This week was a whirlwind of economic failure, particularly in the state of California, where two large-scale banks collapsed within 48 hours of each other. The implosion caused worry throughout the country that more banks and financial institutions would be soon to follow.

Sen. Katie Britt sought to reassure Alabamians that the banking system was safe and Thursday called for a hearing to investigate Silicon Valley Banks’s collapse.

“I’m going to start by leaning into some of what we heard at the very beginning of this hearing, stating the fact that our banking system remains strong,” said Britt (R-Montgomery), a member of the Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. “The banks in the great state of Alabama are strong. SVB is a clear case of regulators refusing to do their job despite … all the signs, all the red flags were there.

“The Fed failed to use the tools in their toolbox to prevent what we saw last week, and I want to know why, I want answers. I join the ranking member in calling for a hearing, and I am hopeful that the chairman will do just that and will give us the opportunity to have the responsible parties sit right in front of us and allow us to do our job.”

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News.