Political Quotes

“the ICBA memorandum highlights all of the things done in this bill that warrant the headline in the Wall Street Journal about how the overwhelming majority of the 8,000 small banks in this country do well under this bill. I thank the ICBA for stepping up and making that case for us. The American Bankers Association had been vehemently opposed to this legislation and tried to convince people they represented all banks in the country. The ICBA took great offense at this suggestion and hence the memo sent around to all Members. I wish to thank other colleagues as well--I didn't mention this earlier--regarding the small business provisions. Particular thanks go to our colleague from Maine, Senator Snowe, who chairs, along with Senator Landrieu, the Small Business Committee. They paid particular attention to how small businesses would be affected by this bill and made a number of suggestions which we adopted as part of the bill on the Senate floor and again preserves them in the conference committee. These are not minor suggestions. They were significant ones and added great value to this bill. We all talk about small business, but if we are not careful, too often they get lost in the debates around here.”