Hon. Michael G. Oxley: “We have reached a critical watershed in the evolution of the financial services industry. Congress has been trying for…”

“We have reached a critical watershed in the evolution of the financial services industry. Congress has been trying for 63 years to modernize our financial markets; trying for 63 years to allow banks to diversify their portfolios, to protect the solvency of the banking industry, to provide our American companies with some abilities that their foreign competitors already have, and to provide a fair and comprehensive system of functional regulation to protect consumers and the American taxpayer. When my subcommittee began work on H.R. 10, we focused on three fundamental goals: Protect consumers, increase competition and maintain the safety and soundness of our Nation's financial system. This legislation, H.R. 10, achieves those goals. H.R. 10 establishes full functional regulation of financial activities, balancing Federal and State regulations to ensure maximum protection to consumers. It repeals the depression era 1930's restrictions on competition so that banks will no longer be forced to make riskier and riskier investments to hang on to a dwindling share of consumer savings.”