WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House of Representatives Democratic Caucus announced today that it had appointed Representative Joe Baca (D-Rialto) to the highly influential Financial Services Committee.

The Financial Services Committee oversees issues related to banking, monetary policy, housing and home lending, and international lending organizations like the World Bank or International Monetary Fund. It also deals with the complex regulations that manage complicated borrowing and insurance law. Arthur Andersen, Worldcom, and Enron officials testified about their misdeeds to the Financial Services Committee last spring, and the Committee introduced legislation that would stop further Enron or Arthur Andersen fiascoes from happening again.

“Providing working families with increased access to capital markets, investment opportunities, and fair banking and insurance services will be my priorities on Financial Services,” Baca said. “As our community keeps growing, we must make sure families can take advantage of financial opportunities to prepare for their futures. We must also make sure that greedy executives cannot squander the futures of their employees for their own profit.”

“Retirement, healthcare, higher education, prescription drugs, social security - these are the important things that working families must look at and plan for in the future, but they don’t always have access to the same opportunities that many wealthier families have,” Baca said. “Financial opportunities, whether they are found in accounts at our local banks, in the purchase of new homes, or in investments in billion dollar multinational corporations, must be open to everyone who wants to take advantage of them.”