Johnson, T Sen

his own bio

<div><u><a href="http://www.johnson.senate.gov/public/">Chairman Johnson</a></u></div>

<div>Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD), a member of the Senate Committee on

Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs since 1997, and member of Congress

since 1987, has a long career as a fair-minded legislator focusing on

public policies ensuring the safety and soundness of our nation’s

financial system.  As international markets and technology have changed,

he has supported efforts to modernize our regulatory system and make

the regulatory framework more effective for regulators and consumers. </div>

<div>South Dakota is home to many community banks, which is why Johnson

is often viewed as a community banking advocate.  Johnson has said, “In

my home state of South Dakota, community banks are the lifeline of many

small, rural communities.”</div>

<div>Johnson’s most notable accomplishment on the Senate Banking

Committee is the passage of the Safe and Fair Deposit Insurance Act of

Recognizing that the federal deposit insurance system had not been

updated since 1980, Johnson was an early champion of deposit insurance

reform.  Johnson's bill gave the FDIC critical authority to charge banks

based on risk; to build up additional capital buffers in strong

economic times; to protect retirement accounts up to $250,000; and to

ensure that ordinary coverage limits keep pace with inflation. 

Johnson's legislation was put in place at the right time, and has

allowed the FDIC to keep Americans' bank deposits safe despite the

turbulent economic crisis. </div>

<div>Johnson has been a leading proponent of strengthening the

separation between banking and commerce to ensure that consumers have

more and improved credit and financing options.  In 1999, he

successfully amended Gramm-Leach-Bliley legislation to close the unitary

thrift loophole.  Beginning in 2005, Johnson led the fight to keep

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from buying an industrial loan bank in Utah and

close the ILC loophole.  Johnson believes that maintaining the

separation between banking and commerce is important to the safety,

soundness and competitiveness of our nation’s banking system.</div>

<div>Following September 11, 2001, shipments of check payments across

the country were delayed, opening up possibilities for processing

errors, fraud and other risks to the financial system.  Senator Johnson

successfully led legislation known as Check 21 through Congress,

facilitating banks’ ability to exchange checks electronically.  This was

a significant step to improve the nation’s check payment system and

ensure the financial stability of our system in the event of another

attack.</div>

<div>Johnson has also been an advocate for retirement security, better

disclosure of consumer credit product terms and personal credit

information, better access to financial literacy education, and other

important consumer protections like the FACT Act and the Identity Theft

Penalty Enhancement Act.  In 2002, Johnson was one of nine Senators to

negotiate the final Sarbanes-Oxley legislation reforming corporate

governance laws and protecting millions of Americans’ hard-earned

retirement savings from irresponsible corporate actions.</div>

<div>Senator Johnson has spent much of his career working to address the

unique needs of consumers in rural and Native American

communities—areas traditionally underserved by financial institutions. 

Johnson has been a champion for rural housing needs, the author of the

Native American Housing and Self-Determination Act (NAHASDA), and a lead

advocate for the Native-American Set-aside within the Community

Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) program.</div>

<div>Continuing his efforts for better regulation, in 2006, Johnson and

Senator John Sununu (R-NH) began their call for insurance industry

regulatory modernization when they introduced a bill to create an

optional federal charter (OFC) for insurance regulation.  Johnson

remains concerned that the state-by state regulatory system is outdated,

inefficient, and bad for consumers and is committed to reforming the

regulation of this sector. </div>

<div>Johnson played an important role in the passage of Housing and

Economic Recovery Act (HERA), GSE reform, the Fraud Enforcement and

Recovery Act and other legislation addressing the economic crisis.

 Johnson voted against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA),

citing the lack of protections for the taxpayer and the lack of

accountability for those financial institutions receiving TARP funds.

Johnson has also been a strong voice calling for increased

accountability, responsibility and transparency at the corporations that

contributed to the current crisis.</div>

<div>The turbulent economic events of the past few years have made it

clear that serious changes to our financial services regulatory

structure were needed.  As a member of the Senate Banking Committee and

the House-Senate Conference Committee, Johnson provided a balanced

perspective during consideration of the Dodd-Frank <i>Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act</i>.   He worked hard to identify the causes of the crisis and find the right solutions to address them. </div>

<div>Johnson supported the creation of a mechanism to monitor systemic

risk in the financial sector, as well as the creation of a new structure

to regulate risky derivatives, credit default swaps and other

complicated financial products that were not transparent and had

previously gone unregulated. As well, he supported efforts to provide

consumers with better rules governing the products they use and better

information about those products by creating a consumer watchdog

agency.  Importantly, Johnson also supported provisions to unwind large

financial firms without having to bail them out.  Senator Johnson pushed

for legislation that provided common sense solutions to ensure that

small banks and small businesses continued to create jobs and provide

consumer credit. Furthermore, Johnson led efforts to find compromises on

controversial issues, including federal preemption and fiduciary duty.</div>

<div>Johnson continues to be committed to working with the White House,

his Senate colleagues, consumer groups and industry to find mutual

understanding and common sense solutions for consumers and our financial

services industry.   </div>

<div>Senator Johnson was re-elected to his third Senate term in 2008.  He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986. 
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