Herb Kohl: “I joined the Senate Banking Committee about a year and a half ago, shortly after failures on Wall Street forced a…”

“I joined the Senate Banking Committee about a year and a half ago, shortly after failures on Wall Street forced a taxpayer bailout. Bear Stearns, AIG, and other pillars of our economy had collapsed, and we learned that our financial system was built on a foundation of sand. The crisis on Wall Street hit Wisconsin households hard. Families lost their homes, workers lost their jobs, and retirees lost their life savings. Seventy years ago Congress reacted aggressively to our gravest economic crisis, and put us on the road to prosperity by creating new regulations and institutions that avoided a meltdown for generations. By creating agencies like the Securities and Exchange Commission and establishing margin requirements, the Federal Government helped put the markets back on track. We are now called on to set up rules to put our economy on the right track just like we did in the 1930s. Wall Street needs accountability and transparency to avoid future financial meltdowns. The legislation we are considering takes vital steps to end 'too big to fail,' bring unregulated shadow markets into the light, and make our financial system work better for everyone.”