[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5760-5761]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      FINANCIAL REGULATORY REFORM

  Mr. REID. Madam President, Wall Street reform is very complex. Few of 
us are experts in derivative trading or credit default swaps or even 
the intricacies of securities. But the principle before us is a very 
simple one, in spite of all these very complicated issues that will be 
in this bill. You either believe we need to strengthen oversight of 
Wall Street or you don't. You either believe we need to strengthen 
protection of consumers or you don't. I believe in those principles and 
in fixing what is broken.
  That is what this good reform will do. It will enforce the strongest 
protections ever against Wall Street greed. It will give families more 
control over their own finances and give consumers more clarity so they 
can make right financial decisions. This legislation would guarantee 
taxpayers that they will never again be asked to bail out a big bank.
  It will also ensure no big bank can become too big to fail and shield 
families' life savings from Wall Street gambling. It will make the 
system more transparent so we can catch bankers' excesses and then hold 
them accountable.
  Our bill contains Republicans' ideas and Democratic ideas. It is good 
for consumers and for everyone who favors economic security over 
reckless risk-taking.
  As I said, some elements of this reform are complicated. There is one 
part that is especially hard to follow. Similar to the most complex 
commodity, Republican reaction to cleaning up Wall Street is hard to 
understand.
  This bill will bring to the floor the result of months of bipartisan 
meetings, investigations, negotiations, and consensus building. Our 
Republican colleagues, in spite of the fact that they have been 
involved in much of the negotiation, investigations, and consensus, are 
pretending this is a partisan effort.
  I am happy to hear my counterpart, my friend, Senator McConnell, the 
Republican leader, talk about the need for more negotiations. We don't 
stand in the way of that. That is fine. This bill, when it comes to the 
floor, is going to be open to amendment, amendments by Democrats, 
amendments by Republicans. That is the way it should be. So no one 
should think the bill that comes to the floor is the final product. 
There will be amendments.
  Some people strongly believe the bill from the committee is too weak, 
some believe it is just right, some believe it is too strong. So we 
need to make sure everyone understands this bill is not a final 
product. That is why I hope my friends on the other side of the aisle 
are going to let us bring this bill to the floor. Remember, there are 
only 59 of us, so if a single Republican is not willing to join with 
us, there will be no Wall Street reform. The Republicans will have 
killed Wall Street reform.
  I am confident that is not what will happen. I read very closely the 
letter that was signed by 41 Republican Senators. I received a copy of 
it on Friday. There is not a sentence in that letter that says we are 
going to vote against moving to proceed, and I was happy to read that. 
They said they wanted more negotiations and there have been more 
negotiations. Senator Dodd and Senator Shelby--Dodd, the chairman, and 
Shelby, the ranking member--spent hours yesterday working on this bill, 
and that is the way it should be. The bill we will bring to the floor 
puts an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts. Let's all agree on that. It 
protects consumers. Let's all agree on that. But our Republican friends 
insist on pretending, in conversations I have heard on the floor, that 
it doesn't protect consumers and it doesn't put an end to taxpayer-
funded bailouts.
  We know Wall Street doesn't like the bill. That should speak volumes. 
It doesn't like this bill. Of course it doesn't. Look at the rules of 
the road on Wall Street. They get to take your money, money that is not 
their own, and gamble it away with little risk and large reward.
  I was, for 4 years of my life, chairman of the Nevada Gaming 
Commission, and that is not hunting animals; it is gambling. During 
those times, we had some very difficult issues dealing with gambling, 
with gaming. But I understood a lot about poker and 21 and roulette and 
other such things. But it was, on its face, a gamble. What they are 
doing on Wall Street, we should have the Nevada Gaming Commission come 
to regulate a lot of it because it is nothing but a gamble. That is 
what we are trying to do here, bring a semblance of finality and 
stability to what is going on there on Wall Street.
  I again say it. Look at the rules of the road on Wall Street. They 
get to take your money--it is not their money--and gamble it away with 
little risk and large reward. It would be as if I asked a Senator from 
Georgia to go to Las Vegas with me and I will gamble away all his 
money, but I get part of the money for doing nothing other than telling 
him we are in Las Vegas.
  There are many who do not want us to touch a system that has let them 
take our homes, take everything we have. They don't want us to touch a 
system that has let them take their winnings and ask taxpayers to save 
them from their losses. It is a pretty good deal. They can get all the 
money they can--that is not their own--and if they profit, fine; if 
they lose something, that is too bad, even though it is not their money 
they are losing, even though they are losing somebody else's. Wall 
Street knows, if we don't act, they will not be held accountable for 
their mistakes, and if things don't go their way, they know they will 
get a mulligan; that is, they can start over. That is the way the 
system worked when our economy teetered on the brink of collapse and 
that is the way the system still works today. We have to change that. 
That is what we have to change. With this Wall Street accountability 
bill, we will. That is what this is about. It is a Wall Street 
accountability bill.
  Let's bring this matter to the floor and offer amendments. Let's not 
be threatening filibusters on different parts of the bill. Let's go 
back to the way we used to do things. Let's bring an amendment to the 
floor, let's vote on it, whoever gets the most votes wins, whoever 
doesn't get the most votes loses, and move on to the next amendment.
  It is puzzling why my Republican friends are pretending that this 
bill to fix Wall Street is good for those who benefit from the fact it 
is broken. Similar to the bankers themselves, it seems a number of 
Republicans care more about making short-term gains than they do about 
doing what is right for this economy in the long run. Some details of 
this debate might be complex, but the different sides are as clear 
today as could be. On one side are consumers and investors, families 
and businesses and the vast majority of Americans who want us to make 
sure the financial crisis they just lived through can never happen 
again.
  That is our goal. They knew there was no regulation, minimal 
regulation, and those people on Wall Street took advantage of that. 
They were betting on things that would make famous Nevada gamblers 
blush.
  They don't want us to just talk about it, they want us to do 
something about it. We have to decide who is on whose side here, 
because we are ready to act. On one side are those who want to make 
sure we never have a situation like we had before. On the other side we 
have Wall Street bankers. They are doing pretty well. Two major Wall 
Street banks reported profits between them of about $7 billion last 
quarter. I don't begrudge them making money. That is good. People in 
our great free enterprise system can make money. I am just saying we 
have to have rules that don't allow them to cause another problem, as 
we had, which is second only to the Great Depression. Some say it is 
worse. These Wall Street bankers are sitting very comfortably. They see

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nothing wrong with a system that privatizes their gains and socializes 
their losses. They don't want us to change a thing. Let's decide that 
we, Democrats and Republicans, are on the side of consumers and 
investors, families and businesses, and the vast majority of Americans 
who want us to make sure the financial crisis they just lived through 
can never happen again.
  Those who think this legislation is bailing out Wall Street should 
look at it again. Let's move forward in a bipartisan manner to get this 
bill done as quickly as possible, go to conference with the House, have 
the President sign the bill. The sooner we do that, the more stable our 
economy will be, not only here in America but worldwide.

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