SEC Regulatory Accountability Act
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Chairman, we hear folks mentioning the need for families to have gas and to pay medical bills and to pay groceries--but wait a minute.
Didn't the Wall Street reform crisis of 2008 nearly destroy the American economy? Didn't it lead to 4 million foreclosures? Didn't it nearly wipe out billions of dollars in home value? Didn't it do all of these things? In 2008, didn't we see Wall Street fraudster Bernie Madoff rip off billions from investors and charities and retirees, which is something that the SEC has jurisdiction over?
So then, why now are we undermining Wall Street reform and the ability of the SEC to protect investors? Why are we gumming up the works and making it so much more difficult? I mean, the ink is barely dry on the bill, and they are already deconstructing it.
There is an interesting article I would ask all of us to take a look at. It's called, ``He Who Makes the Rules,'' by Haley Edwards:
Barack Obama's biggest second-term challenge isn't guns or immigration. It's saving his biggest first-term achievements, like the Dodd-Frank law, from being dismembered by lobbyists and conservative jurists in the shadowy, Byzantine ``rulemaking'' process.
The fact is that we know what's going on here. We know what the game is. It has nothing to do with groceries or medical bills. It's about Wall Street's interests and its trying to expand even more in the area of bonuses and profitability, which it has so much of already. Banks are enjoying their largest profits in history, and yet we are considering a bill that would undermine landmark Wall Street reform. This bill undermines the financial security for the American people and the economy.
Now, I am a firm believer in the American process of civil redress, but I also know that you can kick the door open and use strategic lawsuits simply to slow down and gum up the works. It's clear that that would be the effect of this particular piece of legislation, which is duplicative and which is unnecessary.
Vote ``no'' on H.R. 1062.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source