(May 17, 2013)– Yesterday, on the 80th anniversary of the introduction of the original 1933 Glass Steagall Act, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) introduced Senate Bill 985 to reinstate Glass Steagall. While the full text of the Harkin bill has not yet been posted by the Library of Congress, the fact that there is now a Senate bill to reinstate full separation of commercial banking from all other brokerage and speculative activities is a dramatic development. The fight for Glass Steagall has now moved to a new level.
The introduction of S. 985 came the same day that the 20th state legislature introduced a resolution urging its Congressional delegation to support Glass Steagall reinstatement. This week, both Delaware and Illinois introduced such resolutions. In addition, the Regional Council of the Tuscany Region of Italy passed a resolution calling for “Banking and Legal Reform According to the Glass Steagall Act.”
In the House of Representatives, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) has already introduced H.R. 129 to reinstate Glass Steagall. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) was the initiating co-sponsor and there are now 62 sponsors and co-sponsors on the House bill.
Lyndon LaRouche today congratulated Sen. Harkin for introducing S. 985 in spite of massive counter-pressure from the Obama White House and the Senate leadership. “This is a very important new development,” LaRouche declared. “It will have very significant impact for very obvious reasons. All of the efforts to suppress this action have been defeated. This is a new game. The agenda has changed. Despite all of the efforts to prevent this action, Sen. Harkin has taken the initiative. This is not yet a complete victory, but it shows that the situation is not as hopeless as the Senate Leader had hoped.”