Helping Families Save Their Homes Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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Ms. JENKINS. I rise today in support of one provision in particular of the underlying bill which allows for increased borrowing authority for the FDIC and the NCUA.

Community financial institutions in Kansas are facing a sizable special assessment due to the deposit insurance funds being drawn down with the failure of numerous institutions across the Nation. Just last week I had a great opportunity to visit with several bankers from across the State who were in town with the Independent Community Bankers Association.

Growing up in rural Kansas, I know full well the close-knit communities in which these and other financial institutions operate across eastern Kansas, faithfully investing the hard-earned dollars of their neighbors to the betterment of the community and the depositors.

These bankers impressed upon me the need for this borrowing authority. With the special assessment as it is today, banks and credit unions face further hardship meeting regulatory capital requirements and lending demands. However, the FDIC has indicated that passage of increased borrowing authority may result in a reduction of this special assessment by as much as half. This potential has my constituents asking this body and me to pass this provision.

It is clear that recent institutional failures have significantly increased losses of the insurance funds. However, by and large, the financial institutions in my district did not cause this economic trauma. We must be careful that these community institutions which serve so many folks are not unfairly saddled with higher premiums to compensate for the mistakes of others.

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