On the recordMay 4, 2010
I come to the floor today to talk about an issue about which I care very deeply and have fought for all of my life. That is financial services reform. I am not a Janie-come-lately to this issue. In 1999, I opposed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act which led to the crisis we have today. I was one of eight Senators to vote against the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act which tore down the walls between conventional banking and investment banking. Had that bill been defeated in 1999, we would have not had the crisis that faced us in the last 2 years. My family, too, has fought over generations to protect consumers and expand access to credit. At the beginning of the old century when the downtown banks would not lend to people such as my family, whom they regarded as on the other side of the tracks, my grandfather, along with other small business people in the area, got together and started a savings and loan to serve that community. They lent to people who did not have access to credit. They lent to small business owners, such as my father, who opened a grocery store. They lent to women, such as my grandmother, who opened a bakery. When tough times came during the Great Depression, this savings and loan wanted to make sure that people would not lose their homes. If you paid a nickel a week on your mortgage, you were current.
