Arizona lawmaker says the return to prosperity must be accompanied by oversight
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today welcomed President Obama’s call for stricter regulation of the financial sector, saying Wall Street excess must never again be allowed to risk the nation’s economic health.
“We must never forget how close we were to plunging off an economic cliff one year ago today, with the collapse of one of Wall Street’s oldest and most respected investment firms,” said Giffords. “The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers triggered a global recession and threatened us with another depression. Preventing future crisis means stricter oversight of the financial community.”
President Obama, speaking earlier today in New York, called for regulatory reform that protects consumers and investors and guards against excessive risk. He called on the financial community to support “strong rules of the road to guard against the kind of systemic risks that we’ve seen” in the past.
Giffords, a former small business owner, applauded the president’s remarks.
“At the top of the list of lessons we learned over the past year is that the actions of Wall Street have a direct impact on Main Street,” the congresswoman said. “Toughening the rules of our financial system will help ensure that families in Arizona and across the nation can finance a business, buy a home and save for retirement or their children’s education without worrying that our economy will come crashing down.”
Last October 3, Giffords supported the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, legislation proposed by the Bush Administration that provided critical assistance to financial institutions.
“Government assistance was a matter of necessity, not choice,” Giffords said. “We had to act. And we should remember that, less than a year after we did, taxpayers are seeing a return on their investment. More than $70 billion has been repaid to the Treasury from financial institutions who needed financing during the worst of the crisis.”