Political Quotes

“I yield myself such time as I may consume. I want to acknowledge Congressman Price's amendment and its recognition of the challenges facing not only community businesses seeking loans but the community bankers that are trying to provide them. His amendment recognizes mixed messages between legislators urging more lending while regulators and examiners are often urging less, particularly in the area of commercial real estate. That's why I have a bill that addresses both priorities by expanding the SBA 504 program to allow banks to lend to small businesses for owner-occupied properties, while easing the exposure on their bank's balance sheet with investments from the CDCs. I also want to acknowledge that this amendment recognizes the credit crisis that's challenging our country and our small businesses particularly, which is the point of this underlying bill. And I hope my colleague will support the underlying bill as it addresses those credit challenges. I yield back the balance of my time.”