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In the News

June 20, 2013

The St. Louis City NAACP's Centennial Gala held Friday, June 7 in the Khorassan Ballroom at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel was not merely the branch's largest fundraising event of the year. It also served as an opportunity for 700 gala attendees to support one of the oldest NAACP branches nationwide, one that has been at the forefront of the fight for civil rights since its inception a century ago.


June 18, 2013

A top House Democrat is asking the Obama administration to keep the nation's financial regulations out of trade talks with the European Union.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter on Tuesday to President Obama urging him to avoid a situation in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations that would undermine the Dodd-Frank financial rules.


June 18, 2013

Rep. Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, is asking for an investigation into claims that Bank of America purposefully delayed borrowers from entering the Home Affordable Modification Program.

The California Democrat penned letters to several government officials on Tuesday, asking that they to look into the allegations made in an ongoing lawsuit, which were detailed in a report by Bloomberg last week.

Issues:Housing

June 5, 2013

Maxine Waters has settled into her new job. This term, the L.A. Congresswoman became the ranking Democrat on the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The appointment came after a three-year fight to clear her name on banking-related ethics charges.

Waters waited a long time for the position — 22 years. She says when she first came to Congress, "People were fleeing the old banking committee because of the [savings-and-loan] scandal and nobody wanted it."

Waters notes: "I stayed, I worked, I've learned, and I've earned the seniority."


May 14, 2013

OVER her 22 years in Congress, Maxine Waters has likened bank executives to "gangsters," snarkily addressed them as "captains of the universe" and threatened to tax their companies "out of business."

The Democrat from Los Angeles, in other words, is not known for showing love to the financial industry.

So in March, when she visited a group of community bankers in a conservative corner of her district, she seemed ready for a chilly reception. "Let's see what these guys have to say for themselves," Ms. Waters said with a smirk as she emerged from her S.U.V.


May 14, 2013

Once considered an afterthought on the Crenshaw/LAX Corridor Light Rail Line, the proposed Hindry Avenue station in Westchester has had some influential supporters come to its aid this year in an attempt to revive hope for a second Westchester stop on the mass transit line.

Los Angeles Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who represents Westchester, joined his council colleague, Bernard Parks, in seconding a motion May 1 that would direct bond funding towards constructing a station near the Inglewood border on Hindry Avenue, which has long been the hope of east Westchester residents.


May 14, 2013

President Barack Obama nominated veteran Rep. Melvin Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator that oversees lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He also has chosen a former telecommunications lobbyist to head the Federal Communications Commission, the White House said.

Watt, a North Carolina Democrat who has been in Congress for 20 years, would replace Edward DeMarco, an appointee of Republican President George W. Bush, who has been a target of housing advocates, liberal groups and Democratic lawmakers.

Issues:Housing

May 14, 2013

The co-author of legislation that Louisiana officials say is leading to significant hikes in federal flood insurance premiums promised Saturday to work with congressional colleagues and the Obama administration officials to resolve the problem.


May 8, 2013

Leuzinger High School senior Christopher Lizama has won first place for an art piece he submitted in the 2013 Congressional Art Competition.

South Bay Rep. Maxine Waters recognized the 17-year-old Hawthorne resident this week along with 23 other local high school students of the 43rd District who participated in the contest.


April 23, 2013

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) on Tuesday promised to foil the Republican ban on testimony from consumer bureau chief Richard Cordray.

Waters, the ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee, said the decision to prohibit testimony from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director was "inappropriate and unwarranted," and promised to use all the powers available to her to ensure that he testifies.