WASHINGTON – Today, Congresswoman Diana DeGette (CO-1) put America’s main streets ahead of Wall Street, by voting for legislation that ends taxpayer bailouts of big banks and creates a consumer financial protection bureau. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.R.4173) will end the era of abuses by "too big to fail" banks that have cost the American people eight million jobs and $17 trillion in retirement savings and net worth. The bill was publicly debated for more than 50 hours, and includes over 70 Republican and bipartisan amendments.
"Since December 2007, millions of hard-working Americans have lost their jobs, their homes and their retirement security, and the blame for that disastrous situation rests largely at the feet of Wall Street banks who let America’s families and small businesses pay the price for their recklessness," said DeGette. "This bill is a huge step in the right direction to finally put Main Street ahead of Wall Street and make sure that recklessness cannot happen again. This reform will empower consumers, protect our families from fraud, and provide Coloradans with better financial security moving forward."
The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act will help prevent the risky financial practices that led to the financial meltdown and stop large financial firms from gambling with Americans’ retirement and college savings and home values. In addition, taxpayers will no longer pay the price for Wall Street’s irresponsibility. The bill creates a process to shut down large failing firms whose collapse would put the entire economy at risk. After exhausting all of the company’s assets, additional costs would be covered by a "dissolution fund," to which all large financial firms would contribute.
The bill will create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a new consumer watchdog devoted to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial practices. This independent bureau will provide clear and accurate information to families and small businesses to ensure that bank loans, mortgages, and credit cards are fair and affordable. The CFPB will set safety standards to prevent practices such as hidden credit card fees, deceptive "fine print," and other financial abuses that have escaped oversight so far.
The bill has been called the "strongest set of Wall Street reforms in three generations" by Elizabeth Warren, Chair of the nonpartisan Congressional Oversight Panel, and has been endorsed by the AARP, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, Council of Institutional Investors, National Fair Housing Alliance, National Restaurant Association, Public Citizen, SEIU, and US PIRG, among other organizations.
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