2013 -- S 0010

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LC00162

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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2013

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S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N

RESPECTFULLY URGING CONGRESS TO ENACT H.R. 1489, THE

"RETURN TO PRUDENT BANKING ACT OF 2011"

     Introduced By: Senators DiPalma, Ruggerio, Ciccone, Goodwin, and Sheehan

     Date Introduced: January 16, 2013

     Referred To: Senate Corporations

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     WHEREAS, An effective monetary and banking system is essential to the proper

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function of the economy; and

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     WHEREAS, An effective monetary and banking system must function in the public

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interest without bias; and

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     WHEREAS, The Federal Banking Act of 1933, commonly referred to as the Glass-

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Steagall Act, protected the public interest in matters dealing with the regulation of commercial

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and investment banking, in addition to insurance companies and securities firms; and

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     WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, permitting members of the

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financial industry to exploit the financial system for their own gain in disregard of the public

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interest; and

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     WHEREAS, Many of the financial industry entities were saved by the United States

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treasury at a cost of billions of dollars to American taxpayers; and

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     WHEREAS, Within the hundreds of pages of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act,

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there are no prohibitions preventing "too big to fail" financial services organizations from

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investing in or undertaking substantial risks in trillions of dollars of derivative contracts; and

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     WHEREAS, The American taxpayers continue to be at risk for the next round of bank

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failures with enormous risks undertaken by financial services conglomerates; and

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     WHEREAS, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has introduced H.R. 1489, known as the

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Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2011, to reinstate the provisions of the Glass-Steagall Act; and

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     WHEREAS, H.R. 1489 has 78 co-sponsors in the 112th Congress; and

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     WHEREAS, The Building and Construction Trades of Rhode Island and Plumbers and

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Pipefitters Local 51 have adopted resolutions asking Congress to enact H.R. 1489; and

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     WHEREAS, Glass-Steagall has received wide support nationally, from the AFL-CIO, the

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American Federation of Teachers, and the International Association of Machinists, and from

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prominent economic and business leaders, including Thomas Hoenig of FDIC, Sanford Weill,

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former CEO of Citibank, economist Luigi Zingales, the New York Times, the St. Louis Post

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Dispatch, the LA Times, and many others; now, therefore be it

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     RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations

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hereby strongly urges the United States Congress to enact H.R. 1489, pending before the 112th

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Congress, to reinstate the restrictions of the Banking Act of 1933, commonly referred to as the

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Glass-Steagall Act, which prohibited commercial banks and bank holding companies from

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investing in stocks, underwriting securities, or investing in or acting as guarantors in derivative

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transactions, in order to prevent American taxpayers from again being called upon to fund

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hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out financial institutions; and be it further

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     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and he hereby is authorized and directed to

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transmit duly certified copies of this resolution to the President of the United States, the Senate

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Majority Leader, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Congressional

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delegates of each state in the United States of America, and each member of Rhode Island's

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Congressional Delegation.

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LC00162

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