Financial Regulatory Reform

Floor Speech

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, last night the Democrat majority forced a vote on a bill that was not ready for prime time. We know this because every day it seems another one of its flaws comes to light. And it is noteworthy that there was bipartisan objection to going forward with the bill last night in its current form.

You have every single member in my conference--from one end of the party spectrum to the other--united in calling for more bipartisan talks. We have heard from a couple of Democrats who think we should make some improvements as well.

You had the National Federation of Independent Businesses yesterday saying the bill hurts America's small business job creators. We heard from the organization that represents military officers yesterday expressing their concerns about the impact the bill will have on nearly 400,000 Active-Duty, retired, and former servicemembers, their families, and survivors. Community bankers from across the country say this bill, as currently written, hurts Main Street. The New York Times this morning reported that the maker of M&M's and Snickers is concerned about the bill's impact on the cost of sugar and chocolate. Harley-Davidson is worried about the effect it is going to have on business, and eBay is worried about the consequences for its business.

Clearly, this bill is not ready. It falls short of our constituents' demands to prevent future bailouts, and it is expected to hurt America's job creators at a time when we need jobs most. Does anyone really believe the people who make Harley-Davidsons and Snickers bars are responsible for the financial crisis? Does anyone think that? Then why would we want to punish them in our effort to hold Wall Street accountable? These are just the kinds of unintended consequences you get from rushing legislation. If we are aware of them, why wouldn't we want to address them? In many cases, all it would take is a simple fix. The Military Officers Association says all it would take is a simple tweak in the language to address their concerns. In other places, we just need to close a loophole. Unfortunately, the Democratic majority seems less interested in fixing this bill than in some political win they think they are scoring by not fixing the bill. It is a total waste of the people's time.

Americans do not understand why we would vote on a bill that does not meet the basic test of reform. They do not see the point. In what other line of work is it acceptable to show up to a big meeting with an unfinished product? Don't we have an obligation to make sure the bill we bring to the floor is in good shape before we vote on it? Isn't that just basic? This bill is not ready yet. It needs work. That is what last night's vote was about.

This morning, I saw that the junior Senator from Virginia--a Democrat and a man who knows what it is like to create jobs--is acknowledging what Republicans have been saying all along. This is what he said:

There are parts that need to be tightened.

That is certainly true. So let's stop the show partisanship and fix the bill. Let's tighten the parts that need to be tightened, as Senator Warner suggests. Let's get back to the business of reforming Wall Street and proving to the American people that the days of Wall Street bailouts are indeed over.

Madam President, I yield the floor.

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