[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 445 Introduced in House (IH)]

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114th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 445

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that corporations 
 should commit to utilizing the benefits of gender diversity in boards 
          of directors and other senior management positions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 28, 2015

 Mr. Beyer (for himself, Mr. Emmer of Minnesota, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. 
Davis of California, and Miss Rice of New York) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the 
                               Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that corporations 
 should commit to utilizing the benefits of gender diversity in boards 
          of directors and other senior management positions.

Whereas a McKinsey and Company study entitled ``Women Matter'', published in 
        October of 2007, showed that corporations in which women are most 
        greatly represented on boards of directors, or in other senior 
        management positions, are also the corporations that perform the best;
Whereas such study showed that corporations that have 3 or more women serving in 
        senior management positions score more highly, on average, on the 
        organizational performance profile than corporations with no women 
        serving in senior management positions;
Whereas such study showed that performance increases significantly once a 
        certain critical number of women serving in senior management positions 
        is attained--specifically, when there are at least 3 women on management 
        committees with an average membership of 10 individuals;
Whereas an Oklahoma State University study entitled ``Corporate Governance, 
        Board Diversity, and Firm Performance'', published in March of 2002, 
        found that gender diversity on boards of directors is associated with 
        improved financial value;
Whereas Catalyst, a non-profit and non-partisan organization, found in the 2014 
        Catalyst Census that women represent 46.8 percent of the labor force yet 
        only account for 19.2 percent of corporate board seats for S&P 500 
        companies, and a Catalyst report entitled ``Corporate Performance and 
        Women's Representation on Boards'', published in 2007, found that gender 
        diversity on corporate boards contributes to more effective corporate 
        governance and to positive governance outcomes through a variety of 
        board processes, as well as through individual interactions;
Whereas such report found that women directors contribute to important 
        corporate-level outcomes because they play direct roles as leaders and 
        mentors, as well as indirect roles as symbols of opportunity for other 
        women, and inspire those women to achieve and stay with their 
        corporations;
Whereas such report found that more recognition of the valuable contribution of 
        women directors to corporation value is needed;
Whereas ending in 2012 Credit Suisse conducted a 6-year global research study 
        entitled ``Gender Diversity and Corporate Performance'', published in 
        2012, of more than 2,000 corporations worldwide that showed that women 
        serving on corporation boards improved corporation performance with 
        respect to key metrics, including stock performance, as demonstrated by 
        the fact that corporations with a market capitalization of more than 
        $10,000,000,000 on whose boards women served outperformed by 26 percent 
        stock performance of comparable corporations with boards on which no 
        women served;
Whereas such report found a greater correlation between corporations' stock 
        performance and the presence of women directors since the financial 
        crisis in 2008, in addition to finding that corporations with women 
        serving as directors significantly outperformed other corporations when 
        the financial crisis occurred;
Whereas such report found that corporations with women serving as directors tend 
        to be somewhat risk-averse and carry less debt, on average, compared to 
        corporations with no women directors, and that net income growth for 
        such corporations averaged 14 percent over a 6-year period, compared 
        with 10 percent for those corporations with no women directors; and
Whereas the United States 30% Club formed by a group of business leaders and now 
        including 49 United States chairpeople and chief executive officers is 
        committed to better gender balance at all levels of corporate 
        organizations through voluntary actions: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the citizens of the United States have a significant 
        stake in promoting robust, sustainable economic growth;
            (2) such growth will be strengthened and accelerated by the 
        ever-fuller inclusion of women in the United States workforce, 
        at all levels of corporate management; and
            (3) corporations in the United States should undertake a 
        commitment to ever-fuller utilization of the talents, skills, 
        and work ethic of women on boards of directors and in other 
        senior management positions.
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