[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 22]
[House]
[Page 29237]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         REGULATING WALL STREET

  (Mr. SIRES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. SIRES. Mr. Speaker, a year ago, as a result of 8 years of 
mismanagement of Wall Street, our financial system was on the brink of 
collapse. Over the past year, this Congress and President Obama have 
made the tough choices and taken the necessary steps to bring back our 
economy from the verge of disaster. In order to continue to protect 
consumers, create jobs, and grow our economy, our next step must be to 
enact comprehensive financial regulatory reform; for history has shown, 
we cannot rely on Wall Street to regulate itself.
  In the coming weeks, we must work to pass our commonsense rules to 
guarantee that taxpayers are never again on the hook for Wall Street's 
risky decisions, the financial savings of our families and businesses 
are protected from unnecessary risks by lenders and speculators, 
consumers must be protected from predatory lending practices, and 
transparency and accountability are injected into our financial system.
  I look forward to ensuring that our hardworking families and small 
businesses will no longer be hurt nor our economy jeopardized due to an 
unregulated financial system.

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