Al Franken: “I rise this evening to talk about how we can take a big step toward holding Wall Street accountable and stopping it from…”

“I rise this evening to talk about how we can take a big step toward holding Wall Street accountable and stopping it from lining its own pockets at the expense of America's families. Last month, as part of the health care reconciliation bill, the Senate also passed student loan reform that ended a longtime corporate welfare program. Our reforms halted the enormous subsidies the Federal Government paid to lenders in the student loan market, replacing it with a program called Direct Lending that slashes $61 billion--$61 billion--in cost to the taxpayers by cutting out the middleman and lending to students directly. The money saved will go toward Pell grants, helping kids from working families go to college. Today, as we debate Wall Street reform, we continue that fight to end the stranglehold big banks have on our economy and, by extension, on the everyday life of the American people. Over the past year and a half, we have seen, in stark reality, the devastating impact Wall Street can have on our economy when it is left to its own devices.”