Press Release of Senator Lugar Lugar statement on the Financial Regulatory Reform Act Thursday, July 15, 2010 U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar made the following statement after voting against the Restoring American Financial Stability Act:   The financial regulatory reform bill that was passed by the Senate today did not adequately address the origins of the financial crisis. It sets us on course for years of regulatory uncertainty and will lead to a massive new government bureaucracy.   Proponents have freely admitted that this bill does not reform the Government Sponsored Enterprises of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  It also does not adequately address loan underwriting standards. Proponents argued that these reforms are needed but should occur at another time.  This is a startling assertion when you consider that the federal government has contributed $137.5 billion to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since 2008. Given this egregious assistance and our current $1.4 trillion deficit, our country cannot afford to delay these reforms.   This bill creates a massive new government bureaucracy by creating 17 new offices, agencies, units and boards, in addition to expanding existing and often overlapping federal authorities. Creating more government bureaucracy and additional regulatory requirements will do little to protect the economy and may in fact hurt long-term growth. Given our high unemployment rates, we should focus on policies that will help strengthen the financial stability of small businesses to create jobs and avoid additional burdens.   Furthermore, the bill tasks regulators in the Administration to create, analyze, and implement hundreds of rules which will dramatically alter the bill’s scope and impact.  According to some estimates, there may be more than 350 rules for regulators to draft which will require years to implement and enforce.   As a result, it remains unclear exactly who will be impacted by this bill and who may or may not be subject to additional regulations, fees, or standards.  Like implementation of the health care bill, there are many unanswered questions.   I am pleased that the conference report provides much greater transparency for derivatives trading and that restrictions may be placed on proprietary trading by commercial banks.  However, like much of the bill, there are still outlying questions on the implementation of these two initiatives.   When dealing with complex, extraordinarily important issues such as our economic security, it is important that we take the time to get things right.  In fact, the timing and scheduling of the bill is even more interesting when you consider that Congress created a bipartisan commission to study the origins of the crisis.  The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, http://www.fcic.gov/, is expected to deliver a report by December 15, 2010.   Link to Lugar statement from May on Senate version: http://lugar.senate.gov/news/record.cfm?id=325146.   # # #