Maria has led the charge to restore vital safeguards from the Glass-Steagall Act, which separate commercial and investment banks – protecting money, customer deposits and small business loans from being exposed to massive risks on Wall Street.

Originally established after the Great Depression, Glass- Steagall helped preserve the integrity of the financial system for decades by maintaining a clear separation between investment banks and commercial banks. The repeal of Glass-Steagall erased that division, and the combined activities of investment and commercial banks enabled Wall Street to use other people’s federally-insured life-savings as collateral for risky investments.

Maria has continually spearheaded efforts to restore Glass Steagall’s safeguards so commercial banks invest on Main Street rather than on Wall Street. Maria championed bipartisan legislation in 2010, which she also fought to pass the previous year, that would have reestablished the wall separating commercial and investment banks.

“Banks need to be lending to small businesses and homeowners, not fueling risky Wall Street investment schemes,” Maria said, urging her colleagues to support her legislation in 2009. “We must return stability, security and confidence to commercial banking for the American public.”

Over the years, commercial banks, investment houses and insurance companies have folded into financial institutions so large that their investments put the economy at risk. The financial crisis of 2008 showed that when major financial firms take on more risk than they can afford, the whole economy absorbs the loss of their failed investments. This freezes lending capital in banks and prevents small businesses on Main Street from creating jobs. Restoring Glass-Steagall would rein in Wall Street, bringing stability to commercial banking and protecting the life-savings of millions of Americans.