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Meeks, Brown, and Members of Congress Demand Bank Regulators Strengthen, Not Weaken the Community Reinvestment Act
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), ranking member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions, along with 27 members of Congress sent a letter to the heads of the Federal Reserve, OCC and FDIC demanding that the three banking agencies not issue a proposed rule unless it has the support of the community development and civil rights groups that represent the communities the Community Reinvestment Act was designed to serve.
“Policies that restrict access to credit and banking, such as those that result in redlining, have perpetuated a long legacy of discrimination and disinvestment in America, and held back impoverished minority communities,” wrote the members. “Given this history, any changes to the CRA must hold lenders accountable for meeting the local credit and investment needs of LMI communities where the lender has branches or other facilities while appropriately considering changes in our banking system.”
The full text of the letter is below and the PDF can be found HERE:
Congressmen Greg Meeks also stated today "Minority Banks disproportionately serve low income, underbanked, minority communities. Their decreasing numbers, combined with irrefutable data on banking discrimination in non-minority banks, is a systemic problem I am working hard to address."
