Securities and Exchange Commission Historical Society

The Mechanics of Legislation: Congress, the SEC and Financial Regulation

Legislating for Reform

Tom Steed and "Mickey" Edwards

Pictured with Congressman Steed, left to right: Mrs. Helen Bailey of Wewoka, Ted Savage, manager of Ada Chamber of Commerce, Ranee Foster, Bristow, and Don Powers, Chandler. Powers was administrative assistant and Ms. Bailey and Ms. Foster were staff secretaries; courtesy of the Carl Albert Center, University of Oklahoma.

U.S. Representative Tom Steed (D-OK) served in Congress from 1949 to 1980.  During much of his career, he served as Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, dealing with many aspects of financial regulation.  Marvin “Mickey” Edwards served as a Republican U.S. Representative from Oklahoma from 1977 until 1993.  These Representatives were symbolic of many members of Congress who addressed public concerns about substantial financial issues during their terms. They relied on their experienced staff to respond to the numerous questions from their constituents and from industry representatives.

In 1978, with Congress debating the Financial Institutions Regulatory Act, Representative Steed received a letter from Ivan Fugate of the Independent Bankers Association of America, a leading industry interest group representing mainly small and medium-sized banks.  Mr. Fugate expressed his opposition to the bill as “we see only a vast augmentation of the powers of the bureaucracy flowing from it.”  Calling it “an incredibly complex 200-page bill,” Fugate urged Representative Steed to oppose the legislation, or to make specific amendments to it, which he obligingly provided .4

No Representative or Senator has the time to personally review and respond to the correspondence of every constituent.  However, that correspondence must be answered in order to maintain contact and good relations with voters.  Congressional staffs review each correspondence and then draft, often with the input of the Representative or Senator, individualized replies. In addition, on more intricate legislative matters such as proposed amendments, Congressional staff may prepare memos to their Representative or Senator which explain both the legislative and political impact of the proposals.  During the debate on financial modernization, staff for Representative Edwards prepared a one-page memo detailing the various legislative proposals on expanded banking powers. That memo advised Representative Edwards of the basic details of the proposals, but more importantly, advice about the political prospects of the bills. One memo advised that “[t]he Administration would like to go further but has indicated it would support bank expansion into the securities business as a first step.” It warned that all interested parties understood that to “tackle bank expansion into r.e. (real estate) and insurance would invite such strong opposition that the banks could end up with no bill at all or further restrictions than they have now.” 5

In many respects, competent and experienced Congressional staff became essential cogs in the legislative machinery.  For both Representatives Steed and Edwards, who served long terms in Congress, the staff who served with them became experts in those financial regulatory matters handled by the committees on which the Representatives served.  Their staff became familiar with industry lobbyists and the positions of their organizations, and worked closely with the experts on the regulatory agencies administering the laws.  This collaboration made Representatives like Steed and Edwards experts in their own right on the financial regulatory matters considered by Congress during their careers.


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Related Museum Resources

Papers

July 22, 1977
image pdf (Tom Steed Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
August 2, 1977
image pdf (Tom Steed Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
September 6, 1977
image pdf (Tom Steed Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
February 1, 1978
image pdf (Tom Steed Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
September 15, 1978
image pdf (Tom Steed Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
September 20, 1978
transcript pdf (Tom Steed Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
August 23, 1979
transcript pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
October 25, 1979
transcript pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
July 28, 1980
transcript pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
August 29, 1983
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
October 19, 1983
transcript pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
January 30, 1986
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
March 12, 1986
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
April 9, 1986
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
June 5, 1986
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
July 1, 1986
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
October 2, 1986
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
November 22, 1986
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
June 29, 1987
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
August 7, 1987
transcript pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
September 4, 1987
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
February 11, 1988
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
October 18, 1989
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
November 10, 1989
transcript pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
November 27, 1989
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
January 4, 1990
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
January 17, 1990
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
January 23, 1990
transcript pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
July 24, 1990
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
August 28, 1990
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
October 29, 1991
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
June 8, 1992
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
June 16, 1992
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
August 26, 1992
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
September 10, 1992
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
September 14, 1992
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
September 18, 1992
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)
September 21, 1992
image pdf (Mickey Edwards Papers, courtesy of the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma)

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