Reform In Our Financial System Cannot Sacrifice The Health Of Our Small Financial Institutions

Floor Speech

Mr. LUCAS. Mr. Speaker, an uneven playing field already exists between large financial institutions and smaller community banks. Rather than working to close that gap, however, President Obama has decided to further our community bankers' burdens with his Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Under this new agency, community banks that have continued to provide a reliable source of credit to their customers will be saddled with additional costs and regulations that could potentially drive many out of business. In addition, these increased costs will be passed along to consumers in the form of higher bank fees and less availability of credit. So, exactly how is this supposed to help our current financial crisis?

It appears as though, once again, this administration plans to force Main Street to pay for the mistakes made on Wall Street as they continue to follow their financial policy of ``too big to fail, too small to matter.''

Reform is needed within our financial system, but that reform cannot sacrifice the health of our small financial institutions.

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