[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 11349]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SUPPORT THE DURBIN AMENDMENT

  (Mr. SHUSTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I want to associate myself with the 
gentleman from Vermont's remarks and urge my colleagues not to be 
swayed by the lobbyists from the credit card companies that are trying 
to eliminate the Durbin amendment from this important legislation.
  Let me make this point clear. The compromise reached in the 
conference committee does not eliminate the interchange fee or allow 
the Federal Government to set the interchange fee. The amendment simply 
creates a level playing field for banks and small businesses to 
negotiate interchange fees like any other business contract.
  The Sheetz Corporation, which has 363 stores in 6 States, is 
headquartered in my district, and last year, the Sheetz Corporation 
paid twice as much in interchange fees as they took in in net income 
after tax. Their second largest expense after payroll is the 
interchange fee. That means that for Sheetz, the interchange fee 
eclipsed the company's cost in rent for their 363 stores, and they are 
paying 1\1/2\ times the cost of providing health care to their nearly 
13,000 employees.
  The compromise reached by the conference committee benefits 
merchants, retains flexibility of small community banks and credit 
unions, and ultimately benefits the American consumer.
  I urge the conference committee and my colleagues to support the 
Durbin amendment.

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