Political Quotes

“I thank my good friend for yielding. I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their support of this important bipartisan legislation, and especially the lead Democratic cosponsor, Representative Jim Himes from Connecticut. The Federal Savings Association Charter Flexibility Act is a commonsense reform bill that will help to ensure that community banks, many of which have histories stretching back generations, can continue to serve the needs of Main Street businesses and families. Specifically, this bill focuses on Federal savings associations, also known as thrifts. These institutions are similar to national banks in the sense that they are both chartered and regulated by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the FDIC. But these banks are constrained in their ability to pursue certain lines of business under the Home Owners' Loan Act, also known as HOLA. Specifically, HOLA subjects Federal thrifts to commercial lending limits. Under what is known as the qualified thrift lender test, at least 65 percent of a Federal thrift's portfolio assets must comprise certain mortgage and consumer-related assets. These institutions are also constrained in their ability to hold commercial loans, paper, or corporate debt. In contrast, national banks enjoy the ability to engage in a much wider range of lending activities. These restrictions originally made sense because thrifts also enjoyed advantages not afforded to national banks.…”