Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) delivered remarks on the House floor today regarding the Democrats’ so-called “financial reform” bill – legislation that would make permanent the culture of taxpayer funded bailouts.

“The fundamental assumption of this bill is that since the smart people regulating banks let us down, we should just hire really, really smart people to prevent it from happening again. That assumption is not only false, it’s dangerous," said Congressman Price. “When the government picks winners and losers, the nation loses.

“If my colleagues on the other side of the aisle believe that the same regulators who failed to see the housing crisis are now going to see the next crisis thanks to heavy-handed government regulation, then the American people would say to the Democrats in charge that they put too much faith in the power of Washington to see the future.

“The fundamental question we’ve got to answer is, ‘If this law were in place in 2008, would it have prevented the crisis?’ The answer to that question is clearly no. More oppressive job killing regulation isn’t the answer. What we need is flexible, and accountable, and nimble regulation. This bill does not do it.

“What will it do? It will ensure bailouts – puts bailouts in place forever. It doesn’t address Fannie and Freddie at the epicenter of the problem. It doesn’t address it all. It kills American jobs with oppressive regulation, and it will decrease the availability of credit and increase the cost of credit to all the American people.

“And that’s even more angering to Americans because they know there are positive solutions. HR 3310 is the bill that we put forward nearly a year ago now. That would make certain that we address the issue of regulatory reform in a positive way that makes it more flexible and nimble, that addresses the issue of Fannie and Freddie, actually solves the challenge that got us into this crisis in the first place, and makes certain that we end bailouts.

“The American people are sick and tired of bailouts. That bill Mr. Speaker will ensure that bailouts continue. The American people are urging us to vote no on this bill.”