PRESS RELEASE
Memorial Urging Congress
To Reinstate Glass-Steagall
Introduced in New Jersey
June 14, 2013 (EIRNS)—This release was issued today by the Lyndon LaRouche Political Action Committee.
On June 13, the state of the New Jersey became the 22nd state to have a Memorial demanding the reinstatement of FDR's Glass-Steagall act placed before it. Assemblywoman Linda Stender, the representative from Middlesex, Somerset, and Union, put forward Assembly Resolution No. 182, which "urges the U.S. Congress to adopt H.R. 129, the 'Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013,' in order to strengthen our financial system."
The bill has been referred to the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee. So far, there are no cosponsors.
The motivation for the resolution is contained in the following statement, which accompanies it:
"This resolution urges the United States Congress to adopt the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013, thereby reinstating the protections of the Glass-Steagall Act, in order to strengthen our financial system.
"The Glass-Steagall Act was enacted in 1933 to eliminate the speculative activities which caused the collapse of the banking system during the Great Depression. The Glass-Steagall Act curbed speculative activities by erecting a firewall between commercial and investment banking.
"Following the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999, commercial banks merged with investment firms and other financial firms to form vast conglomerates. The newly formed financial conglomerates began engaging in irresponsible financial practices and speculative activities which contributed to the collapse of the housing market and in turn lead to the worst recession since the Great Depression.
"Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, in 2010, to address the root causes of the recession. However, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act does little to separate commercial and investment banking.
"The Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013, H.R.129, would revive the separation between commercial banking and the securities business in the manner provided in the Glass-Steagall Act. The reinstatement of the separation between commercial banking and the securities business is necessary to strengthen our financial system and to put an end to the irresponsible financial practices and speculative activities that led to the collapse of the housing market and the subsequent recession."
