[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 13, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S2216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      FINANCIAL REGULATION REFORM

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, a lot of smart people have thought 
about how to prevent a repeat of the kind of financial crisis we saw in 
the fall of 2008. We have heard plenty of ideas. But if there is one 
thing Americans agree on when it comes to financial reform, it is 
absolutely certain they agree on this: Never again--never again--should 
taxpayers be expected to bail out Wall Street from its own mistakes. We 
cannot allow endless taxpayer-funded bailouts for big Wall Street 
banks. That is why we must not pass the financial reform bill that is 
about to hit the floor.
  The fact is, this bill wouldn't solve the problems that led to the 
financial crisis; it would make them worse. The American people have 
been telling us for nearly 2 years that any solution must do one 
thing--one thing: It must put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts for 
Wall Street banks. It must put an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts for 
Wall Street banks. This bill not only allows for taxpayer-funded 
bailouts of Wall Street banks, it institutionalizes them. Let me say 
that again. This bill not only allows for taxpayer-funded bailouts for 
Wall Street banks, it actually institutionalizes them. The bill gives 
the Federal Reserve enhanced emergency lending authority that is far 
too open to abuse. It also gives the Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation and the Treasury broad authority over troubled financial 
institutions without requiring them to assume real responsibility for 
their mistakes. In other words, it gives the government a backdoor 
mechanism for propping up failing or failed institutions.

  A new $50 billion fund would be set up as a backstop for financial 
emergencies. But no one honestly thinks--no one honestly thinks--that 
$50 billion would be enough to cover the kinds of crises we are talking 
about. During the last crisis, AIG alone received more than three times 
that from the taxpayers--three times that. Moreover, the mere existence 
of this fund will ensure that it gets used. The mere existence of the 
fund will ensure that it gets used. And once it is used up, taxpayers 
will be asked to cover the balance. This is precisely the wrong 
approach.
  Far from protecting consumers from Wall Street excess, this bill 
would provide endless protection--endless protection--for the biggest 
banks on Wall Street. This bill would provide endless protection for 
the biggest banks on Wall Street. It also directs the Fed to oversee 35 
to 50 of the biggest firms, replicating on an even larger scale the 
same distortions that plagued the housing market and helped trigger a 
massive bubble we will be suffering from for years. So imagine this: If 
you thought Freddie and Fannie were dangerous, how about 35 to 50 of 
them?
  Everyone agrees on the need to protect taxpayers from being on the 
hook for future Wall Street bailouts, but this bill would all but 
guarantee that the pattern continues. We need to end the worst abuses 
on Wall Street without forcing the taxpayer to pick up the tab. I 
repeat: We need to end the worst abuses on Wall Street without forcing 
the taxpayer to pick up the tab. That is what Republicans will be 
fighting for in this debate. The taxpayers have paid enough already. 
Taxpayers have paid enough already. We are not going to expose them to 
even more pain down the road.
  The way to solve this problem is to let the people who made the 
mistakes pay for them. The way to solve the problem is to let the 
people who made the mistakes pay for them. We won't solve this problem 
until the biggest banks are allowed to fail.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.

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