Melvin Watt: “I rise in support of the Burr-Myrick amendment. It is true that this amendment will impact on the one company in the…”

“I rise in support of the Burr-Myrick amendment. It is true that this amendment will impact on the one company in the Nation, because this is a unique company. The company happens to be in the insurance business and it currently happens to be in the communications business. The underlying bill restricts income from nonfinancial activities to 15 percent and limits ownership before divestiture to 10 years. All this company is asking to do is to go up to those limits by acquisition. They are not at those limits now. There may be other companies that are grandfathered under this provision that are already at those limits. They are not asking to go beyond those limits. They are simply asking to be able to conduct their business within the confines of the limits of divestiture and time that are applicable to other companies. I certainly think this is reasonable. We should not restrict companies from growing as long as they are not restricting commerce and unduly exposing financial activities to risks that are not foreseen.”