[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 185 (Thursday, December 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H14740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   AMERICA NEEDS REAL BANKING REFORM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Madam Speaker, maybe someday real banking reform will be 
considered by this Congress. Real reform means breaking up the big 
banks. Real reform means empowering community banks and local capital 
accumulation. Real reform means separating speculation and investment. 
Real reform means restoring prudent lending. Real reform means 
restructuring troubled housing mortgages. Real reform means rewarding 
institutions that play by the rules and don't over-leverage. Real 
reform means prosecuting financial white-collar criminals and keeping 
them out of finance permanently.
  Real reform means directly connecting executive pay and bonuses to 
the performance of the company and recouping the $145 billion in 
unwarranted bonuses for the American taxpayer. Real reform means 
regulating all derivatives openly and clearly. Real reform means 
limiting interconnectedness between large financial institutions. Real 
reform means independent supervisory and regulatory agencies that do 
their job--independent supervisory and regulatory agencies.
  The bill that will be considered tomorrow, as it was today, merely 
bunts at wrestling casino capitalism to the ground. This bill, like so 
many before it, will simply lead to more abuse, more risky behavior, 
and more reward for the most hazardous and imprudent characters.
  Wall Street needs our help in rescuing them from their own bad 
behavior, not because Wall Street deserves it or is worthy; they need 
to be disciplined because our natural interest is more important than 
Wall Street.
  Let's dissect America's economic predicament and what Congress has 
passed to fix it. In the fall of 2008, Congress passed the ``Wall 
Street bailout.'' It told America that the TARP would work to steady 
the housing market. It not only didn't steady the housing market, but 
its purpose was totally changed by Secretary of Treasury Paulson, who 
gave the money to the biggest banks in our country whose risky behavior 
caused the meltdown. And Congress, it just looked the other way.
  Now the housing foreclosure crisis has worsened coast to coast; 2 
million Americans have lost their homes, and another 6 to 12 million 
are projected to lose their homes. Meanwhile, the biggest perpetrators 
of this disaster--the Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Wells 
Fargo and Goldman Sachs--have gone from controlling 30 percent of all 
deposits in this country when this mess began to 40 percent now.
  The big 5 are just eating us up and taking bigger bonuses too. It is 
estimated they will reward themselves with that $145 billion in bonuses 
this year. Credit remains frozen across our country until today, 
seizing up economic recovery, and this bill calls itself the ``Wall 
Street Reform Bill.''
  This bill, like those before it, will not meet the serious challenges 
crippling our financial system and it surely will not give a good 
signal to the future. Congress said the TARP bailout would save us from 
depression, but TARP passed, and the American people went into 
depression. Only the big banks were saved.
  The bills passed by Congress today protect Wall Street and their 
shareholders. Main Street pays the price. Is this bill a reform bill? 
No. It will not break up the big banks. It will not create a strong, 
independent financial institution regulatory agency. It will not 
separate speculation from investment activity. It will not require loan 
workouts to stem rising foreclosures. It will not recoup undeserved 
Wall Street bonuses to help pay for this economic mess and put America 
back to work. In fact, the bill merely asks for nonbinding votes of 
shareholders.
  It will not rein in nonbanking firms, but instead provide them with a 
golden sandbox. It will not rein in the power of the Federal Reserve. 
It will not regulate all over-the-counter derivatives. It will not 
provide the requisite number of FBI agents and prosecutors to put 
behind bars the financial world's white-collar criminals whose 
fraudulent behavior caused this mess. It will not bring to justice the 
wrongdoers at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. There are bills in this House 
to do that; they're not included in this bill.
  And it places the Treasury Department, a politically appointed 
superstructure, so much a part of the problem, in charge of the Finance 
Services Oversight Council. Importantly, it fails to institute and 
strengthen independent financial regulatory and supervisory agencies. 
The political appointees on this oversight council are surely clapping 
in the wings. This bill gives more power to the opaque Federal Reserve.
  You know, you would think that after all the damage that has been 
done in the Republic, this Congress would have the guts for real 
reform. This bill isn't it, and I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' on 
final passage.

                          ____________________