[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 23]
[House]
[Page 31361]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT

  (Mr. HIMES asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. HIMES. Madam Speaker, today when this House passes the Wall 
Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, it will take a huge step to 
the protection of the American citizen, the American taxpayer, and 
American business. Never again will Wall Street take massive risks with 
the expectation that they will be bailed out when they fail. Never 
again will mortgage brokers sell mortgages that they know can't 
possibly be repaid. Never again will the credit card companies make 
billions from sowing confusion amongst American consumers.
  I have been struck in this debate by how closely what we are doing 
today mirrors what happened in the 1930s when this Congress created a 
regulatory structure. The opposition said this would be the end of 
capitalism, the end of markets. And instead, that reform led to 60 or 
70 years of the most intense prosperity the human race has ever seen. 
Word for word, those charges have been repeated.
  They were wrong then, and they are wrong now. What this House does 
today will be a tremendous step forward for the American people and the 
American economy.

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