Bill Bennett: “I agree with him absolutely that there are no massive failures. We do have the one example that occurred in the State of…”

“I agree with him absolutely that there are no massive failures. We do have the one example that occurred in the State of Rhode Island, and it is reflected in the additional views of Senator Reed of Rhode Island when he wrote, with respect to the bill that came out of the committee, that he was concerned that the cap adopted by the committee is higher than the level of commercial lending that credit unions are currently engaged in, and he is concerned that it might lead to a repeat of the problems they had in Rhode Island. I agree completely with the Senator from New York that we do not face a crisis here. My support of the amendment stems from my conviction that the amendment would help us avoid a crisis in the future. The amendment would establish a cap that is above the level of activity that is currently going on, with the exception of a very few major credit unions who have 3 years in which to work things out. It would establish a cap above where things currently are, allowing people plenty of room to round off their present activity. But it would send the public policy message that says: We want credit unions to remain in their traditional niche in the financial services area. And it is for that reason that I have decided to support this amendment, because that is where I want credit unions to remain.”