Senator Doug Jones,



As supporters of your campaign, your message, and the policies you ran on, we were disappointed to find out this week that you were a cosponsor of a bill to roll back some key aspects of Dodd-Frank, an important post financial crisis law focused on reining in the big banks.



The bill loosens scrutiny on banks with under $250 billion in assets. The threshold is currently $50 billion. The proposed increase of the threshold releases TWENTY FIVE of the world's 38 largest banks from this enhanced scrutiny under Dodd-Frank. The bill is being touted as an effort to ease burdens on community banks and financial institutions. If a bank is one of the top 38 banks in the world, it is not a small, community bank. The definition of "community banks" is so distorted as to include everyone's favorite local mom and pop shop: American Express.



This bill will relieve stadium banks (banks large enough to have a sports stadium named after them) from the regulation that they were intended to receive under Dodd-Frank. These are not community banks. Let us give an example of how dangerous it is to raise the regulatory threshold from $50 billion to $250 billion in assets. Countrywide Financial, one of America's largest subprime mortgage lenders at the time of the 2008 mortgage crisis had assets totaling around $210 billion before it failed. The government spent our taxpayer dollars to bail out the very banks who's risky, unregulated practices caused the crisis. We must not embark on a path that could potentially cause the next Great Recession and as a consequence, a next big bank bailout with our taxpayer dollars.



We understand that you ran on the idea of bipartisanship to get things done for the American people. That's great! As a member of the Common Sense Coalition in Congress, you've proven that you can work with both sides of the aisle to come up with bipartisan fixes to the issues we face. We understand you also ran on cutting red tape regulations to help small businesses and that's also great! However, this legislation is a Trojan Horse. The original intent to relieve community banks was admirable, but the further additions to this legislation also made it a giveaway to big banks. Bipartisanship just for the sake of bipartisanship is a recipe for disaster. As Democrats, we must fight for our values and stand our ground against those who oppose our values.

Please, Senator Jones, remove your name from the list of cosponsors of this bill. Remember, the bankers and the financial sector are not the people who voted you into office. It was the middle class workers of Alabama, the college students who want relief from the burden of student debt, the families who are trying to make ends meet paycheck to paycheck, the teachers who are not paid enough for their work, and African Americans, most notably, African American women. These are the groups that you should be fighting for.

Work with Senators' Sherrod Brown, Elizabeth Warren, and the other Democrats on their resistance to this bill. Work to make sure that big banks are properly regulated and that consumers are protected. Dodd-Frank must be upheld and protected to ensure that we do not enable big banks to make the same risky decisions that caused the financial crisis.

Work with Senator Bernie Sanders on his Medicare for All bill or with Senator Tim Kaine on his Medicare-X public option bill to ensure that EVERY Alabamian has access to healthcare as a right. You fought to ensure that the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and community health centers were funded and we applaud you for that.

Fight for a living wage. Fight for policies that properly address climate change in a business friendly manner. Fight for debt free college. Fight for policies that improve our public education system. Fight for common sense gun laws to address the recent tragedies of gun violence. Fight for an economy that works for ALL of us, not just those at the top. You campaigned on the values held by the Democratic Party. Fight for them. Do not concede simply for the sake of bipartisanship.



You have shown in the past that you are willing to listen to your constituents. That's admirable and certainly is a rare virtue in politicians today. Listen to our plea in this letter. In a time where profits in the financial sector have never been higher, the groups and policies mentioned above should be your priorities. Deregulation of big banks shouldn't even be on your radar.



Very respectfully,

College Democrats at the University of Alabama in Huntsville

College Democrats at Alabama A&M University

High School Democrats of Alabama

Rocket City Young Democrats

Madison County Democratic Women

Madison County Democrats

Alabama Fifth Congressional District Democratic Committee

Indivisible 5th District North Alabama

Huntsville African American History Project