Political Quotes

“I want to commend the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Riegle, for his strong leadership in bringing this bill before the Senate. I speak specifically of the Interstate Banking and Branching Act of 1994. Mr. President, the Congress of the United States has considered the issue of interstate banking and branching for far too many years, in my opinion. We have debated every nuance, contemplated every scenario, and literally cited every statistic many times over. But, finally, after all this ruminating over many years, I believe we have achieved consensus on this most important issue. The swift movement of legislation through both Houses indicates just how strong this consensus is. The Senate Banking Committee, Mr. President, reported the interstate banking and branching bill out 19 to 0 in February. In March of this year, the House Banking Committee approved a very similar bill by a vote of 50 to 1. The full House of Representatives then passed the bill by a voice vote. Mr. President, we need to continue this momentum, in my view, and to do everything possible to pass this legislation without amendments, I would say, that will immediately kill the bill or sentence it to a slow death, so that we may have an interstate banking bill on the President's desk by Memorial Day. I think, frankly, we can meet that goal. Mr. President, I have long supported changes to our archaic constraints on interstate banking and branching.”