Aynana Pressley Claims GOP Is Trying To Gut 'Critical Federal Regulatory Work' With FDIC Critiques

3 months ago

At a House Financial Services Committee hearing held last week, Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) spoke about the leadership at the FDIC.

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00:00The gentleman yields back.

00:01The gentleman from Massachusetts, Ms. Presley, is now recognized for five minutes.

00:07Thank you, Mr. Chair.

00:08And thank you all for being here.

00:09First, I want to say I'm encouraged to see a more representative table today.

00:13I'm glad that there is a woman at this table and that there is diverse representation at

00:16this table, given the experiences both of racial discrimination, microaggression, hostilities,

00:22and also sexual harassment.

00:24I remain deeply concerned about accountability and recourse following the inaction to address

00:28essential workers' rights at the FDIC.

00:31I did not parse words when Mr. Gruenberg was before this committee, and I certainly won't

00:35today.

00:36I appreciate that he has taken the appropriate step of tendering his resignation, effective

00:40immediately following Senate confirmation of his successor.

00:43Let me be clear.

00:45Those on the other side of the aisle do not come to this conversation in good faith.

00:48They see an opportunity to gut critical federal regulatory work, and they are going after

00:54it.

00:55That aside, let me be clear.

00:58The FDIC must prioritize recourse for workers and accountability for wrongdoers.

01:03Mr. Kim, based on this report, it's just not clear to me who at the FDIC directly contributed

01:11to the recommendation section.

01:13Sorry, who directly contributed to the recommendation section?

01:19Yes.

01:20The report was entirely the work of the Cleary Gottlieb team, and we both reached our factual

01:27findings and the analyses and developed the recommendations.

01:30Okay.

01:31Let me just unpack that.

01:32I'll be a little bit more precise.

01:35What role did employees, current or former, who were actually impacted by these adverse

01:40experiences at the FDIC play in contributing to the recommendations?

01:47Thank you for that clarification.

01:48Of course, all of our—entirety of our report are based on facts that we learned from speaking

01:55with people at the FDIC, current and former, as well as the documents.

02:00We came in with no personal knowledge of what was going on at the FDIC, which is why we

02:07started in our remarks today to emphasize the emotion that we heard from people who

02:12were reporting.

02:14The entirety of the findings and the recommendations are based on what we learned from the FDIC.

02:22In terms of the recommendations, there were many people within the FDIC, particularly

02:27those who were part of employee resource groups, who had very good ideas about what to do,

02:35and we understood that they had contributed in part to the development of the action plan.

02:41In our interviews with them, we also asked them, those who had experienced these issues,

02:48those who were part of the process, ask them, how do you think this could be improved?

02:53And a lot of that was reflected in our recommendations, as well.

02:55Okay, I have some other questions I need to get to, but that is so critically important.

03:01It's essential to healing for those who were adversely impacted, and I'm just a firm believer

03:07that those closest to the pain should be closest to the power driving and informing the policymaking,

03:13and that is certainly true for survivor's justice.

03:16So I hope that they will continue to be actively engaged, and their input solicited is so important

03:21that you're partnering with them, because they're experts in addressing sexual harassment

03:26and protecting workers' rights.

03:28Mr. Kim, in the report, it states that FDIC did not concur with two of OIG's recommendations

03:35on proportionate and consistent disciplinary action for substantiated harassment.

03:40What were two recommendations, and why did the FDIC oppose them?

03:46We understand that after the OIG report, Office of the Inspector General report in 2020, that

03:53the FDIC took issue with some-

03:55I'm sorry, Mr. Kim, I'm running out of time.

03:57So could you just tell me-

03:58We don't know exactly-

03:59What were the two?

04:00And why?

04:01On what basis that the FDIC resisted those.

04:03Okay, all right.

04:04Well, no one, and I repeat, no one should ever be subjected to sexual harassment in

04:08the workplace.

04:09This is an issue that affects people of all walks of life in workplaces throughout America,

04:13and that is why I will be introducing the Be Heard in the Workplace Act.

04:17This is anti-harassment, survivor-focused legislation that will codify critical changes

04:23to prevent workplace harassment and discrimination, and enable workers to seek accountability

04:27and justice.

04:28It was drafted in close partnership with survivors, civil rights lawyers, and workers' rights

04:34advocates.

04:35This bill prohibits mandatory arbitration and nondisclosure agreements from covering

04:39up harassment.

04:40It expands the jurisdiction of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and it outlines a

04:45clear legal pathway for survivors to seek legal redress through the court system.

04:51The Be Heard in the Workplace Act is essential to protecting workers and ensuring accountability

04:56for discrimination, harassment, and abuse.

04:58I want every worker to know that we don't just care about your labor.

05:04We give a damn about your lives.

05:06And every worker should be able to do their job with safety, dignity, and respect.

05:12Thank you.

Aynana Pressley Claims GOP Is Trying To Gut 'Critical Federal Regulatory Work' With FDIC Critiques

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