Hoyer Statement on Wall Street Reform Conference Report
WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (MD) spoke on the House Floor in in support of the Wall Street Reform conference report (H.R.4173). Below are his remarks as prepared for delivery:
“This week, the Republican Leader, Mr. Boehner, compared reforming Wall Street to ‘killing an ant with a nuclear weapon.’ The greatest economic crisis since the Depression may look miniature to him—but not to the eight million Americans whose jobs it took away, or the millions more who saw their savings devastated, or the families in every one of our districts who have lost their homes.
“And not to ‘more than half of the nation’s working adults,’ who report that they have been pushed by the recession into ‘unemployment, pay cuts, reduced hours at work or part time jobs,’ according to a Pew Research Center survey reported in today’s Washington Post. More than half, Mr. Speaker: there is no way to overstate what happened to them. And there is no mistaking the cause of the crisis: the Wall Street culture of reckless gambling, and a culture of regulatory neglect that Republicans want to return to and perpetuate.
“Never again should Wall Street greed bring such suffering to our country. And never again should Washington stand by as that greed manifests itself as irresponsible risk taking where a few share the profits but Main Street bears the brunt of Wall Street’s lost bets.
“We can’t erase that crisis. But we can work to rebuild what was lost, as Democrats have done every time we’ve supported job creation, from the Recovery Act, to ‘Cash for Clunkers,’ to the HIRE Act, to the additional tax relief for small businesses that is being obstructed by Republicans, who have made a high-stakes political bet on our recovery’s failure.
“We can also—just as any responsible family would—insure ourselves against a repeat crisis and protect American jobs from another devastating collapse. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act means an end to the irresponsible practices of the big banks and others that did such harm to the livelihoods of so many. And I’m happy that, among our financial institutions, there are responsible actors who appreciate effective oversight and understand that it stimulates investment, entrepreneurship, and job creation.
“No bill can create an economy without risk—but this bill will bring accountability to Wall Street and Washington, protect and empower consumers, forestall future financial meltdowns, and prevent taxpayer money from being put on the line again to bail out Wall Street excess.
“First, this bill protects Americans from some of the financial industry’s most abusive practices, including predatory credit card and mortgage lending that saddles consumers with loans they have no chance of paying back. Americans have an obligation of responsibility in borrowing; but financial companies also have a responsibility to make loans fair and transparent. By creating a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, we can make sure that both sides live up to the bargain. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will strengthen and modernize oversight of Wall Street by putting the functions of seven different agencies in one accountable place.
“In addition, corporations like AIG and Lehman Brothers will no longer be able to make the kind of gambles that risk the health of our entire economy, and the world’s. Institutions that place the biggest economic bets will be required to keep capital on hand to meet their obligations should those bets fail. This bill also reduces the conflicts of interest that allowed credit rating agencies to wrongly declare such institutions in good health long after they were dangerously overleveraged. And it prudently regulates the inherently dangerous derivatives that Warren Buffett called ‘weapons of financial mass destruction’ for their ability to bring down entire economies when bets go bad. Should a major firm still find itself on the verge of collapse, this bill insulates the rest of the economy and keeps taxpayers off the hook for any future bailouts.
“Mr. Speaker, a tremendous amount of irresponsibility, in Washington and on Wall Street, went into the crisis from which we are still struggling to recover. And middle-class families who worked hard and played by the rules overwhelmingly paid the price. But there is a kind of irresponsibility even worse: a failure to learn.
“We know what greed and neglect can do—none of us can plead ignorance. Let’s show that we learned something from the crisis. Let’s keep it from happening again.”
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