Jon Tester: “well, I want to thank Senator Reed for his comments. Senator Reed is one of the leaders on the Banking Committee. I…”

“well, I want to thank Senator Reed for his comments. Senator Reed is one of the leaders on the Banking Committee. I appreciate his comments. I do want to set the record straight on a couple of things though. It is not a 12-month delay plus a 6-month study. It is a 6-month study and then implementation of the rules. The Senator said Chairman Bernanke had plenty of information. The problem is he does not have much information from community banks and credit unions, and that is what this amendment is about. The exemption that is in the amendment that we passed last year, called the Durbin amendment, every regulator at the Federal and State level has said they cannot make the exemption work because market forces will determine where the customers flow. I am glad we are here to vote on the amendment that Senator Corker and Senator Hagan, Senator Crapo, Senator Bennet, and I have worked so hard on. This afternoon we are finally going to have an opportunity to vote for an amendment that has been crafted in the right way. Senators Hagan and Crapo and Bennet came to Senator Corker and I about a month ago to share their interests in fixing the unintended consequences of that amendment that was passed in the Senate about a year ago. The amendment directed the Federal Reserve to issue regulations limiting the cost that banks can charge retailers when consumers use their debit cards to buy things.…”