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(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) laid out the principle components of Wall Street Reform she believes
must be included to help protect Washington families. In a speech
delivered on the floor of the U.S. Senate, Murray discussed the need for reform
to provide:
- Strong protections for Washington state
consumers, - An end taxpayer funded bailouts, and
- Tools that will help consumers take personal
responsibility for their finances.
“For far too long the financial rules of the road have
favored big banks, credit card companies, and Wall Street,” Murray said.
“And for far too long they’ve abused those rules. Whether it was gambling
with the money in our pension funds, making bets they could never cover, or
peddling mortgages to people they knew could never pay.
“Wall Street made expensive choices that came at the
expense of working families. Wall Street used its ‘anything goes’ rules to
create a situation where everybody else paid.”
The full text of Senator Murray’s speech follows:
Mr. President, as we prepare to consider legislation that
includes some of the strongest reforms of Wall Street ever – I think that it’s
important that we not lose sight of exactly what’s on the line for the American
people.
That we not allow complicated financial products and
terminology to distract from the fact that this is really a debate about
fairness, family finances, and protecting against another economic collapse.
That we remember that for Wall Street lobbyists this may
be complex but for the American people it’s simple –
For them – this is a debate about whether – when they
walk into a bank to sign up for a mortgage, or apply for a credit card, or
start a retirement plan: Are the rules on their side, or are they with the big
banks on Wall Street?
Mr. President, for far too long the financial rules of
the road have favored big banks, credit card companies, and Wall Street. And
for far too long they’ve abused those rules. Whether it was gambling with the
money in our pension funds, making bets they could never cover, or peddling
mortgages to people they knew could never pay.
Wall Street made expensive choices that came at the
expense of working families. Wall Street used its “anything goes” rules to
create a situation where “everybody else paid.” And Wall Street created a
system that put their own short-term profits before the long-term interest of
this country.
Mr. President, the simple truth is that it’s time to end
this system that puts Wall Street before Main Street. It’s time to put families
back in control of their own finances. It’s time to focus on making sure the
rules protect those sitting around the dinner table…. not those sitting around
the boardroom table.
And to do that we need to pass strong Wall Street reform
that cannot be ignored.
Reforms that I believe must include three core
principles:
- A strong, independent consumer protection
agency. - An end to taxpayer bailouts.
- And tools to ensure that Americans have the
financial know-how that empowers them to make smart choices about their
finances and helps them avoid making the same poor decisions that helped
create this crisis.
Consumer Protections
Mr. President, first and foremost, Wall Street needs a
watchdog.
Right now, what we have is a patchwork of federal
agencies, none of which are tasked with focusing solely on consumer protection.
What we have is confusion, and duplication, and an abdication of
responsibility. What we have quite simply is just not working.
What we need is a single, strong, independent agency – a
cop on the beat – whose sole function is to protect consumers. A cop on the
street who will expose big bank rip-offs, end unfair fees, And curb
out-of-control credit card and mortgage rates.
A cop on the street that ensures that when you make
important financial decisions the terms are clear, the risks are laid out on
the table, and the banks and other financial companies offering them are being
up front with you. What we need is one agency – with one mission looking out
for one group of people – and that is American families.
Ending Bailouts
Second, Wall Street Reform must spell the end of taxpayer
financed bailouts.
There is nothing that makes me or my constituents in
Washington state angrier then the fact that Wall Street ran up a huge bill and
we had to pick up the tab. Wall Street Reform must end this once and for all.
It has be a death sentence for banks that engage in reckless practices. And it
must make them pay for their funeral arrangements if they do.
Financial Literacy
Third, reform must address the fact that Wall Street is
not alone in deserving the blame for this crisis
And that it therefore must not be the only target of
reform. We cannot ignore the fact that millions of Americans walked into -
sometimes predatory home loan agencies – all across the country – unprepared to
make big, important financial decisions.
We have to acknowledge that too many Americans, put too
little thought into signing onto the dotted line. And those bad decisions had a
huge impact. That’s why I’ve been fighting to pass a bill I introduced called
the Financial and Economic Literacy Improvement Act.
That legislation would change the way we approach
educating Americans about managing their finances and making good decisions
about housing, employment, and retirement. We add a fourth R to the basics of
reading, writing and arithmetic – resource management.
And it gives Americans young and old the basic financial
skills to heed warnings in the fine print and avoid mounting debt. And I
believe that if we are going to avoid many of the mistakes that led to this
crisis, we need a similar component in this bill.
Bringing Wall Street Out of
the Backroom and into the Light
Mr. President, we all know the old adage that sunlight is
the best disinfectant. Well, with all of the reforms I have been talking about
today we have the potential to bring a whole lot of sunlight to Wall Street .
But as we have seen in the lead up to this crisis – and
with Wall Street’s response to our reform efforts so far – they don’t like to
do their work in the sunlight. They like to do it in the backroom.
And you know what – they’ve had some company
recently in those backrooms.
In fact, over the last several days, we’ve been hearing
that some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle have been huddling
with Wall Street lobbyists to figure out just how they can kill this bill.
To figure out how they can preserve the status quo. How
they can talk their way out of change.
They’ve been calling out to special interests in
Washington, bankers back on Wall Street, and big money donors. In fact, just
about everyone has been invited to those meetings, except of course the
American people.
And that’s because the vast majority of Americans -
including the hard-working families in my state who were hurt by this crisis
through no fault of their own – want to see the strong Wall Street reforms I’ve
talked about today passed.
They want to hold Wall Street accountable for years of
irresponsibility and taxpayer funded bailouts. And more than anything, they
want to ensure we never go through this again.
But you know what, there is still a widely held view on
Wall Street – and with too many here in D.C. – that the voices of the people
can somehow be drowned out with big money and even bigger fabrications.
Wall Street still thinks they can get away with highway robbery
because for all too long…you know they have.
They think they can get away with telling the American
people that more regulation is bad – when the absence of regulation is largely
what got us in this mess.
They think that people will be satisfied with watered
down rules that Wall Street can simply side-step and ignore. They think that
they can pull a fast one on Main Street. But you know what that
they are flat out wrong.
A Return to Main Street
Business Values
And I know it because I grew up – literally – on Main
Street in Bothell, Washington – working for my Dad’s five and dime store with
my six brothers and sisters. I know they’re wrong because Main Street is where
I got my values.
Values like that the product of your work is what you can
actually show in the till at the end of the day. That if it that money short -
you dealt with the consequences. And that if it was more than you expected -
you knew that more difficult days could lie ahead.
Values like that a good transaction was one that was good
for your business and for your customer. That personal responsibility meant
owning up to your mistakes and making them right. That one business relied on
all the others on the same street. That customers were not prey and businesses
were not predators. And that an honest business was a successful one.
We Will Hear from those with
Main Street Values
And believe me these same values are still strong
throughout our country today. They exist in small towns like the one I grew up
in and big cities in every one of our states.
And next week when we put out a strong Wall Street Reform
bill on the floor – everyone in this Senate is going to hear from the people
who still hold these values dear. And I’m sure that they will tell you in no
uncertain terms – it’s time to end Wall Street’s excesses.
It’s time to bring sanity back in the system.
That it’s time to protect consumers, to end bailouts and
backroom deals, restore personal responsibility, and bring back accountability.
I’m certainly hopeful that we will all listen. Because
there is certainly a lot on the line for the American people and they deserve all
of our support.
Thank you.
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