PRINTER'S NO. 1155
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE RESOLUTION
No.
238
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY COHEN, V. BROWN, CALTAGIRONE, DAVIDSON, DONATUCCI,
DRISCOLL, FLYNN, GIBBONS, HARHAI, HENNESSEY, JAMES, KAVULICH,
W. KELLER, KINSEY, MARSHALL, McCARTER, McNEILL, MURT AND
THOMAS, APRIL 10, 2015
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, APRIL 10, 2015
A RESOLUTION
Urging the Congress of the United States to support efforts to
reinstate the separation of commercial and investment banking
functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act and
supporting H.R. No. 381.
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WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999,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 cost the loss of
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millions of jobs nationwide; and
WHEREAS, The worldwide recession has put severe financial
strains on states, counties and cities, exacerbating
unemployment and 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.R. No.
381, known as the Return to Prudent Banking Act of 2015, and
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 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; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge Congress 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
hundreds of billions of dollars to bail out financial
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institutions; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the
President of the United States, to the presiding officers of
each house of Congress, to each member of Congress from
Pennsylvania and to Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur.
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