Two French MPs Urge the U.S. Congress To Pass a New Glass-Steagall Act, "Our Fight Is a Common One"

October 4, 2013 • 4:17PM

French Senator Pierre-Yves Collombat and Deputy Eric Alauzet, both fought against the phony banking reform imposed by the French government to replace it
with a true Glass-Steagall banking separation. As the effort has failed for now, they decided to write to U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Representative Walter Jones to express support for their effort to implement a new Glass-Steagall Act. They call on the U.S. Congress to urgently pass it, as it is the only chance to trigger a change from the economic and financial disintegration now gripping the United States and Europe.

The letters, which Senator Collombat and Deputy Alauzet released for public use on Oct. 3, read, respectively:

Dear American colleagues,

I am writing this letter to both of you, leading representatives of the American people, as a French Senator who has been fighting very hard here to get a vote in favor of a French version of the Glass-Steagall Act, a true banking separation. For the time being, I have failed, and my elected colleagues have decided instead to enact a visual illusion incapable of facing the economic challenge of our dangerous and confusing times.

Therefore I come to you, in the United States, fully aware that your Dodd-Frank Act is no better than our own new law, and knowing that both of you are very courageously fighting for the Glass-Steagall principle. It would help us if you succeed there. Moreover, we are fully aware in Europe that "Glass-Steagall" should be a global principle, carried out in all countries of the world. Roosevelt enacted it in the United States, and we had a comparable law here, after World War II. But since then, Wall Street and the City of London, along with their financial and political collaborators here, have dismantled a system contrary to their interests, provoking a crisis potentially more dangerous than that of 1929 because this time it is global. That is why the Glass-Steagall principle should also be global and our fight a common one.

I know that you personally do not need my support, but I am convinced that this letter, coming from France, may help to convince your colleagues both in the Senate and the House of Representatives. Feel free to make the best use of it!

The world needs a change of direction, towards the common good and the service of our future generations. This is an emergency situation, and my hope is that you in the United States are going to fight here and now, because if we fail times of chaos, confusion and destruction are what we face. All my best for both of you, from across the Atlantic,

[signed]

Pierre-Yves Collombat
French Senator from Var Département

Dear American colleagues,

I want to express my interest and support for the courageous fight you are leading in the American Congress to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act of F.D. Roosevelt. This fight will be decisive not only for the American people, but also for us in Europe, as we are facing the same international financial system and its predatory logic.

I am part of the few elected representatives who have been fighting here in the French Parliament for a true separation of banks, with an amendment to transform the banking reform of our government into a French version of the Glass-Steagall Act. However, I have failed in getting the votes for the time being, while the banking reform that has been adopted instead, like the Dodd-Frank Act in the United States, is not sufficient to protect the people and the economy from the devastating consequences of the next financial crash.

In fact, most of my colleagues are intimidated by the warnings from financial experts who claim that if the French or European banks were subjected to a Glass-Steagall principle, they would not remain competitive with the American ones. That is why a joint effort across the Atlantic Ocean is so needed if we really want to shut down the casino of Wall Street, of the City of London, and all the other offshore financial centers. I truly consider our fight to be a common one.

I know you are urging your colleagues to support your bills S. 1282 and H.R. 129. Please, feel free to use this letter to convince them. Hoping they realize that when the world economy desperately needs to recover its sanity, passing your bill becomes an emergency.

[signed]

Yours sincerely,

Eric ALAUZET
French Member of Parliament from Doubs Département
Member of the Finance Committee