Importance of Diversity in Financial Stability and Recovery
I would like to include the summary of this report in the Record.
One of our primary focus areas over the last several months has been minority and women-owned business enterprises' access to the Troubled Asset Relief Program. That is the TARP.
Originally, TARP was designed for the purchase of toxic mortgage-related assets and presented several opportunities for women and minority-owned businesses to participate through asset management, legal, accounting, and other professional services.
Following the announcement of the TARP, Representative Gregory Meeks and I convened a meeting of over 60 minority asset managers and officials from the Treasury Department to ensure maximum participation by women and minority-owned businesses. We wanted to make sure that there were real opportunities for participation in the TARP.
As a result, legislative language was placed in the TARP bill describing specific steps Treasury was to take to ensure minority participation. In addition, members from the National Association of Securities Professionals met with Treasury several times and submitted written recommendations on how Treasury could work better with minority and women-owned businesses in the asset management space.
Unfortunately, shortly after enactment of the TARP, Secretary Paulson shifted the focus from toxic assets to direct infusions of cash to ailing financial institutions. This shift became known as the Capital Purchase Program. This shift both cut off major opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses via asset-related services, and opened an opportunity for participation in the way of debt underwriting and other banking professional services.
Unfortunately, these opportunities were never realized as banks that received TARP funds began a cycle of self-patronage, which led to little or no access to TARP contracting opportunities for women and minority-owned businesses. The most egregious of this type of patronage was highlighted through the banks paying themselves to underwrite their own debt.
Yesterday, the Secretary of the Treasury announced a new program aimed at purchasing toxic assets from financial institutions. With this announcement, we have come full circle and a significant opportunity for minority and women-owned businesses to participate has presented itself again. The Public-Private Investment Program could purchase up to $1 trillion in assets.
Members of the CBC's Economic Security Taskforce plan to convene a TARP/TALF Access Summit. The summit will be designed to ensure meaningful participation in TARP through the Public-Private Investment Program. Specifically, we hope to provide opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses and administration stakeholders to learn more about the new program and the capabilities of minority and women-owned businesses, develop short-, mid- and long-term strategies to better facilitate access to TARP resources, and identify specific contacts within the relevant agencies.
Moving forward, I believe this is an important initiative to ensure that we bring diverse talent to tackle the daunting economic problems facing us now.
Mr. Speaker and Members, this is very important. We have billions of dollars that are being injected into our society by way of the TARP program, the TALF program, and even the stimulus program. We have to make sure that these opportunities are open and available to all members of our society who are equipped, prepared, and ready to participate.
If our communities are to pull themselves up by the bootstraps, if our communities are to open up opportunities and create jobs, we cannot be shut out of these opportunities simply because only the "big boys" are allowed to play. We must make sure that these opportunities are available to all of the women and minority-owned businesses in our society also.
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