FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 30, 2010
Contact: Neil Sealy, 501-346-9617
ARKANSANS URGE U.S. SENATE TO DECLARE INDEPENDENCE FROM WALL STREET LOBBYISTS,
PASS A STRONG FINANCIAL REFORM BILL
Little Rock – Americans for Financial Reform held a press conference on Wednesday, June 30 at 10:30 AM in front of Senator Mark Pryor’s office in the River Market District to urge the Senate to pass a strong financial reform bill with all deliberate speed. They urged senators not to water down the bill further.
Both Senators Pryor and Lincoln voted for the Senate version of Financial Reform. With the death of Senator Robert Byrd, the timeline for enacting financial reform has been slowed down. Polling has shown that Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of financial reform.
Wilandra Dean, Pulaski County Justice of the Peace, District 5, and former employee at the Arkansas Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, gave the following remarks in support of passing a strong Financial Reform bill:
“My name is Wilandra Dean. I serve on the Pulaski County Quorum Court and represent District 5. Most of the people in my district work everyday or are retired workers. They are struggling to make ends meet. Districts like mine have been hit hard by the financial crisis and by the downturn in our economy. But people in my district were hurt by the financial system long before the collapse of the big Wall Street firms. Many of my constituents have had problems with predatory home mortgage loans, usurious pay day loans, credit card fees, auto loans packed with fees and high interest rates, and foreclosure rescue schemes. We have needed strong financial reform for a long time.
“The Financial Reform bill is not perfect. It exempts auto dealers from regulation, for example. But it is a giant step forward. For years many organizations fought to get the Federal Reserve and other regulators to make rules that would help prevent predatory lending in the home mortgage market. They were indifferent to our concerns. We then saw our economy nearly collapse when homeowners could no longer afford to pay the rising interest rates on their mortgages, and the bets and swaps based on these bad loans blew up. In this bill we have an agency that will take the concerns of consumers seriously and make rules that will protect working families from predators and protect our economy from the greedy financial schemes of Wall Street bankers.
“We commend our two senators for voting for Financial Reform a few weeks ago. Now it’s time to finish the job.
“We call on Congress to declare its independence from Wall Street lobbyists! Polls show that the American people are overwhelmingly in favor of a strong Financial Reform bill.
“There are no more excuses. It’s the People vs. Wall Street. Let’s get Financial Reform passed now!”
Gordon Brehm, Treasurer of the Arkansas Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, spoke about his memories of growing up during the Great Depression. He said: “We have had no depressions since the Great Depression because we had regulation. When Congress overturned Glass-Steagall in the late 90s, greed took over and created the crisis we are in now. We need to regulate our financial system. That’s why Congress needs to pass strong Financial Reform now.”
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