Jon Tester: “I rise to talk a little bit about the Wall Street reform bill that the Senate Banking Committee has been working on for…”

“I rise to talk a little bit about the Wall Street reform bill that the Senate Banking Committee has been working on for the last 6 months. It is my hope we can get this bill through this body and off the floor very soon. In the past 48 hours, I have been very encouraged by what I have heard as far as the progress of negotiations between Chairman Dodd and Senator Shelby. I urge my colleagues to keep up the good work but remind them that actions speak louder than words and that now is the time for action. So my message is clear. Let's get this done. I hope we are now at a point beyond creating rhetoric, where we can get down to resolving outstanding issues in a constructive way. We need to end the era of too big to fail once and for all and end taxpayer-funded bailouts that came with that too big to fail. I voted against both bailouts of Wall Street and the U.S. auto industry because I thought taxpayers were getting a raw deal. I do not believe in bailouts. But I do believe in making sure there are referees on Wall Street to make sure the big banks and the investment firms play by the rules to make sure taxpayers and Main Street small businesses do not pay the price of the sins of Wall Street. The strong resolution authority and prefunding mechanism included in this bill will strengthen taxpayer protections.”