Senate Minority Office — Press Release

Senate Democratic Leader Urges Senate Republican Leadership To Stop Unravelling Consumer Protections

Tallahassee —  

Senate Democratic Leader Nan Rich (D-Weston) on Tuesday issued the following statement in response to the Senate Republicans vote to repeal Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms and consumer protections:

 “In a unanimous vote today, Senate Democrats voted against a memorial to Congress pushed by Senate Republicans calling for the repeal of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

 “Think about it. They want to get rid of the ‘Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010’ – the firewall enacted to stop Wall Street greed from preying on middle class Americans.

 “It was the very same national Republican hands-off philosophy on regulating big banking interests that brought our country to the brink of economic collapse. Repealing Dodd-Frank will do nothing to create a ‘free market’ as they claim. But it would do everything to create another Wall Street free-for-all.

 “Using small community banks as a smokescreen to remove restrictions large banks loathe, is like using the cover of small businesses to advance the interests of large corporations – a tactic Republicans have been using for the past 14 years. If removing ‘obstacles’ creates a ‘vibrant economy’ as the Senate Majority Office claims, just what have the conservative Republicans been doing all this time they’ve been in power? Certainly nothing to legitimately help small businesses, encourage small bank lending, or create good paying jobs – as anyone stuck in Florida’s long unemployment lines can attest.

 “Dodd-Frank goes after the real culprits of the Great Recession. It exempts many of the small community banks from regulations aimed at stopping abuses by the big banks; it stops predatory home loans that helped boost Florida to the top of the national heap for foreclosures; it prevents Wall Street banks from making risky bets backed by taxpayer money; it shuts down ineffective regulators and creates financial transparency. And finally, it establishes a single agency whose sole mission is to protect American consumers.

 “If Senate Republicans choose to boast about their unanimous vote to protect Wall Street abuses, so be it. But Senate Democrats are proud of their unanimous vote to oppose them.”

###