“I want this bill to pass so the government can claim it is helping families.”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from Congress.
Recent debates
8 latest topics
Protect Economic and Academic Freedom Act of 2026
13 statements
Moment of Silence in Honor of the 25th Anniversary of September 11
2 statements
Honoring Former U.S. Representative Charles Hatcher of Georgia
2 statements
Recognizing Firefighters from California's Third Congressional District
17 statements
Saluting White Plains Beautification Foundation
2 statements
Celebrating Rural Lawyer Julie Bear
4 statements
Operation Midway Blitz Anniversary
2 statements
Catherine Watts Celebrates 100th Birthday
4 statements
House of Representatives
Main Street Capital Access Act
“I want this bill to pass so the government can claim it is helping small banks. I don't like that opponents slow it down. I want fewer rules for small banks. I started a small bank. Small banks are good. Big banks have too many rules. That hurt small banks.”
“You are bad. The other side is bad and mean. I don't like this bill. It will help big banks. Big banks are bad. I want more rules for big banks. I want you to vote against this bill. I want to blame Trump for bad things.”
“I want to cheer for the Main Street Capital Access Act. This bill will help small banks and credit unions. That's good for business. It's good for local economies.”
“I want this bill to pass. It will help small banks and credit unions. That's good for business. It's good for local economies. Big banks are bad. Small banks are good. We need more competition. This bill will help small banks compete with big banks. Regulation is bad for small banks. This bill will reduce regulation for small banks. That's good for everyone. I want you to support this bill.”
“I don't like this bill. It will help small banks too much. That's bad. Big banks are good. Regulation is good. We need more regulation. Not less. This bill will reduce regulation. That's very bad. It will cause a financial crisis. I want you to oppose this bill.”
“My next speaker agrees with me. He will say good things about my bill. You should listen to him.”
“I want this bill to pass. It will help small banks. It will help small business. I want you to support it. I think the other side wants to block it. I want you to support my bill.”
“I don't want to talk about the actual bill. I brought up something from 10 years ago to change the subject. I hope that people will be distracted by talking about that instead.”
“I don't like your interpretation. I think this bill helps small banks. I want small banks to have more money and to grow. I want them to be able to compete with big banks. This bill will make it easier for small banks.”
“I want this bill to pass. I don't like big government. I want to cut regulations. Small banks should have different rules than big banks. We need to simplify the rules for creating a new bank. This bill is good for small businesses. I want everyone to agree with me that we need this bill. I want Congress to make the rules for banks easier.”
“I don't like this bill. It won't help regular people. It only helps Wall Street. It weakens rules that protect consumers. I want to send this bill back to committee. My amendment stops big banks from dodging regulations. This bill is bad for regular people.”
“I want my colleagues to vote for my motion. We should send this bill back to committee. I want to change this bill. I don't want Wall Street to win. I say this bill is bad.”
“I don't want to vote for your motion. I say my bill is good. It helps start banks in growing areas. It makes big companies compete more. You say my bill helps Wall Street. But I say it does not. I want to yield time to a colleague who agrees with me.”
“I want to say my bill is good. It helps community banks give loans. That is good for regular people. It helps families buy houses. It helps small businesses. Our government made it hard for small banks. We want to change that. The other side did bad things. We want to stop those bad things. Our bill fixes problems. Please vote yes.”
“I want to blame banks for bad things. One bank paid a big fine. That is bad. The bank has lots of money. They can pay fines and still make money. That is bad. I want to change the bill so big banks don't benefit. The other side won't do that. They are like a skunk at a party. People are sad about how banks treat them. Banks don't want to lend for small houses. I worked on a bill with Mr. Hill to help that. The other side wants banks to get richer. That is bad. No more helping the banks. No more deregulation. Community banks are going out of business. That is bad.”
“I want this bill to pass. It will help small banks in my district. Big banks can handle lots of rules. Small banks struggle with too many rules. This bill makes rules easier for small banks. That will help small businesses in my district. It will help community banks in Guam. That's good for my district.”
“I don't like this bill. It might help big banks escape rules. I only want small banks to escape rules. Small banks are good. Big banks have bad customer service. I want to stop big banks from escaping rules. This bill does not help small banks enough.”
“I want this bill to pass. Community banks are good. Big banks are bad. There used to be many community banks. Now there are not as many. It is hard for community banks to lend money because of rules. The current market only helps big banks. My state used to have many community banks. Now there are not as many. I want community banks to survive. This bill will help community banks. I want more competition. I want community banks to serve people. I strongly support this bill.”
“I don't like this bill. I want you to vote no. Many groups agree with me. This bill is bad for many reasons. It will make banks less accountable. It will make it harder to stop discrimination. It will make it harder to evaluate bank mergers. Many groups from many states oppose this bill. I could say more but there is no time.”