[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 429 Introduced in House (IH)]








109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 429

 Recognizing the low presence of minorities in the financial services 
     industry and minorities and women in upper level positions of 
   management, and expressing the sense of the Congress that active 
 measures should be taken to increase the demographic diversity of the 
                      financial services industry.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 13, 2006

Mr. Meeks of New York (for himself, Mr. Owens, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, 
  Ms. Kilpatrick of Michigan, Mrs. Christensen, Mr. Scott of Georgia, 
   Mrs. Maloney, Mr. Hinojosa, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Clay, Ms. Millender-
 McDonald, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Jefferson, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Davis of Alabama, 
 Mr. Thompson of Mississippi, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Butterfield, 
Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. Watt, Mr. Ford, Mrs. 
    Jones of Ohio, Ms. Watson, Mr. Cleaver, Ms. Waters, Mr. Meek of 
    Florida, Mr. Bishop of Georgia, Mr. Gutierrez, Ms. McCollum of 
  Minnesota, Mr. Rush, Mr. Al Green of Texas, Mr. Towns, Ms. Lee, Ms. 
 Corrine Brown of Florida, Mr. Rangel, Mr. Serrano, Ms. Jackson-Lee of 
 Texas, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Payne, Mr. Cummings, 
  Mr. Baca, Mr. Pastor, Ms. Velazquez, Mr. Crowley, Mr. Israel, Mrs. 
Lowey, Mr. Engel, Mr. Larson of Connecticut, Ms. McKinney, Mr. McNulty, 
 Mr. Ackerman, Mr. Lantos, Mr. Wu, Mr. Scott of Virginia, Mr. Weiner, 
   Mr. Gonzalez, Ms. Solis, Mr. Filner, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. Lynch, Mr. 
   Delahunt, Ms. Carson, Mr. Fattah, Mr. Rothman, Mr. Higgins, Mrs. 
 McCarthy, Mr. Capuano, Mr. Frank of Massachusetts, Ms. Eddie Bernice 
   Johnson of Texas, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Moore of Kansas, Mr. 
 Grijalva, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Ms. Loretta Sanchez of 
California, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Reyes, Mr. Becerra, Mrs. Napolitano, 
    Ms. Norton, and Mr. Cuellar) submitted the following concurrent 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services, 
and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Recognizing the low presence of minorities in the financial services 
     industry and minorities and women in upper level positions of 
   management, and expressing the sense of the Congress that active 
 measures should be taken to increase the demographic diversity of the 
                      financial services industry.

Whereas the financial services industry is vitally important to the United 
        States economy;
Whereas in 2003, employment in the financial services industry was 7 percent of 
        total employment in the United States, with over 9,000,000 employees;
Whereas since 1995, the average hourly earnings of non-supervisory workers in 
        financial activities was above the private industry and increased from 
        approximately $12 in 1995 to $17.53 in 2004;
Whereas minorities and women face various challenges in obtaining and 
        maintaining positions, especially upper level positions, within the 
        financial services industry;
Whereas minorities and women often cite the lack of mentors and leadership 
        training as barriers to their advancement;
Whereas in 2003, only 6 percent of the board seats at the Fortune 1,000 
        companies were held by minorities and women comprised only 13.4 percent 
        of Fortune 500 board seats in 2003;
Whereas in financial services, the percentage of black employees has slowly 
        decreased from 10.5 percent to 9.8 percent between 2000 to 2003;
Whereas in 2003, blacks were only 9.8 percent of those employed in the financial 
        services industry and just 6.9 percent of financial managers;
Whereas from 2000 to 2003, Hispanics have been an increasing percentage of the 
        United States workforce and the financial services industry;
Whereas in 2003, Hispanics comprised only 9 percent of those employed in the 
        financial services industry, just 6.1 percent of financial managers, and 
        less than 2 percent of the directors of Fortune 1,000 companies;
Whereas in 2004, Asians represented only 4.1 percent of the employees in the 
        financial services industry and just 3.4 percent of all financial 
        managers;
Whereas from 2000 to 2003, a greater percentage of women worked in the financial 
        services industry than any other United States industry;
Whereas approximately half of financial managers are women and the percentage of 
        women financial managers was 52.7 in 2003;
Whereas in a 2001 survey of 2,200 senior and pipeline level women and men 
        representing approximately 60 securities firms, 65 percent of women 
        reported that women have to work harder than men to get the same 
        rewards, and 51 percent of women report that women are paid less than 
        men for doing similar work; and
Whereas a minority of women (32 percent) and men (43 percent) believe that 
        promotion decisions are made fairly in their firm: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),  
That--
            (1) the Congress--
                    (A) recognizes that minorities and women still face 
                unique challenges entering into and obtaining upper 
                level positions within the financial services industry;
                    (B) encourages financial institutions to partner 
                with organizations which are focused on developing 
                opportunities for minorities and women to place 
                talented young minorities and women in industry 
                internships, summer employment and full-time positions;
                    (C) encourages financial institutions to partner 
                with inner-city high schools, girls' high schools, and 
                high schools with majority minority populations to 
                establish or enhance financial literacy programs and 
                provide mentoring;
                    (D) encourages financial institutions, including 
                Federal and State financial institution regulatory 
                agencies, to build and retain a diverse staff through 
                initiatives, including--
                            (i) providing financial support for 
                        minorities and women undergraduate and graduate 
                        business programs;
                            (ii) heavily recruiting at historically 
                        Black colleges and universities, Hispanic 
                        serving institutions, women's colleges, and 
                        colleges that typically serve majority minority 
                        populations;
                            (iii) sponsoring and recruiting at job 
                        fairs in urban communities; and
                            (iv) placing job ads in newspapers and 
                        magazines oriented toward people of color;
                    (E) encourages financial institutions to appoint 
                more minorities and women as board members; and
                    (F) encourages financial institutions, and public 
                and private pension funds to seek qualified minority 
                and women owned firms as investment managers, 
                underwriters and other business relationships; and
            (2) it is the sense of the Congress that--
                    (A) active measures should be taken by employers 
                and educational institutions to increase the 
                demographic diversity of the financial services 
                industry; and
                    (B) diversity within the financial services 
                industry is vitally important not only to promoting 
                innovation and creativity in the industry but to 
                developing a more inclusive workforce for a fair and 
                just economy.
                                 <all>