John Joseph Moakley: “Mr. Speaker, Congress has been working on a banking modernization bill for decades. Last night, June 30, 1999, we…”

“Mr. Speaker, Congress has been working on a banking modernization bill for decades. Last night, June 30, 1999, we finally had a chance to get it right. Last night, we had a bill that managed the confusing crossroads where banks, insurance companies and securities industries meet. It had bipartisan support in two committees. It would have passed the House overwhelmingly. It would have been signed by the President quickly. And for the first time since 1933, Mr. Speaker, the United States would have updated its banking laws. But, for some reason, the Republican leadership decided that it was more important to keep Democrats out of the process than to pass this banking bill. After years, Democrats and Republicans together worked out a bill to modernize financial services, but the Republican leadership decided to make war instead of history and remove several important provisions because they were authored by Democrats.”