Federal Reserve Racial and Economic Equity Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. HOULAHAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of my commonsense amendments that, one, ensure community banking institutions will work better to support young women and people of color, and two, that credit unions help us advance financial literacy.

As a businessowner and entrepreneur myself, I understand the challenges of getting product from the garage or trunk of your car into a storefront window or onto the online sales opportunities.

We know that Community Development Financial Institutions, or CDFIs, are all key partners in successful business development, but they cannot do it alone.

My first amendment builds on past successes by revising the Young Entrepreneurs Program to ensure that women and people of color receive the focus and financial support that they need.

Simply put, our local economies truly grow and thrive when we support all of our budding entrepreneurs. We have an established partner to help us do that already, which is credit unions. That brings me to my second effort, which would require credit unions to include a description of financial education programs in their reports to ensure that information is accessible and transparent.

Financial management, budgeting, and making informed and effective decisions with resources are keys to business success.

I thank Chairwoman Waters for bringing this.

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