BILL REQ. #:  S-3541.1 

Read first time 01/17/14.   Referred to Committee on Financial Institutions, Housing & Insurance.

     TO THE HONORABLE BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
     We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:
     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 bias; and
     WHEREAS, Since 1933, the federal banking act of 1933, 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     WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall act was repealed in 1999, partially contributing to the greatest speculative bubble and worldwide recession since the great depression of 1933; and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 worldwide recession has put severe financial strains on states, counties, and cities, exacerbating unemployment and the loss of civil services; and
     WHEREAS, The United States senate and house of representatives have been making efforts to restore the protections of the Glass-Steagall act; and
     WHEREAS, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur has introduced H.Res. 129, known as the return to prudent banking act of 2013, which revives 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 such organizations as the American federation of labor and congress of industrial organizations (AFL-CIO), the American federation of teachers, and the international association of machinists, as well as from prominent economic and business leaders, 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;
     NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that Congress enact legislation that would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking functions that were 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 hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out financial institutions;
     BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.