Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I am calling up tonight the amendment I debated on the Senate floor on Monday, with Senator Dodd and other Members who were present. This amendment would direct regulators to impose strong risk- and size-based capital standards on financial institutions as they grow in size or engage in risky practices. I am pleased to offer this amendment on behalf of myself, Senator Shaheen, and Senator Brownback. Our amendment is aimed at addressing the too-big-to-fail problem at the root of the current economic crisis by requiring financial firms to have adequate amounts of cash and other liquid assets to survive financial challenges without turning to the taxpayers for a bailout. I note this amendment would ensure that the Nation's largest banks and bank holding companies are required to meet, at a minimum, the same capital standards that are imposed on smaller community banks. That is right. It may be odd to realize, but the fact is, under current law, regulators can allow larger financial institutions to follow capital standards that are actually less stringent than those that are applied to smaller depository institutions. That makes no sense whatsoever, and that is why this amendment has the strong support of the Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the FDIC Chairman, Sheila Bair. She has written me a letter endorsing this amendment. She points out it is a critical element to ensure that U.S.…”