FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, DC – Americans for Financial Reform released the following statement following the vote this evening in the Senate on Financial Reform:
Heather Booth, Director, Americans for Financial Reform: “We are pleased the Senate has passed this momentous bill that will rein in big banks’ reckless behavior and bring transparency to our financial system and protect consumers. The Wall Street used every weapon in their arsenal – $500 million to lobby against reform, millions in paid advertisements – to try to kill the bill, looking to opponents of reform in the Senate to block the bill. And when that didn’t work, they sent their army of almost 2,000 lobbyists to the Hill to attempt to dilute reform.
“The Senate has resisted these forces, standing with the 8 million who lost their jobs and countless other Americans who lost their homes to foreclosure, savings and pensions because of the irresponsible actions on Wall Street. Today they said no more, holding Wall Street accountable and taking action to prevent another financial crisis.
“The bill will begin the process of reining in the unchecked speculation of the casino economy that caused the Great Recession and protecting consumers from fraud and abuse by financial institutions that siphoned billions of dollars from the pockets of middle class families into the hands of big Wall Street banks.
“The passage of this legislation will be remembered as a historic turning point in our economic history. It ensures the financial system operates to support needs of working families, promotes business growth and economic mobility rather than the interests of the speculators who view the economy as a huge casino.
“The battle now moves to conference where the big banks will look to weaken or kill the bill behind closed doors. We cannot and will not allow this to happen. And we need to fight the big bank interests to strengthen the bill in conference. Tonight, the Senate took us to the verge of a historic reshaping of our financial system. We will now work to ensure a strong bill emerges from conference and is signed into law.”
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