Press Releases

WASHINGTON – Today, Chairman of the Republican Study Committee Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) joined the Claremont Institute for a panel discussion on “What to do about Woke Capital.”

The other members of the panel included: Arthur Milikh, Executive Director, the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life; David Azerrad, Assistant Professor and Research Fellow, Hillsdale College’s Washington, D.C. campus; Matthew Peterson, Founder, New Founding, and Founding Editor of The American Mind; Joel Kotkin, Washington Fellow, the Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life; and Daniel McCarthy, Editor of Modern Age, Director of the Novak Fellowship, The Fund for American Studies.

Here are some key quotes from Rep. Banks speech:

“Republicans in Congress have come a long way over the past year. In the past two months especially, there’s been a sea change. More members than ever have “woken up” to the dangers of woke corporations. That is the crucial first step, so I’d like to thank Delta and CocaCola for their naked and idiotic partisanship.”

“It’s Capital and corporations, coalescing around narratives that hurt America, because they think it will boost their profits. In many cases because they think they can protect themselves from regulation by championing leftist social causes.”

“These companies must understand that wokeness is divisive, immoral and it harms America. And even if they don’t care about America, if they keep pushing it, it will end up hurting them too.”

Watch the full clip here or read a transcript of the speech pasted below.

Transcript:

“I’d like to start by thanking Arthur Milikh and the Claremont Institute for hosting me today. I can’t overstate the importance of Claremont stepping up to host conversations like the one we’re having today. So, thank you, again for the great work you do. House Republicans can’t win this fight without your help.”

“Republicans in Congress have come a long way over the past year. In the past two months especially, there’s been a sea change. More members than ever have “woken up” to the dangers of woke corporations. That is the crucial first step, so I’d like to thank Delta and CocaCola for their naked and idiotic partisanship. I’d like to take a few minutes to discuss my first experience with Woke Capital because it was a very instructive.”

“In 2019, I wrote a letter to CALPERS, which is California’s public pension fund--the largest in America. CALPERS Chief Investment Officer is a man named Yu Ben Meng. Meng, like most senior CALPERS employees had a long history in the private sector. Meng worked at Lehman brothers, Morgan Stanley, and Barclay’s. Unlike the rest of CALPERS staff, Meng belonged to China’s Thousand Talents Program. The FBI describes the Thousand Talents Program as an “unofficial espionage” wing of the Chinese Communist Party.”

“Meng also redirected billions in California retiree’s savings to Chinese Companies after he was appointed CIO. I pointed all this out in my letter, and I called on Meng to resign. I expected pushback and indignation from CALPERS and I got it. More surprising to me were their incessant attempts to label me a racist. Oaktree Capital’s founder Howard Marks said I was, “impugning someone’s character on the basis of their family’s national origin.” Some of you might have heard of Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwartzman, who also leapt to Meng’s defense. It turns out that Stephen was one of Donald Trump’s biggest donors, and, unsurprisingly, according to Josh Rogin’s new and important book “Chaos Under Heaven” acted as a go-between for the Chinese government to get to the Trump administration. Niall Ferguson described my letter as: “an opportunity for people to have a go at a Chinese-born U.S. citizen.” Just last week, CALPERs current CIO described my two-year-old letter as a: “a racist attack on an Asian American.”

“Obviously, my letter had nothing to do with Meng’s ethnicity because obviously not all Chinese Americans are enrolled in Communist Party espionage programs. Think about it: Numerous investors, many who had nothing to do with CALPERs, joined together to accuse me of racism—disingenuously and WITHOUT any evidence. Why?”

“Because investments in Chinese companies are profitable. Investors who weren’t affiliated with CALPERs saw my letter as a threat, and they used the language of the left to try to silence me. This is how woke Capital operates. It’s Capital and corporations, coalescing around narratives that hurt America, because they think it will boost their profits.”

“In many cases because they think they can protect themselves from regulation by championing leftist social causes. Or in the case of CALPERs, because they see themselves as citizens of the world and so they see their interests as “decoupled” from America’s interests.”

“This is the lesson I learned from CALPERs and that I hope all conservatives understand: Woke Corporations behave the way they do way because it’s helpful.  So, we to fix their behavior we must make it not helpful. That’s what we’re focused on at the Republican Study Committee. By calling out their rank hypocrisy in the media and by highlighting it through Congressional letters. When the Navy’s CNO, Admiral Gilday, put Ibram Kendi’s How to Be An Antiracist on the Navy’s reading list, I sent a letter demanding answers. Right now, RSC is working to arrange an in-person meeting with the CEO of Delta so he can explain to us, why exactly, voter ID laws are racist.”

“We’re tackling woke corporations legislatively too. Last week, I joined Burgess Owens’ bill to codify President Trump’s Executive Order and ban Critical Race Theory in federal agencies. I’ve introduced a bill based on Clarence Thomas’s opinion to roll back Big Tech’s expansive Section 230 protections. And yes—conservatives must be willing to explore antitrust legislation. These companies must understand that wokeness is divisive, immoral and it harms America.”

“And even if they don’t care about America, if they keep pushing it, it will end up hurting them too. Thank you. If we have the time, I’d be happy to answer any questions about the Republican Study Committee’s efforts.”