PRESS RELEASE
New Signs of Momentum
for Glass-Steagall
July 8, 2011 (EIRNS)—On July 7, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.), along with five co-sponsors, introduced a second Glass Steagall bill into the House. H.R. 2451, "To Restore Certain Provisions of the Banking Act of 1933, Commonly Referred to as the Glass Steagall Act, and for Other Purposes," is similar to H.R. 1489 (introduced by Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), but is shorter and does not provide the same level of detail on enforcement. The co-sponsors include
- John Conyers (D-Mich.),
- Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), and
- Michael Capuano (D-Mass.),
who are also co-sponsors of the Kaptur bill. Others include
- Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and
- Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.).
Also on July 7, three new cosponsors appeared on the Kaptur bill:
- Pete Stark (D-Calif.),
- Hansen Clarke (D-Mich.), and
- Michael Capuano.
That brings the total number of cosponsors to 23, of which 3 are Republicans.
Sources in Washington emphasized that the momentum is building dramatically for Glass Steagall, and it is typical of Congress that multiple bills are introduced to feed the momentum and push fence-sitters into supporting the action. The fact that Conyers, Woolsey, and Capuano are co-sponsors on both bills underscores this point. EIR is still expecting a bipartisan Glass-Steagall bill to be introduced into the U.S. Senate at any time. The consensus among all the Glass-Steagall sponsors is that the bill must be actually passed through both Houses by a veto-proof majority, and that this will require a bipartisan patriotic effort, breaking the dirty deals between the Democratic and GOP Congressional leaders and Obama.
