Carper Takes to Senate Floor to Urge Passage of Legislation to Improve Dodd-Frank, Provide Relief for Community Banks, Credit Unions and Small Businesses

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) spoke on the Senate floor about the bipartisan Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act – legislation that would improve the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms enacted after the financial meltdown in 2008.

This bill will provide regulatory relief for community banks and credit unions that are a significant source of capital in rural and underserved communities, helping businesses start and grow, enabling farmers to get loans and helping families achieve home ownership. At the same time, this legislation continues to hold Wall Street banks accountable in order to continue protecting consumers and ensuring the safety and soundness of our financial system. 

“I do a lot of customer calls all over my state. I visit businesses large and small. You name it,” said Senator Carper. “For years, when visiting credit unions or community banks, especially in the central and southern part of our state, they say to me ‘we didn’t create the financial meltdown that led us to the Great Recession, yet we bear the burden of the regulatory reform for that meltdown. It wasn’t our fault and we need you.’

“Part of what we sought to do with Dodd-Frank was to make sure [the 2008 financial crisis] didn’t happen again. We’ll make other mistakes, but we’re not going to make that mistake again,” said Senator Carper. “I voted for it and helped write some of the provisions in the bill. But I knew at the time – and I think we all did – that anything that big, that massive of a change in our banking regulatory approach in this country was going to have to be tweaked and revisited. If the bipartisan bill before us today becomes law, 90 percent of Dodd-Frank will remain unchanged. Let me say that again – if the banking bill before us today becomes law, 90 percent of Dodd-Frank would remain unchanged.”

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