U.S. Senator Katie Britt, R-Ala., on Thursday at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs delivered opening remarks expressing full confidence in the American banking sector, including Alabama’s regional banks, community banks, and credit unions.
Senator Britt blasted the failure of regulators, including the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, to adequately supervise Silicon Valley Bank. She called for a hearing of the full Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs in which all responsible parties will be called to testify in front of the American public.
A video of Senator Britt’s line of questioning can be viewed here.
A transcript of Senator Britt’s remarks follows:
“I’m going to start by leaning into some of what we heard at the very beginning of this hearing, stating the fact that our banking system remains strong. The banks in the great state of Alabama are strong. SVB is a clear case of regulators refusing to do their job despite the fact that all the signs, all the red flags were there. The Fed failed to use the tools in their toolbox to prevent what we saw last week, and I want to know why, I want answers. There are people in Alabama who are simply struggling to make ends meet, while SVB is getting a bailout from the Biden Administration. Alabamians don’t just want answers, they deserve answers. And I, for one, will not stop until we get them. I join the Ranking Member in calling for a hearing, and I am hopeful that the Chairman will do just that and will give us the opportunity to have the responsible parties sit right in front of us and allow us to do our job.”
Senator Britt is a member of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. She released a statement on the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures earlier this week.
