[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
[April 19, 2000]
[Pages 749-750]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Statement on the Community Reinvestment Act Report
April 19, 2000

    Ensuring that all Americans have an opportunity to share in our 
Nation's economic prosperity has been at the core of my administration's 
domestic agenda. We have made progress, but there is much more that we 
can do to extend the benefits of the vibrant American economy, including 
our innovative financial markets, to all Americans.
    The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is central to that goal. Early 
in my administration,

[[Page 750]]

I asked the Federal banking regulators to revise the regulations 
implementing CRA to focus on the performance of banks and thrifts in 
serving the credit needs of their local communities. Since 1993, banks 
and thrifts have pledged to make over $1 trillion in home mortgage, 
small business, and community development loans for low and moderate 
income neighborhoods and borrowers. This report documents that since 
1993 banks and thrifts have already made well over $600 billion of such 
types of loans. Today, credit is more widely available than ever before 
for Americans who wish to borrow to buy a house or start a business. Our 
success in democratizing access to credit under this administration is 
an historic achievement, but we cannot rest.
    The financial modernization legislation that I signed into law last 
fall allows the integration of banking, insurance, and securities 
industries. In itself, this modernization should benefit consumers due 
to enhanced competition and innovative products and services. However, 
we also took a strong stand on protecting CRA, and we insisted on 
retaining CRA as a key pillar in the new banking system. We would not 
agree with those who attempted to weaken the CRA obligations of banks 
and thrifts in this process. Our determination resulted in the new 
requirement that a bank or thrift must have at least a satisfactory CRA 
rating each and every time it expands into these newly authorized lines 
of business. This is the first time CRA will be taken into consideration 
outside traditional bank merger and branch opening activities.
    We must remain watchful to ensure that, as we modernize our 
financial system, it works for all Americans. The Treasury Department's 
baseline report on CRA will serve as a useful guidepost in assessing how 
far we have come and what remains to be done. The report will also 
provide a benchmark against which to assess changes in access to credit 
and financial services as the industry continues to evolve in the years 
ahead.

Note: The Treasury Department report was entitled ``The Community 
Reinvestment Act After Financial Modernization: A Baseline Report.''