Political Quotes

“I rise in support of H.R. 4364, which will provide some fair and needed relief from unnecessary regulations for many of our banks and other financial institutions. I want to thank Chairman Roukema of the financial institutions subcommittee for putting this bill together and to Chairman Leach of the full committee for helping to bring it to the floor this year. Balancing efforts to remove unnecessary regulations, improve competition and protect consumers is never easy, but I think this bill balances all those important goals and will contribute to strengthening the financial services industry and promote new products for consumers. I would like to comment in particular on sections 222 and 223 of the bill which I believe will promote competition and increase the quality of financial products available to consumers. These sections will lift some outdated restrictions from limited-purpose banks and allow these institutions to offer new products consistent with their charter; cross-market the financial products of their affiliates; offer business credit cards to their customers; and correct problems in a reasonable period of time in consultation with the Federal Reserve. These changes will increase the products available to consumers without unfairly affecting other financial service providers. This is consistent with the intent of the entire bill which seeks to help businesses and consumers while maintaining sound regulation.”