Djou Statement on Financial Regulatory Reform Bill

Statement

ongressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) issued the following statement regarding his vote on the Conference Report for H.R. 4173, the so-called "Restoring American Financial Stability Act:"

"While I was lobbied extensively by mainland special interests, the opinions that I cared about most were those of my constituents. The responses I received from businesses and residents in my district were nearly unanimous: this bill will hurt Hawaii. I have consistently said Hawaii comes first and I will not support a bill that hurts Hawaii.

"This legislation does not address the root causes of the financial crisis. Instead, this bill expands the reach of government in intrusive and burdensome ways by raising taxes on banks that will pass the added expense onto consumers, makes bailouts permanent by using taxpayer funds as the initial source to rescue troubled firms, codifies the too big to fail mentality with a special regulatory structure and resolution process for select Wall Street firms, and fails to deal with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, despite the central role these institutions played in causing the economic recession.

"Put simply, this bill does more yet accomplishes nothing--it spends more, it taxes more, and it sets the stage for more Wall Street bailouts.

"While there were portions of the legislation that I support, such as revamping the credit rating industry to increase transparency and address any conflicts of interest, the good was buried beneath a great deal of bad. We should have dealt with financial regulatory reform in a reasonable and bipartisan way. This Congress has again let the American people down."

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