IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. CON. RES. 140 

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 

MAY 3, 2007 

Mr. MEEKS of New York (for himself, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida, Ms. 

LORETTA SANCHEZ of California, Mr. JEFFERSON, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, 

Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. CUELLAR, Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts, Ms. 

KILPATRICK, Mr. BISHOP of Georgia, Mr. WEINER, Mr. MEEK of Florida, Ms. EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New 

York, Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

WYNN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. DAVIS of Alabama, Ms. LEE, Mr. 

THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. RUSH, Mr. FATTAH, Mr. RANGEL, Mr. 

DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. WATSON, 

Mr. PAYNE, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. 

BUTTERFIELD, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. JACKSON

of Illinois, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. BACA, Mr. CROWLEY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. 

SERRANO, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. CARSON, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 

GUTIERREZ, Ms. WATERS, Mr. WATT, Mrs. LOWEY, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. ROTHMAN, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SIRES, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 

CUMMINGS, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Ms. CLARKE, and Ms. NORTON) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 

Education and Labor, 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 


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•HCON 140 IH 

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; 


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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 

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 

2 concurring), 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Serv3 ices Diversity Initiative’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINANCIAL SERVICES DIVERSITY INITIATIVE. 

5 (a) CONGRESSIONAL RECOGNITION.—The Con6 gress— 

7 (1) recognizes that minorities and women still 

8 face unique challenges entering into and obtaining 

9 upper level positions within the financial services in10 dustry; 

11 (2) encourages financial institutions to partner 

12 with organizations which are focused on developing 

13 opportunities for minorities and women to place tal14 ented young minorities and women in industry in15 ternships, summer employment, and full-time posi16 tions; 

17 (3) encourages financial institutions to partner 

18 with inner-city high schools, girls’ high schools, and 

19 high schools with majority minority populations to 

20 establish or enhance financial literacy programs and 

21 provide mentoring; 

22 (4) encourages financial institutions, including 

23 Federal and State financial institution regulatory 

24 agencies, to build and retain a diverse staff through 

25 initiatives, including— 


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1 (A) providing financial support for minori2 ties and women undergraduate and graduate 

3 business programs; 

4 (B) heavily recruiting at historically Black 

5 colleges and universities, Hispanic serving insti6 tutions, women’s colleges, and colleges that 

7 typically serve majority minority populations; 

8 (C) sponsoring and recruiting at job fairs 

9 in urban communities; and 

10 (D) placing job ads in newspapers and 

11 magazines oriented toward people of color; 

12 (5) encourages financial institutions to appoint 

13 more minorities and women as board members; and 

14 (6) encourages financial institutions, and public 

15 and private pension funds to seek qualified minority 

16 and women owned firms as investment managers, 

17 underwriters and other business relationships. 

18 (b) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

19 the Congress that— 

20 (1) active measures should be taken by employ21 ers and educational institutions to increase the de22 mographic diversity of the financial services indus23 try; and 

24 (2) diversity within the financial services indus25 try is vitally important not only to promoting innoVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:53 May 04, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HC140.IH HC140

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1 vation and creativity in the industry but to devel2 oping a more inclusive workforce for a fair and just 

3 economy. 

Æ 


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