{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221002842/http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/brown-vitter-disagree-with-treasury-secretary-lew-on-too-big-to-fail-assessment", "Brown, Vitter Disagree with Treasury Secretary Lew on \u201cToo Big to Fail\u201d Assessment", "2013-12-05", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "LA", "David Vitter", "V000127", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "Brown, Vitter Disagree with Treasury Secretary Lew on \u201cToo Big to Fail\u201d Assessment\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tThursday, December 5, 2013\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t(Washington, D.C.) \u2013 U.S. Sens. David Vitter (R-La.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) today both disagreed with U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, who claimed that the Administration has overcome \u201ctoo big to fail.\u201d\nLew said, \u201c\u2026If we could not with a straight face say we ended \u2018too big to fail\u2019, we would have to look at other options. Based on the totality of reforms we are putting in place, I believe we will meet that test.\u201d\n\u201cIf Lew thinks he can claim victory over \u2018too big to fail\u2019 today, I\u2019d tell him he\u2019s living on another planet. Independent study after independent study shows that too big to fail is alive and well with the Wall Street megabanks and they still enjoy a cost of funding advantage over their smaller competitors,\u201d Vitter said. \u201cEliminating the megabanks federal handouts \u2013 and addressing the problem of \u2018too big to fail\u2019 financial institutions \u2013 is a simple matter of common sense, and it absolutely still needs to be addressed. The megabanks have been growing at a rapid pace since the financial meltdown \u2013 largely on the backs of U.S. taxpayers. I\u2019ll continue fighting to protect the taxpayers from financial risks by implementing a systemic solution, increasing the minimum amount of capital the megabanks are required to have.\u201d\n\u201cIt is premature for anyone to take a victory lap when \u2018too big to fail\u2019 policies are still alive and well,\u201d Brown said. \u201cDespite what some on Wall Street and in Washington may say, our work is not finished. Regulators have failed to finalize key rules to address the issue \u2013 including orderly liquidation rules, enhanced capital and leverage rules for systemically important institutions, limits on the Fed\u2019s emergency lending power, and pushing risky derivatives out of federally insured banks. As long as the market believes that certain institutions have the implicit support of taxpayers, and provides a funding advantage based upon that support, Sen. Vitter and I will continue fighting to hold megabanks accountable for their risky investments.\u201d\nIn November, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the first of two reports on the federal government\u2019s bailout of large financial institutions during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. The GAO report found that Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo & Co were able to borrow below-market interests rates, demonstrating an economic benefit of being \u201ctoo big to fail.\u201d Brown and Vitter, who requested that GAO conduct the investigations, are also authors of the Terminating Bailouts for Taxpayer Fairness Act, legislation that would require the largest and most interconnected financial institutions to maintain a 15 percent capital ratio to ensure taxpayers will not serve as the backstop for risky investments. Click here to read more and access the GAO report.\nVitter along with Brown and Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) have urged federal regulators to strengthen their proposed supplementary leverage ratio in order to reduce future government support, eliminating the possibility of \u201ctoo big to fail\u201d policies in the future. Click here to read the letter.\nIn March, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved an amendment to end federal subsidies for \u201ctoo big to fail\u201d mega-banks.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140221002842/http://www.vitter.senate.gov/newsroom/press/brown-vitter-disagree-with-treasury-secretary-lew-on-too-big-to-fail-assessment"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 7.57015123963356, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}