Senator Scott Brown Must Vote for Wall Street Reform

MASSPIRG

Boston, MA — Senator Scott Brown remains uncommitted to voting for Wall Street reform, saying only that he will review the legislation over the July 4th recess next week. 

“Every day that the bill is delayed is a win for Wall Street,” said Lizzi Weyant, staff attorney at MASSPIRG. “American consumers need strong new rules to protect them in the financial marketplace, and they need them now.”

The 43-member House and Senate conference committee met yesterday to reach a compromise on funding for the bill.  That compromise was prompted by Senator Brown.

“The most important thing now is that the Senator votes for the bill, not which funding mechanism is the best policy,” continued Weyant. “In the wake of the biggest collapse since 1929, we need confidence in the financial markets to help create economic recovery. This legislation represents the best way to do just that.”

“A vote against Wall Street reform is a vote for big banks,” said Ed Mierzwinski, Consumer Program Director of U.S. PIRG. “We need Senator Brown to vote for Main Street and not Wall Street. This legislation protects consumers and small investors from unfair and predatory practices, eliminates conflicts of interest, increases transparency, and imposes requirements on Wall Street to make sure that taxpayers don’t have to bail out big banks.”

“We need financial reform now,” said Weyant, “and we need Senator Brown to protect American consumers and vote for this bill.”