[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12996-12997]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           WALL STREET REFORM

  Mr. TESTER. Mr. President, I rise today in strong support of the Wall 
Street reform conference report. The Senate will make history when we 
pass this legislation that finally holds Wall Street accountable and 
finally cleans up the schemes and abuses that nearly brought our entire 
economy to its knees. Most importantly, this bill ends once and for all 
taxpayer-funded bailouts of Wall Street banks and investment firms. It 
finally gets rid of any notion that any private company can somehow be 
``too big to fail.''
  I never bought that argument. In fact, I was the only Democrat in the 
Senate to vote against both the bailout of Wall Street and the auto 
industry. I do not believe in bailouts. But I do believe in making sure 
folks are playing by the same rules.
  Our economy went belly up a year and a half ago because there were no 
referees on the field. With this bill, that is about to change. Big 
banks will be required to pay for their own liquidation should they 
fail, and taxpayers will never again be a part of that equation.
  The bill also streamlines the regulation of Wall Street, providing 
the referees the tools they need to get the job done fairly and 
effectively.
  It also ensures that everyone will now be playing by the same rules, 
and that unregulated entities offering financial products have to live 
up to the

[[Page 12997]]

same standards as the community banks and credit unions that serve 
States such as Montana.
  The bill has tough new rules to prevent the spread of risky and 
dangerous products such as subprime mortgages that torpedoed our 
Nation's entire financial industry.
  My focus over the last several months has been to make sure this bill 
is right for Montana and right for rural America. After some hard work, 
I think we did just that. This Wall Street reform bill is good for 
Montana's community banks, and it benefits small businesses.
  Even in this era of bitter partisanship, the Senate unanimously 
passed an amendment I offered to make sure banks only pay their fair 
share for Federal deposit insurance. Right now, smaller community banks 
are paying for 30 percent of this insurance, even though they account 
for only 20 percent of all bank assets. That does not make sense, and 
this bill fixes that problem.
  This conference report also includes a provision I drafted requiring 
the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to consider the impact of all 
rules on community banks and credit unions and the rural customers they 
serve before any of those rules are made.
  The legislation ensures that community banks will not be punished for 
the bad behavior of the mortgage brokers who offer risky mortgages. 
Those banks will be able to maintain the community-based regulators 
they currently have, and in the case of State chartered banks, the same 
lending limits they currently have.
  Additionally, this bill ensures that community banks will be able to 
continue to provide the same mortgage products--including those 
specific to farmers and rural Americans--to their customers.
  For small businesses, this legislation makes it easier for investors 
to help get new small businesses up and running while protecting 
investors from schemers. It exempts small public companies from costly 
additional compliance and regulation under Sarbanes-Oxley.
  This bill is a win for Main Street. It holds Wall Street accountable 
and preserves the critical role community banks have in strengthening 
communities, creating jobs, and building small businesses. That is 
important because Montana families rely on their community banks to 
finance and grow their businesses and farms, help pay their bills, and 
put their kids through school.
  This is a strong bill. It ends taxpayer-funded bailouts. It begins a 
new era of strong commonsense regulation to put the sideboards on our 
fast-moving financial industry, without taking away the fundamental 
tools it needs for healthy competition and growth, which strengthens 
this economy.
  Let me be clear. Our work on this legislation does not end today. I 
will continue to remain vigilant to ensure this legislation is 
implemented and enforced in the way it was intended. We simply cannot 
afford to do nothing and let our financial industry go by the wayside 
ever again.
  With that, I thank you, Mr. President.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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