HR0354 LRB098 12096 GRL 45901 r
1		HOUSE RESOLUTION
2		WHEREAS, An effective money and banking system is essential
3		to the functioning of the economy; and
4		WHEREAS, Such a system must function in the public
5		interest, without any bias; and
6		WHEREAS, Since 1933, the Federal Banking Act of 1933, also
7		known as the Glass-Steagall Act, protected the public interest
8		in matters dealing with the regulation of commercial and
9		investment banking, in addition to insurance companies and
10		securities; and
11		WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999,
12		partially contributing to the greatest speculative bubble and
13		worldwide recession since the Great Depression; and
14		WHEREAS, The worldwide recession has left millions of homes
15		in foreclosure; and
16		WHEREAS, The worldwide recession has caused the loss of
17		millions of jobs nationwide; and
18		WHEREAS, The recession has also put severe financial
19		strains on states, counties, and cities, exacerbating

HR0354 - 2 - LRB098 12096 GRL 45901 r
1		unemployment and loss of civil services; and
2		WHEREAS, The United States Senate and the United States
3		House of Representatives have been making efforts to restore
4		the protections of the Glass-Steagall Act; and
5		WHEREAS, United States Representative Marcy Kaptur has
6		introduced H. Res. 129 (sic H.R. 129), known as the Return to
7		Prudent Banking Act of 2013, reviving the separation between
8		commercial banking and the securities business in the manner
9		provided in the Glass-Steagall Act; and
10		WHEREAS, The Glass-Steagall Act has widespread national
11		support from prominent economic and business leaders and
12		national publications, including Thomas Hoenig of the FDIC,
13		Sanford Weill, former CEO of Citigroup, economist Luigi
14		Zingales, the New York Times, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the
15		Los Angeles Times, and many others; and
16		WHEREAS, As of now, 16 states have filed resolutions
17		demanding immediate action on HR 129 to return to
18		Glass-Steagall; two of those states, Maine and South Dakota,
19		have passed those resolutions through both houses of their
20		legislatures; in the remaining states, legislative action is
21		still pending; and

HR0354 - 3 - LRB098 12096 GRL 45901 r
1		WHEREAS, Overwhelming pressure must be brought to bear on
2		members of the U.S. House of Representatives to add their names
3		as co-sponsors to HR 129, the bill to restore Glass-Steagall,
4		as well as on members of the U.S. Senate, where, as of now, no
5		companion bill has yet been introduced; therefore, be it
6		RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
7		NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
8		we urge Congress and the President to enact legislation that
9		would reinstate the separation of commercial and investment
10		banking functions in effect under the Glass-Steagall Act,
11		prohibiting commercial banks and bank holding companies from
12		investing in stocks, underwriting securities, or investing in
13		or acting as guarantors to derivative transactions, in order to
14		prevent American taxpayers from being called upon to fund
15		hundred of billions of dollars to bail out financial
16		institutions; and be it further
17		RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
18		delivered to the President of the United States, the President
19		Pro Tempore of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the
20		United States House of Representatives, the members of the
21		Illinois congressional delegation, and United States
22		Representative Marcy Kaptur.