Ellison Votes for Historic Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Legislation

Press Release

Congressman Keith Ellison today voted for H.R. 4173, the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, to reform Wall Street and to create sensible oversight of financial institutions. The conference report passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is expected to be taken up by the U.S. Senate after the Fourth of July Congressional recess.

Among the most important provisions of the conference report is the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect consumers from abusive and predatory practices by financial services companies.

"For too long, America's working families have been nickeled and dimed by the financial services industry. From over-draft fees, to late charges, and usurious interest rates, our most vulnerable families have borne the brunt of these predatory and abusive practices," Congressman Ellison said. "It's not just how much a family earns that is so important in our society, it is also how much a working family is able to keep in their pockets at the end of the day."

The conference report also prevents bailouts for companies that grow "too big to fail" through an orderly process to dismantle them using industry funds, not taxpayer dollars. The bill also establishes limits on proprietary trading and derivatives trading, which are practices that contributed to the financial meltdown in 2008.

"This legislation is a good first step toward modernizing financial regulations and putting the interests of working families above those of Wall Street executives," Ellison said.

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