Kit Bond: “again, I said yesterday how important the leadership of my colleague from Nevada, Mr. Bryan, has been on this bill. He…”

“again, I said yesterday how important the leadership of my colleague from Nevada, Mr. Bryan, has been on this bill. He has labored long and hard. This is a very technical bill. There are some very controversial issues in it. We have spent a great deal of time trying to work out what we believe is a reasonable compromise so that consumers' interests are protected and so that credit supplying and utilizing industries can move forward. As I discussed with my colleagues at the regular policy meeting today, it required a great deal of compromise, but I am, indeed, grateful for the excellent leadership that Senator Bryan has displayed on this bill. That is the reason we are at this point. I, too, wish to express thanks to Senator Bennett, from Utah, who raised with us some very legitimate concerns. Through his guidance, I think we have been able to make some further improvements. We may have even more improvements before we are finished voting on the amendment, but I urge all my colleagues to look carefully at the bill, to recognize that a great deal of compromise has gone into this effort. We are always willing to find ways to improve it. But at the end of the day or shortly thereafter, we hope to be able to pass this bill and send it to the House because there are some very real needs for the protection of consumers, for the effective functioning of the credit information system in our country today that are addressed in this bill.”