Bennet Criticizes Fed for Lack of Lending on Main Street

Press Release

Video: http://bennet.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/?id=c881cea5-6104-48f1-8655-5f6c65550e93

Urges Federal Reserve to Move Aggressively to Help Colorado's Small Businesses

Bennet: Without Access to Credit, Small Businesses Can't Create Jobs

At the confirmation hearing of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Michael Bennet, U.S. Senator for Colorado, today challenged Chairman Bernanke to provide evidence of how the Federal Reserve is working to open up credit for small businesses struggling in the aftermath of the financial crisis. In highlighting the lack of progress, Bennet pushed Bernanke to move aggressively to help Colorado's small businesses.

Bennet said: "One of the enormous frustrations to me is to hear . . . the stories of small businesses that are maxing out their credit cards because they can't get access to capital at the banks; to hear from community banks that they're unable to lend because they believe the examiners are not giving them the headroom they need to lend."

Bennet then challenged Bernanke to "acquire evidence of whether or not lending is going on in our communities," and whether the tightness of credit is related to the financial condition of the small businesses, or whether our regulators are being overly-cautious.

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