As financial regulatory reform continues to move through Congress, the U.S. Chamber is escalating its efforts to improve the bill to create strong capital markets and to ensure that small businesses and entrepreneurs have access to credit.

“From Main Street to Wall Street, capital markets are critical to the economic success of our nation and to each of its citizens,” Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue said at a March 24 summit hosted by the Chamber’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. “And for businesses operating in a highly competitive worldwide economy, it’s pretty simple—you’ve got to have the cash to make the dash.”

Donohue added, “It’s time for action. In fact, it is past time. It has been 75 years since the last major overhaul of financial regulations. FDR was in his first term. But while the need is urgent, we must take the time to get this right. This isn’t something we can afford to screw up. This is a complex issue. A rush to legislate and regulate won’t cut it.”

Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) echoed Donohue’s criticism of the decision to fast-track a financial reform bill out of the Senate Banking Committee on March 22 with no amendment negotiations and no Republican votes. “We’ll debate it on the floor, where it will be far more difficult to change,” Corker told the summit audience of more than 200 business, government, and academic leaders, “We missed a tremendous opportunity on financial reform.”

The Chamber continues to try to rally support for comprehensive, bipartisan reform that does the following: strikes the right balance between appropriate regulation and unnecessary restraints on capital formation; untangles, streamlines, and coordinates the alphabet soup of regulators who have duplicative and overlapping authority; and allows for innovation and competition in the capital markets, as well as reasonable risk taking. Most importantly, according to the Chamber, changes must be aimed squarely at helping Main Street. Making credit available to small businesses and entrepreneurs is essential to a sustainable recovery.

As part of its campaign, the Chamber is running a television advertisement that highlights the anxiety small business owners are feeling from the economy and the struggle to access capital necessary to expand and create jobs. The ad calls on Americans to contact their representatives and urge them to stop the current proposal.

Go toc www.stopthecfpa.com to view the ad.