Date: 1981-10-28
Speaker: ST GERMAIN (democrat)
Chamber: H

Mr. Chairman. to suggest that little banks ought to be the opponents of this legislation ex- protected. That is precisely what we press fears that It will lead to elimina- are trying to do In this bill. tion of the barriers which exist In stat- You cannot have It both waysno ute to Interstate banking and the dual Government regulation on the one banking system. I. for one. do not view hand and no intervention except with the bill in the same manner. The pro- money on the other. visions of the bill. in fact. limit the If he Is so determined to preserve cases in which the agencies can use the present character of banks and the authority to arrange interstate savings and loans In the face of highly mergers. It is a bill with a limited adverse economic conditions. the scope. It is emergency legislation. and money to do that has to come from It has a sunset provisiop. somewhereultimately from the same The real concern should not be fo- little people the .gentleman seeks to cussed on what can happen with the protect. Either he ought to be for this bill but rather what happens if the bill bill or explain where we should get the is not enacted. The -agencies have told necessary funds to preserve the finanthe Congress that they have the au- cial system. thority to allow transactions which go Mr. McKINNEY. Mr. Chairman. I beyond anything contemplated by the move to strike the requisite number of opponents. The agencies can close a words. mutual savings bank or a commercial Mr. Chairman. I think that perhaps bank. divest it of Its commercial loan. my chairman. whom I deeply respect. portfolio. and sell a newly created. would just as soon I sat down. but one retail depository institution .to the of the things that fascinates me. -Mr. highest bidder. What bidders might be Chairman. is that no one has offered. an alternative. I have spent a lot of time looking at this Industry for 11 years. I taink I have sounded a little to most bankers as if I were speaking Chinese because everyone sort of looked at me with a blank stare. I would suggest to you. Mr. Chairman. that the newer banking industry on the west coast Is not that badly affected. The Northeastern thrift Institutions. representing an older part of the country. are terribly affected. I would suggest on top of that. that the worst affected Is the farm belt. where a mortgage Is a mortgage and you live with it for 25 years. I was appalled. Mr. Chairman. to find out that In Greenwich. Conri.. an executive "gogo" community. that over 55 percent of even the commercial banks mortgages yield less than 10 percent when they are paying 15.5 percent for money. This Is not an issue of monopoly or nonmonopoly. I would suggest to my good friend who Just spoke. whom I am very fond of. and whose opinion I respect. that Sears. Roebuck & Co.. which probably has a catalog store and no other investment except for lease next door to the bank. the small local bank in that community. Is already into the banking business with no regulations. no restraints. no safeguards. no protection. no anything. The biggest consumer ripoff being perpetrated on the United States today Is a nonregulated money market fund because people are putting their money Into a place where there is no safety net for them. Meanwhile the Federal Insurance funds have a total of $13 billion. 9 In one and 4 in the other. .Mr. Chairman. those funds would not last for 6 months against the catastrophe we are facing. We were lucky with the West Side 8 and L. The fact of the matter is. Mr. Chairman. If you and I and my colleagues who all are concerned with this Issue. leave this Institution for 30 days -without giving the regulators the vehicle. this hammer. to handle this problem. we have done this country a tremendous disservice. Let us get over the fact that It Is commercial versus thrift versus credit unions: a walk on one financial institution In the United States of America is a walk on all financial institutions. The regulators have got to have this power. I want to credit the chairman and my ranking member for bringing this bill forth. and I would say to you. Mr. Chairman. that in the 11 years that I have been In this body I have never heard coming from the outside some of the people I talked about in my supplemental views. I think I should say. Mr. Chairman. that in my supplemental views I struck a reference to. "ravenous. albeit welldressed dogs running up and down the halls of the Rayburn Building." I have never heard so much misinformation passed out by the various special Interest groups. every single one of them across the board. They have put their personal interests. their selfinterests. above the Interests of this country. and the banking institutions and the banking philosophy that depositors are protected. I think their Information Is wrong. it Is Incorrect. it is inaccurate. It Is quite frankly. Irresponsible.