment fraud, not undermining the authority of the agency that can enforce the law. This should not be a partisan issue.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“I am here today because instead of considering bills to lower costs for consumers, Republicans have called up yet another bill to help out the richest man on the planet, the richest man on the planet who is a friend of Mr. Trump's, who has not been elected by anybody and who is absolutely controlling our government now. He is controlling the firing of people and the destroying of agencies. All of that is being done by an unelected billionaire who is intent on changing this government in ways that make it look like a dictatorship. Notably, this resolution will shield Elon Musk's X app, which will soon get into the payments business, from supervision and oversight by the CFPB. The CFPB oversees the largest banks and the services they provide to consumers, including their payment apps.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong opposition to S.J. Res. 28, a partisan Congressional Review Act resolution that will block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from supervising payment apps offered by Big Tech firms like Apple and Google. Before I explain why this resolution is bad, let us not ignore that President Trump and co-president Musk are tearing down key government agencies and programs as we speak, like the CFPB and Social Security. Last week, the President launched a global trade war against the rest of the world, including our friends, resulting in a record 2-day loss of $6.6 trillion in wealth. Fed Chair Powell warned that these tariffs will lead to higher inflation and job losses.”
House of Representatives9 April 2025Source ↗
“Mr. Speaker, had I been present, I would have voted NAY on Roll Call No. 38.”
House of Representatives11 February 2025Source ↗