[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6516]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           WALL STREET REFORM

  (Mr. WALZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WALZ. Mr. Speaker, 2 years ago, our Nation experienced the 
beginning of the worst financial crisis since the stock market crash of 
1929, resulting in the longest, deepest financial downturn since the 
Great Depression.
  While the factors that contributed to the crash were numerous and 
complicated, there's one simple underlying cause: Unchecked greed. Our 
history teaches us the best way to focus this greed into something 
constructive is to have rules to protect consumers and investors and to 
put cops on the beat to ensure those rules are enforced. But for 
decades, this country has pursued a policy of deregulation and lax 
enforcement, believing that ``greed is good'' and the ``invisible hand 
of the market'' would protect hardworking Americans.
  Well, that invisible hand did something. It gave billions in bonuses 
to those who used other people's money like poker chips. When that game 
went bust, it slapped the American taxpayers to the tune of 8 million 
jobs and billions in bailouts. Now that this Congress is moving to 
restore fairness and accountability, there are those among us who would 
prefer to huddle with Wall Street and delay or dilute our efforts. The 
status quo is bailouts for too-big-to-fail banks.
  I urge my colleagues, both here and in the Senate, to stand with the 
American people, pass reform, end bailouts.

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