FEDERAL MANDATES STATEMENT

The concurrent resolution contains no Federal mandates.

ADVISORY COMMITTEE STATEMENT

No advisory committees within the meaning of section 5(b) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act were created by this legislation.

CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT

Consistent with clause 3(d)(1) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the Committee finds that the Constitutional Authority of Congress to adopt this legislation is provided by Article 1, section 8, clause 1 (relating to the general welfare of the United States) and clause 3 (relating to the power to regulate interstate commerce).

APPLICABILITY TO LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

The Committee finds that the legislation does not relate to the terms and conditions of employment or access to public services or accommodations within the meaning of section 102(b)(3) of the Congressional Accountability Act.

EARMARK IDENTIFICATION

House Concurrent Resolution 140 does not contain any congressional earmarks, limited tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as defined in clause 9 of rule XXI.

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SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATION

Preamble

The resolution notes the importance of the financial services industry, which comprised about 7 percent of the total employment in the United States in 2005, to the American economy. The resolution also notes that women and minorities face various challenges in obtaining and maintaining positions within the financial services industry, particularly in upper-level positions. The resolution provides data on workforce diversity among different sectors of the industry, including findings from a June 2006 GAO report entitled, `FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY: Overall Trends in Management-Level Diversity and Diversity Initiatives, 1993-2004,' using EEO-1 data that overall diversity within the financial services industry did not change substantially from 1993 to 2004.

Section 1. Short title

This section establishes the short title of the resolution as the `Financial Services Diversity Initiative.'

Section 2. Financial services diversity initiative

This section recognizes that women and minorities still face unique challenges entering into and obtaining upper level positions within the financial services industry and expresses a sense of Congress about the importance of workforce diversity. The resolution encourages financial institutions to engage in a number of activities to try to promote workforce diversity, including partnering with organizations that focus on developing opportunities for minorities and women to place talented youth in internships, summer jobs, and full-time positions within the industry and partnering with inner-city high schools and girls' high schools to establish financial literacy programs and provide mentoring. The resolution also encourages financial institutions and federal and state financial institution regulatory agencies to attract and retain a diverse workforce by providing financial support for women and minorities undergraduate and graduate business programs; recruiting at women's colleges, historically Black colleges and universities, and Hispanic serving institutions; sponsoring and recruiting at job fairs in urban communities; and placing employment ads in media outlets oriented to people of color. The resolution also encourages financial institutions and public and private pension funds to seek qualified women- and minority-owned firms as investment managers, underwriters, and other business relationships and to appoint more women and minorities as Board members.

This section also expresses the sense of Congress that active measures should be taken by employers and educational institutions to increase the demographic diversity of the financial services industry. In addition, the section expresses the sense of Congress that diversity within the financial services industry is vitally important to promoting innovation and creativity in the industry and to developing a more inclusive workforce to achieve a fair and just economy.