Political Quotes

“I rise in very strong support of this legislation, congratulate the chairman and the ranking members for their work on this. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3841, the Interstate Banking Efficiency Act. The bill before us today is the product of considerable work by the banking community and Congress. For too many years the issue of interstate branching when unresolved as a number of smaller issues sidetracked it. However, today, under the suspension of the rules, we are able to vote on what has always been the central issue for interstate banking: whether interstate branching would be permitted. And whether, by extension, our country would move forward to reduce the often duplicative regulatory requirements placed on interstate banks. If we pass this bill, we will permit interstate branching and allow some of our country's largest banks to consolidate their operations and improve their efficiency. Why is this important? Every dollar the bank ties up in regulatory capital requirements, or pays in administrative costs, is a dollar that cannot be loaned to a small business which wants to expand its operations; or to a family which is paying for a child's college education. The interstate banking legislation will make interstate banks more competitive and will allow them to make more money available to communities and families.”