[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 65 (Wednesday, April 19, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1875]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RESTORE PRUDENT BANKING AND CONFIDENCE TO OUR NATION'S BANKING SYSTEM

  (Ms. KAPTUR asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Return to 
Prudent Banking Act to restore prudent banking and confidence to our 
Nation's banking system.
  This bill would reinstate essential provisions of legislation born 
from the ashes of the Great Depression: The Glass-Steagall Act, also 
known as the Banking Act of 1933.
  Carelessly, in 1999, Congress repealed the Glass-Steagall Act, and 
you can see the growing concentration of banks just in this country. 
Three banks control a third of the money in this country. What has 
really been happening is, the repeal of that act opened the floodgates 
for speculation, for speculators on Wall Street and other places to 
empty out the worth of Americans' life savings.
  By 2008, investment firms had gambled it all away in their version of 
the Wall Street casino. Their greed cost hardworking Americans their 
homes, their savings, their jobs. Speculation plunged our Nation into a 
deep recession.
  Now, here we go again watching bank runs--SVB over in California, 
Signature over on the East Coast in New York--bank runs, failures, 
massive buyouts, cryptocurrency schemes, and rampant speculation and 
high-risk Chinese tech companies.
  Wake up, America. Let's restore prudent banking. Let's pass the 
Glass-Steagall Act.
  Mr. Speaker, we need to corral the raging bulls who cloak their 
unbridled speculation under the cover of prudent banking.

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