John Sarbanes: “as I have indicated earlier in the course of the opening debate on this issue, we are very anxious on our side to have…”

“as I have indicated earlier in the course of the opening debate on this issue, we are very anxious on our side to have financial service modernization legislation, and most of us subscribe to the proposition of allowing affiliations between banks, security firms, and insurance companies. However, as I have indicated, that is not the only issue before us. We have to consider that question in the context of addressing important questions of providing credit in all communities in our country; namely, the Community Reinvestment Act issue. We have to consider how these activities are to be done, whether they are to be done solely in an affiliate, outside of the banking structure, or whether banks will have the opportunity either to use the affiliate or to do it in an operating subsidiary. We have the important issue of the long historical separation between banking and commerce, which has prevailed in this country. And we have other aspects of the legislation which I think are of importance, including important provisions with respect to consumer protection.”