said the comment was misconstrued. The remark was made when the committee was working on a provision in the TARP bill that banks that had been well capitalized and heavily invested in the two mortgage giants before the takeover of and had used that as part of their investment base would be eligible for TARP funds. Frank told Waters to stay out of it when she informed him that she might have a conflict of interest.
NBA president Michael Grant says too much has been made of the California lawmaker’s role. “The only reason this is being discussed is because she’s associated with that bank, but she is an advocate for all of them. Those of us in the minority community know that if we didn’t have a Maxine Waters in Congress we’d really have an uphill battle,†he says. “There are other members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Congress who are sensitive to our issues, but no one has championed them more than Waters. She is truly the people’s representative and we’re grateful to all she’s done through the years, not just this year.â€