Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of the conference report to H.R. 4173, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which closes frequently exploited loopholes in our regulation system, puts an end to rewarding reckless investments, and demands responsibility and accountability from Wall Street to prevent another economic collapse. Over the past few years, the irresponsible actions of financial institutions and corporations have provided countless illustrations of the need to fix our broken system. As a result of the financial crisis, our country shed eight million jobs and Americans lost $17 trillion in retirement savings and net worth. My home state of Rhode Island was on the front lines of abusive and predatory lending practices, which led to one of the country's highest foreclosure rates, and has endured devastating job loss, now suffering the fourth highest unemployment rate in the nation at 12.3 percent. Like my constituents, I have been angered by the greed exhibited by Wall Street and other companies that took advantage of their investors, preyed on our citizens, and rewarded executives with outrageous pay packages. With this bill, consumer protection will come first, and irresponsible companies will be held accountable for their actions. H.R.…”