Tlaib Statement on Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank

DETROIT — Today, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-12) released the following statement on Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank: 

“What happened this past week with Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank should be a wake-up call to Congress and the White House that financial institutions simply cannot be trusted to regulate themselves and manage risk appropriately. There is a clear lesson to be learned about the destructive and reckless behavior of venture capital and Silicon Valley firms and how deregulating financial institutions only encourages unchecked greed to run rampant at the expense of our residents.

“I will hold President Biden to his word that no taxpayer money will be used to protect uninsured deposits in these banks. This failure should be remedied by the irresponsible financial institutions, not the American people.

“These are the banks that lobbied for the deregulation. It enabled the risky mismanagement that created this situation in the first place. They even fought efforts to raise premiums on banks that would have filled the Deposit Insurance Fund to protect depositors in situations just like this.

“If this bailout isn’t paired with serious reforms, what’s to prevent this all from happening again? Congress should immediately repeal the 2018 bank deregulation law to reinstate safeguards that could have prevented this situation, and I support Senator Sanders’ consistent calls to break up any bank deemed too big to fail.

“I am troubled that when the rich and powerful manufacture a crisis they’re almost immediately saved by the federal government, but when we advocate for popular policy like student loan forgiveness and Medicare for All, we’re scolded about fiscal responsibility and told the cost is simply too high – including by some of the very venture capitalists and Silicon Valley executives now begging for a bailout. The American people have been asking for help with affordable housing, livable wages, and the cost of higher education – where’s their bailout? We need to flip this script, or people will continue to lose faith that the federal government will put their interests ahead of corporate profits.

“I look forward to working with my fellow members of the House Financial Services Committee to explore the details that led to the collapse of these banks, hold those responsible accountable, and strengthen regulations to prevent something like this from happening again.”

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