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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, An effective money and banking system is essential
3to the functioning of the economy; and
 
4    WHEREAS, Such a system must function in the public
5interest, without any bias; and
 
6    WHEREAS, Since 1933, the Federal Banking Act of 1933, also
7known as the Glass-Steagall Act, protected the public interest
8in matters dealing with the regulation of commercial and
9investment banking, in addition to insurance companies and
10securities; and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999,
12partially contributing to the greatest speculative bubble and
13worldwide recession since the Great Depression; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The worldwide recession has left millions of homes
15in foreclosure; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The worldwide recession has caused the loss of
17millions of jobs nationwide; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The recession has also put severe financial
19strains on states, counties, and cities, exacerbating

 

 

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1unemployment and loss of civil services; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The United States Senate and the United States
3House of Representatives have been making efforts to restore
4the protections of the Glass-Steagall Act; and
 
5    WHEREAS, United States Representative Marcy Kaptur has
6introduced H. Res. 129 (sic H.R. 129), known as the Return to
7Prudent Banking Act of 2013, reviving the separation between
8commercial banking and the securities business in the manner
9provided in the Glass-Steagall Act; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall Act has widespread national
11support from prominent economic and business leaders and
12national publications, including Thomas Hoenig of the FDIC,
13Sanford Weill, former CEO of Citigroup, economist Luigi
14Zingales, the New York Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the
15Los Angeles Times, and many others; and
 
16    WHEREAS, As of now, 16 states have filed resolutions
17demanding immediate action on HR 129 to return to
18Glass-Steagall; two of those states, Maine and South Dakota,
19have passed those resolutions through both houses of their
20legislatures; in the remaining states, legislative action is
21still pending; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Overwhelming pressure must be brought to bear on
2members of the U.S. House of Representatives to add their names
3as co-sponsors to HR 129, the bill to restore Glass-Steagall,
4as well as on members of the U.S. Senate, where, as of now, no
5companion bill has yet been introduced; therefore, be it
 
6    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
7NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
8we urge Congress and the President to enact legislation that
9would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment
10banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act,
11prohibiting commercial banks and bank holding companies from
12investing in stocks, underwriting securities, or investing in
13or acting as guarantors to derivative transactions, in order to
14prevent American taxpayers from being called upon to fund
15hundred of billions of dollars to bail out financial
16institutions; and be it further
 
17    RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
18delivered to the President of the United States, the President
19Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the
20United States House of Representatives, the members of the
21Illinois congressional delegation, and United States
22Representative Marcy Kaptur.