To provide for a temporary increase in the number of Iraqi and Afghan translators in the United States Armed Forces who may be provided status as special immigrants.

I thank my friend, Mr. Kanjorski, for yielding me time.

I also want to congratulate Mr. Kanjorski and Mr. Royce on their hard work in crafting a bipartisan bill to provide reg relief to credit unions.

As you know, the legislation before us today combines important provisions from credit union regulatory relief legislation previously introduced by Mr. Kanjorski and Mr. Royce with provisions from my legislation H.R. 5841, the Bank and Thrift Regulatory Relief Act of 2008.

At a time when many businesses are having difficulty obtaining access to credit, H.R. 5841 will provide important credit opportunities for small- and medium-sized businesses. Among other

provisions, this legislation would remove the existing limits on small business lending for thrifts, thereby enhancing the role of savings associations as community leaders. The Homeowners Loan Act currently caps the aggregate amount of commercial loans other than small business loans at 10 percent of a savings association's assets, and it permits commercial lending, including small business lending, of up to 20 percent of assets.

According to the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy, smaller businesses have experienced difficulty in obtaining relatively small loans from large commercial banks that set minimum loan amounts relatively high. Savings associations are increasingly important providers of small business credit and communities throughout the country.

This change, Mr. Chairman, will allow savings associations to continue to serve their small business customers and to further diversify their assets while also providing businesses with greater choice and flexibility to meet their credit needs.

Additionally, this proposal will significantly reduce the amount of time financial institutions spend filling out paperwork, and it will free up resources for the thousands of institutions on the front lines of community lending.

For example, the legislation would provide relief to community banks and financial institutions from requirements under the Gramm-Leach- Bliley Act to provide annual privacy notices to their customers, detailing their privacy policies and the way they share information.

While I have consistently advocated for increased protection of sensitive financial information, there should be targeted exemptions from this requirement to relieve the burden from small banks that do not share information with their affiliates and that have not otherwise changed their privacy policies.

This change, Mr. Speaker, will save small businesses millions of dollars in compliance costs while also protecting consumers from unnecessary and duplicative notices.

The legislation also contains important provisions that would repeal the prohibition against the payment of interest on business checking. This prohibition was enacted during the Depression as part of the Banking Act of 1933, to protect banks in the heat of competition from offering interest levels on deposit balances that might be sustained through risky investments.

In their 1996 report ``Streamlining of Regulatory Requirements,'' the Federal banking regulators concluded, however, that the statutory prohibition against paying interest on business accounts no longer serves a valid public purposes. For example, large financial services companies have devised products, such as ``sweep accounts'' that, in effect, provide interest on deposit accounts, giving them a competitive advantage over small community banks that may not have the capability to offer such accounts.

In addition, most small business owners don't have the minimum balances necessary to maintain a sweep account so they are forced to keep vital cash in zero-interest checking accounts. Making this small change would make a huge difference for small businesses.

Furthermore, every provision in this bill providing regulatory relief for banks and thrifts has been approved previously by Congress in one form or another. The bipartisan support for this bill shows just how important it is for both businesses and consumers that Congress pass this meaningful legislation.

America's financial services industry is the most effective and competitive in the world and my proposal will help us stay out in front. Reducing regulatory burdens on businesses and consumers is simply the right thing to.

Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Kanjorski and the staff, and I look forward to passage of this legislation today.

As one of the cosponsors of this legislation, I would like to engage its primary sponsor, you, Mr. Kanjorski, in a colloquy on two questions related to section 111. This section concerns the encouragement of small business development in underserved urban and rural communities.

First, I have a question about the meaning of the provision that exempts business loans made by credit unions in underserved areas from the existing cap on member business lending. Is it the intent of this provision that the proceeds from exempt loans will be used to support business operations inside underserved areas?

Thank you, Mr. Kanjorski, for that clarification.

Section 111 of the bill also includes language that member business loans in an underserved area underwritten by a credit union for a business, or a local outlet of a business, operating on a nationwide basis, shall not be eligible from exemption from the business lending cap.

It is the phrase ``operating on a nationwide basis'' where I have a question. For the purpose of this section, it would seem that a business located in an underserved area that meets the other criteria, like a small family-owned business but which has a Web site that sells their goods to anyone who visits it, would not be treated as a business operated on a nationwide basis for the purpose of this section, as the economic benefit from those sales is going to that business in the underserved area.

Have I correctly characterized the intent of this section?

Thank you for this clarification, Mr. Kanjorski. I agree with your assessments.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6312) to advance credit union efforts to promote economic growth, modify credit union regulatory standards and reduce burdens, to provide regulatory relief and improve productivity for insured depository institutions, and for other purposes.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks as to this legislation and to insert extraneous material thereon.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 4\1/2\ minutes.

(Mr. KANJORSKI asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6312. This bill will make a number of statutory improvements in the laws concerning credit unions, banks and thrifts. It will also help consumers assist businesses, ease paperwork burdens and promote economic development in underserved communities.

In developing this bill, we have sought to identify an appropriate balance between competing interests. I am

especially pleased that this legislation contains a number of important provisions affecting credit unions. Some of these provisions have previously passed the House, including the sections concerning the treatment of loans made by credit unions to nonprofit religious organizations, the authority of credit unions to invest in high-grade securities and the governance of credit unions.

The bill also contains a number of new provisions based on the proposals first set out in the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act, or CURIA. The inclusion of these provisions in this bill is an important step forward in our legislative debates about how best to ensure that credit unions can better serve their members.

One provision found in CURIA and contained in this bill we are now considering will permit all Federal credit unions, regardless of charter type, to expand services to eligible communities that the Treasury Department determines meets income, unemployment and other distress criteria. This change fixes a drafting error made nearly a decade ago when the Congress passed H.R. 1151, the Credit Union Membership Access Act.

Like CURIA, we also make in this bill important and sensible modifications to the definition of an ``underserved area.'' Moreover, the legislation will allow credit unions to help underserved communities in two other important ways:

First, at the request of the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, it will permit credit unions to provide short-term, unsecured loans to anyone in their field of membership. Second, it will exempt loans made to small businesses operating in underserved areas, consensus tracks from the existing member business lending caps. Together, these two provisions will help to promote economic development and will provide a stable source of funds for businesses and individuals.

Another provision in this bill that permits financial institutions to pay interest on business checking accounts will also help small business growth. I have worked for more than a decade on this issue, and have previously introduced legislation to implement the recommendations first made by regulators in 1996.

Before closing, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank several of my colleagues for their assistance in bringing this legislation forward today: The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank) provided essential guidance and assistance in developing this legislative product. Additionally, the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) has stood with me for 5 years as we have worked on a bipartisan basis to update the laws governing credit unions. I am grateful for his support. The gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore) also provided important contributions to the package before us, especially regarding the reduction of paperwork burdens and the collection of needed information about consumer banking services and costs.

In sum, Mr. Speaker, this bill will help credit unions to provide better services and to promote economic growth in underdeveloped areas. Moreover, H.R. 6312 is, without question, the most significant piece of credit union legislation considered in the House in nearly a decade. H.R. 6312 will also appropriately ease regulatory burdens but will still protect the interests of consumers. It also addresses some of the concerns of banks and thrifts.

Because it is a balanced product, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 6312.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore).

Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Altmire).

Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moore) who wishes to enter into a colloquy.

Yes, the provision would exempt from the cap those loans that are used to support business operations in an underserved area in order to stimulate economic growth in these areas.

Yes, you have. As the title of the section indicates, the intent of this section is to promote economic growth by encouraging small business development in underserved urban and rural communities. We want to help businesses and business owners that have a presence there, like a mom-and-pop operation with an Internet store. Moreover, we have taken steps in the legislation to ensure that a locally owned franchise that consists only of local operations shall not be treated as a business operating on a nationwide basis.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise also in support of this legislation. This is the Credit Union, Bank and Thrift Regulatory Relief Act that we have before us.

As our capital markets continue to change and continue to evolve, the regulatory model overseeing our financial institutions must adjust as well. This legislation today is a small example of this effort to improve the regulatory structure overseeing the banks and the credit unions and the thrifts. By reducing the regulatory burdens, H.R. 6312 allows credit unions and banks and thrifts to devote more resources toward better servicing their customers and toward better serving those who use these institutions.

Since the 108th Congress, as Mr. Kanjorski mentioned, he and I have coauthored the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act in an effort to modernize the regulatory model overseeing America's credit unions. We have made tremendous strides over the years. That bill, which is called CURIA now, has the support of 150 Members of this Chamber, and while today's legislation may not go as far as some would like, it is important that we not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The Credit Union, Bank and Thrift Regulatory Relief Act has several worthwhile provisions which deserve consideration.

Among other things, this measure clarifies the intent of the Credit Union Membership Access Act, which is that all federally chartered credit unions should be allowed to serve underserved areas around the country. By increasing the field of membership and by exempting member business loans made in these underserved areas, this provision will allow credit unions to extend credit to these areas. Following a hearing in the Financial Services Committee, this provision was adjusted to ensure those areas that benefit are, indeed, underserved.

Additionally, this bill would support the community development work of nonprofit religious institutions by excluding such loans from credit union business lending caps. I introduced legislation to do just this back in 2003 with the intent of closing a longstanding liquidity gap between creditors and nonprofit organizations.

I believe the other major provisions contained in CURIA and which are not in today's legislation are important, and I believe they should not be forgotten. In particular, I am going to continue to push to modernize the capital requirements for our credit unions because we must replace the current one-size-fits-all leverage capital requirement with a more rigorous, two-part, net worth structure that will more closely monitor actual asset risk. This will put credit unions' capital requirements on par with those of other FDIC-insured institutions.

One hundred fifty Members of this Congress have signed on to CURIA, and it will remain the ultimate objective for those of us trying to bring the regulatory structure of overseeing credit unions into the 21st century.

Today's legislation joins regulatory relief for credit unions with improvements geared towards thrifts and towards banks. Representative Moore's reg relief bill, much of which has been incorporated into this measure, will remove several unnecessary regulatory burdens faced by these financial institutions, allowing them to better serve their customers.

Among other things, the bill provides savings institutions with greater lending flexibility by removing limits on small business and on auto loans. The bill also increases the ability of savings associations to invest in small business investment companies and to make commercial real estate loans. Furthermore, this measure 6312 authorizes banks and thrifts to pay interest on business checking accounts for their customers.

Again, I would like to thank Chairman Kanjorski, and I would like to thank Representative Moore for their work on this legislation. This bill is an important step toward removing some of the unnecessary regulatory burdens placed on our Nation's financial institutions.

I have no further speakers on this side, and I yield back the balance of my time.

I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, there are over 90 million members of America's credit unions, including more than 168,000 in the district I represent. Each of them will benefit from passage of this bill, which I strongly support. It is a bipartisan piece of legislation that is an excellent first step towards improving the regulatory framework for our Nation's credit unions and banks.

Credit unions serve a broad and diverse membership, including many low and moderate-income individuals who would otherwise be unable to access the services provided by financial institutions. This bill will allow Federal credit unions to better serve consumers and provide them with greater access to financial products and services.

I ask my colleagues to support this commonsense and long-overdue legislation.