PRESS RELEASE
Senator Cantwell Issues Call for Mass Support for Glass-Steagall
April 16, 2017 (EIRNS)—On April 12, various media received a message from the Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), calling for mass support for S.881, the Senate bill for a 21st Century Glass-Steagall Act. Cantwell, along with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ark.), and Sen. Angus King (I-Me.), introduced the bill on April 6. She is now issuing a petition for circulation among the citizenry of the nation. Rep. Marcy Kaptur’s bill for restoring Glass-Steagall (the Return to Prudent Banking Act—H.R. 790) already has 43 sponsors in the House.
Other petition campaigns on Glass-Steagall are already underway, including one by a coalition of groups, led by the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers, and Americans for Financial Reform; it reportedly has surpassed 250,000 signatures on the Internet. Progressive Democrats from Ohio and the LaRouche Political Action Committee are also conducting petition campaigns to hold President Trump to his promise to support Glass-Steagall.
Cantwell intends to submit the petition signatures to the Republican and Democratic leaderships of the House and Senate, and the relevant committees on banking and finance.
The petition (which can be signed) reads in part:
"Rein in the Too Big To Fail Banks! Pass Glass-Steagall! In a surprise move, both Democrats and Republicans included reinstating the Glass-Steagall Act in their official party platforms. Congress must quickly back this up with action, as working people are still hurting from the 2008 financial crisis. Many lost their homes and jobs, and are still struggling to make ends meet for their families.
"At the same time, Wall Street executives have made billions and big banks have gotten even bigger. They’ve continued with their risky behavior that caused the 2008 crisis. The rules are rigged in favor of Wall Street. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Before the Glass-Steagall Act was rolled back in the 1990s, it helped protect our financial system for over 60 years, by separating conventional commercial banking from the Wall Street casino. Momentum is growing to pass a modern Glass-Steagall Act. A huge majority of working people support the idea of reinstating the Act and a bipartisan bill ... has already been introduced in the Senate."
