Doug Bereuter: “I do rise in support of the legislation. I compliment the gentleman from North Carolina and the gentleman from Florida…”

“I do rise in support of the legislation. I compliment the gentleman from North Carolina and the gentleman from Florida and the other members of the committee for their excellent work on this legislation. I am particularly appreciative of the fact that they have picked up the opt-out provisions for interstate branching. This is legislation that I proposed in the previous Congress. It makes it possible for many States to be supportive and legislators from those States to be supportive of this legislation. It gives those legislatures an opportunity to opt out, to take themselves out of this interstate branching arrangement if they choose to. Now, I do not expect them to do that in large numbers, if any in fact do, but that option is maintained, and that is an important States rights issue. I must express my concern yet that we may have an opportunity for too many decisions and too much of a community's resources to be drained from some rural areas and from some low-income urban areas.”