Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I want to discuss S. 2155, the banking bill, and explain the provisions of the bill I supported, those I opposed, and my reasons for ultimately opposing this legislation. Over the past year, I have appreciated the opportunity to meet with Maryland community bankers, consumers, and an array of stakeholders who would be impacted by this bill. I have organized roundtables on economic development in Howard County and Baltimore. I have met with consumer groups who want a strong regulatory framework to ensure fair lending and to protect taxpayers from excessive risk-taking by some of the biggest banks. Most recently, I held a forum with my State's attorney general, Brian Frosh, where hundreds of passionate Marylanders came out on a rainy night to talk about consumer protection. We need a healthy banking system that serves Maryland businesses and consumers, and banking regulations should be appropriately tailored to the risks a bank poses to consumers, taxpayers, and the economy. Community banks should not have to comply with all of the regulations that apply to large Wall Street banks. That is why I support many of the reforms in this bill to relieve community banks of some unnecessary regulations. I also support provisions to modernize the Federal Deposit Insurance Act, so that reciprocal deposits are not considered to be brokered deposits.…”