Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlewoman for yielding, and I commend her for her extraordinary leadership in protecting the American consumer, the American taxpayer, our American financial systems. She has been just a remarkable, wonderful leader. Mr. Speaker, I thank our distinguished Whip for yielding so that I could stay on schedule and for his great leadership as well. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to this bill, and I do so on behalf of the hardworking American people. It is a bad bill under the guise of helping community banks. It rolls back key safeguards for American consumers, it opens the door to lending discrimination, and it potentially threatens the stability of our financial system and our economy. The bill would take us back to the days when unchecked recklessness on Wall Street ignited a historic financial meltdown. Wall Street gambled with the livelihood of consumers, and then it was the middle class that lost its shirt. I just want to share with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle why I have serious concerns about what is happening on the floor today. It is yet again another weakening of Dodd-Frank. Here is what I want to call to your mind, because you may not remember this or you may not have been fully aware of it, but you should know it. On the night of September 18, 2008, I called the Secretary of the Treasury and said: What is happening, that we have had in the past couple of weeks Lehman, Merrill Lynch, and then in that 24-hour period, AIG?…”