Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in early 1933, just after Franklin Roosevelt was sworn in as President, the Great Depression was at its worst. The American economy had been shaken to its core. Financial institutions had closed, people's life savings had evaporated, and no one knew where to turn. That is when the unthinkable happened: Much of the American commercial banking system collapsed. President Roosevelt and his colleagues in the House and Senate sprang into action. Congressman Henry Steagall and Senator Carter Glass, both Democrats, worked with the President to write sweeping reform legislation. They set out to get the economy back on the road to recovery. The resulting law--known as the Glass-Steagall Act of 1934-- helped to lay the foundation for sensible bank regulation in this country. It would come to define America's financial landscape in the decades that followed the Depression. Mr. President, it is in this spirit that I ask my colleagues to join me today in supporting major financial reform and making sure that the Volcker rule is included in our financial legislation. If we pass the bill that has been introduced by Senator Dodd, we can help prevent another economic crisis and reinstate some of the basic protections included in Glass-Steagall. Almost 80 years ago, this legislation established the FDIC, which still insures bank deposits--and it drew a sharp distinction between commercial banks and investment banks.…”