Bill Text: AZ HCM2002 | 2015 | Fifty-second Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urging Congress; Glass-Stegall Act

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-31 - Referred to House RULES Committee [HCM2002 Detail]

Download: Arizona-2015-HCM2002-Introduced.html

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REFERENCE TITLE: urging Congress; Glass-Stegall Act

 

 

 

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-second Legislature

First Regular Session

2015

 

 

HCM 2002

 

Introduced by

Representative Mendez

 

 

A CONCURRENT MEMORIAL

 

Urging the United States Congress to adopt legislation similar to H.R. 129, the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013, and S. 1282, the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act of 2013.

 

 

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

 

To the Congress of the United States of America:

Your memorialist respectfully represents:

Whereas, an effective monetary and banking system is essential to the proper functioning of the United States economy; and

Whereas, an effective monetary and banking system must function in the public interest without bias; and

Whereas, certain provisions of the Banking Act of 1933, commonly referred to as the Glass-Steagall Act, protected the public interest in matters dealing with the regulation of commercial and investment banking, in addition to insurance companies and securities firms; and

Whereas, the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, during the Clinton Administration, contributing to the greatest speculative bubble and worldwide recession since the Great Depression by permitting members of the financial industry to exploit the financial system for their own gain in disregard of the public interest; and

Whereas, the worldwide recession caused the loss of millions of jobs nationwide and contributed to millions of homes being foreclosed, while many financial industry entities were saved by the United States Treasury at the cost of billions of dollars to the American taxpayers; and

Whereas, the worldwide recession also put severe financial strains on states, counties and cities, exacerbating unemployment and the loss of civil services; and

Whereas, within the hundreds of pages of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, there are no prohibitions that prevent "too big to fail" financial services organizations from investing in or undertaking substantial risks involving trillions of dollars of derivative contracts; and

Whereas, the American taxpayers continue to be at risk for the next round of bank failures as enormous risks are undertaken by financial services conglomerates; and

Whereas, in 2011, Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, along with Republican Congressman Mike Coffman, Chairman of the Balanced Budget Amendment Caucus, sponsored H.R. 1489, known as the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2011, to reinstate the provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act; and

Whereas, H.R. 1489 was before the 112th Congress with 84 cosponsors and served as the model for H.R. 129; and

Whereas, on January 3, 2013, Democratic Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur introduced H.R. 129, known as the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013, with cosponsor Republican Congressman Walter Jones to again introduce legislation to  revive the separation between commercial banking and the Wall Street securities business in the manner provided in the Banking Act of 1933, the so-called "Glass-Steagall Act"; and

Whereas, H.R. 129 was before the 113th Congress with 78 cosponsors, three of whom were from the Arizona congressional delegation; and

Whereas, in March of 2010, Senators Maria Cantwell and John McCain introduced and cosponsored Glass-Steagall legislation in the United States Senate; and

Whereas, on July 7, 2013, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren, Maria Cantwell, John McCain and Angus King introduced S. 1282, the 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act of 2013, which would reduce risk for American taxpayers in the financial system and decrease the likelihood of future financial crises; and

Whereas, members of both the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate have been making efforts to restore the protections of the Glass-Steagall Act by reviving the separation between commercial banking and the securities business in the manner provided by the Glass-Steagall Act, which would reduce risk for American taxpayers in the financial system and decrease the likelihood of future financial crises; and

Whereas, the Glass-Steagall Act has widespread national support from prominent economic and business leaders and national publications, including Thomas Hoenig of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, former Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Sanford Weill, economist Luigi Zingales, the New York Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Los Angeles Times and many others; and

Whereas, as of September 9, 2013, eighteen states have filed resolutions requesting immediate action to restore the Glass-Steagall standard.  Maine and South Dakota have passed those resolutions through both houses of their legislatures.  In the remaining states, legislative action is still pending; and

Whereas, overwhelming pressure must be brought to bear on members of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate to take action to pass this important legislation.

Wherefore your memorialist, the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, prays:

1.  That the Members of the United States Congress adopt legislation similar to H.R. 129, the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013, and S. 1282, the 21st Century Glass‑Steagall Act of 2013.

2.  That the Members of the United States Congress and the President of the United States enact legislation that, in order to prevent American taxpayers from funding hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out financial institutions, would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act by prohibiting commercial banks and bank holding companies from investing in stocks, underwriting securities or investing in or acting as guarantors to derivative transactions.

3.  That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit a copy of this Memorial to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Members of Congress from the State of Arizona, United

States Representatives Marcy Kaptur and Walter Jones and United States Senators Elizabeth Warren, Maria Cantwell, John McCain and Angus King.