Jon Tester: “I rise today to talk about amendment No. 3749, the Tester-Hutchison amendment. Before I talk about this amendment, I…”

“I rise today to talk about amendment No. 3749, the Tester-Hutchison amendment. Before I talk about this amendment, I want to thank Chairman Dodd for his work on a very strong Wall Street reform bill. I think his work has been very much appreciated by me and other members of the Banking Committee. I look forward to getting to this bill and making it even stronger and passing it out of this body to the President and into law. This amendment would lift a burden inappropriately placed on our community banks in this country. These are the banks that make rural America run. They do not deserve to be left holding the bag for the risky behavior of big banks. What the Tester-Hutchison amendment does is hold big banks accountable for their actions by basing FDIC deposit insurance premiums on risk. Our amendment would force big banks to pay their fair share of insurance. And it would fix the lopsided assessment system that we currently have--which unfairly burdens community banks. The recent turmoil in the financial sector has placed significant strains on the FDIC's Deposit Insurance Fund--the first line of defense and resource tapped to provide assistance to troubled federally insured banks.”