New York City
April 17th, 2017
Earlier today, I introduced and brought to the floor a
bill that will restore the most basic protections of the Glass Steagall Act to our financial sector. This is not the end all be all of financial reform, but it is a critical first step. In so doing we will avoid many risks to our economy and protect both economic growth and the hard work of millions of people from being dragged down by the irresponsible and risky behaviors of a few people on Wall Street.
This will will separate the investment banking, hedge fund, insurance and swap activities from insurance deposit and lending banks. In so doing we will reduce the size of banks. As some many recall and others will have read about, the risk of banks being "too big to fail" means not only the danger of the entire economy bring dragged down by the actions of a few, but also the immoral situation of having to bail out banks while main street withers on the vine. We should not let ourselves be put in a position where we have to provide the golden parachute to criminals, lest we face economic Armageddon.
We must instead change our system and our priorities. People who break the laws and act irresponsibly, must face the consequences. Those who cause the problem will pay for its resolution in a safe manner that doesn't risk the economy. Local banking and communities will be encouraged, and too big to fail banks on Wall Street will be reduced to manageable smaller sized entities.
To those who cry foul over regulation, I will say there is nothing free market about creating a situation and letting a situation develop that drags down all, regardless of whether or not they made the right decisions or not, regardless of whether or not they acted responsibly or not. The banking system is the vortex of our economy and therefore the dangers it poses when it acts irresponsibly necessitate that it be treated differently then other industries when it comes to the subject of regulation. To me, as someone whose life was severely impacted by the Great Recession, I can think of no other responsible course of action to take. To me, it is frankly just common sense.
Thank You, and I hope to earn your vote this weekend for House!
