House Republicans have promised to keep focus on “diversity and inclusion” after taking the majority, according to U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), who chairs the House Financial Services Committee. McHenry announced earlier this month that the committee will be divided into six subcommittees, and that all of them will hold “diversity and inclusion” as a top priority. The far-left has long used the terms “diversity and inclusion” to advance racial hiring quotas, reparations, and the notion that America is an inherently white supremacist state.
In one example, the Subcommittee on Capital Markets, which is led by U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), will identify “best practices and policies that continue to strengthen diversity and inclusion in the capital markets industry.” In another example, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, will focus on making sure there is “agency and programmatic commitment to diversity and inclusion policies.”
The committee has not listed additional priorities as of this time.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has become a major focus of the radical left in recent years, particularly in the wake of George Floyd’s death. As a result, thousands of public schools and private companies have hired “DEI consultants” who lecture employees and students on concepts such as “systemic” racism, white privilege and the need for reparations, among other things.
The GOP campaigned on scaling back DEI initiatives, which are loathed by the conservative base as they are seen as discriminatory and a means to re-distribute wealth on the basis of race. A common line of attack from the Republican National Party was that a GOP majority would bring solutions instead of “wokeness.”
McHenry, a staunch McCarthy ally, was tapped to head the committee this past December. His initial announcement of committee priorities under his leadership included conducting “aggressive oversight” of the Biden administration, putting Americans back in control of their financial data, and regulating the crypto market, according to the Washington Times.
“For four years, Democrats wasted the valuable and limited time and resources of our committee to push burdensome mandates on American job creators,” McHenry said in a statement. “Democrats’ goal was to name and shame companies until they parroted their woke social agenda.”
The statement made no mention of “diversity and inclusion,” though the North Carolina congressman appears to have reversed course in practice.
McHenry did dissolve a subcommittee dedicated specifically to the task as one of his first tasks, though the committee’s overall mission appears very much in place, only scattered across subcommittees. Each of those subcommittees, all led by Republicans, includes the term “diversity and inclusion” in their respective mission statements.
McHenry was hesitant to even dissolve the DEI committee, according to a report from Politico. In addition, The Consumer Bankers Association, a trade organization, wrote in a February 2019 memo that McHenry “expressed his support for the creation of the new subcommittee” during a hearing on “diversity trends in the financial services industry.”
Despite the pandering, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) was not satisfied with McHenry’s commitment to DEI. “Their pledge to make diversity a component of each sub-panel is simply insufficient,” Waters said. “We know that a diversity and inclusion strategy with no tangible goals, accountability measures, or a senior point of contact, rarely leads to significant impact.”
“My Democratic colleagues and I will continue to hold our Republican colleagues accountable,” Waters added, “and do the work to make sure diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of our agenda because as we’ve proven these past four years, diversity matters, and we will not be silent on this important topic.”
