HR0354 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0354 LRB098 12096 GRL 45901 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, An effective money and banking system is essential to the functioning of the economy; and

WHEREAS, Such a system must function in the public interest, without any bias; and

WHEREAS, Since 1933, the Federal Banking Act of 1933, also known as the Glass-Steagall Act, protected the public interest in matters dealing with the regulation of commercial and investment banking, in addition to insurance companies and securities; and

WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, partially contributing to the greatest speculative bubble and worldwide recession since the Great Depression; and

WHEREAS, The worldwide recession has left millions of homes in foreclosure; and

WHEREAS, The worldwide recession has caused the loss of millions of jobs nationwide; and

WHEREAS, The recession has also put severe financial strains on states, counties, and cities, exacerbating unemployment and loss of civil services; and

WHEREAS, The United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives have been making efforts to restore the protections of the Glass-Steagall Act; and

WHEREAS, United States Representative Marcy Kaptur has introduced H. Res. 129 (sic H.R. 129), known as the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2013, reviving the separation between commercial banking and the securities business in the manner provided in the Glass-Steagall Act; and

WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall Act has widespread national support from prominent economic and business leaders and national publications, including Thomas Hoenig of the FDIC, Sanford Weill, former CEO of Citigroup, economist Luigi Zingales, the New York Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Los Angeles Times, and many others; and

WHEREAS, As of now, 16 states have filed resolutions demanding immediate action on HR 129 to return to Glass-Steagall; two of those states, Maine and South Dakota, have passed those resolutions through both houses of their legislatures; in the remaining states, legislative action is still pending; and

WHEREAS, Overwhelming pressure must be brought to bear on members of the U.S. House of Representatives to add their names as co-sponsors to HR 129, the bill to restore Glass-Steagall, as well as on members of the U.S. Senate, where, as of now, no companion bill has yet been introduced; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge Congress and the President to enact legislation that would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act, prohibiting commercial banks and bank holding companies from investing in stocks, underwriting securities, or investing in or acting as guarantors to derivative transactions, in order to prevent American taxpayers from being called upon to fund hundred of billions of dollars to bail out financial institutions; and be it further

RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, the President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the members of the Illinois congressional delegation, and United States Representative Marcy Kaptur.