WASHINGTON — Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass), Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, opened today's hearing on the regulatory reform needs of credit unions by hoping that the lawmakers would not be merely talking about these needs but legislating to meet them.

Frank praised "sensible" deregulation, pointing the distinction in the current mortgage crisis attributed to mortgages written by credit unions to be "tiny" and he said that this proved that it is possible to serve the financial needs of lower and moderate income Americans without abuse or financial crises.

He expressed particular hope that legislators could improve the abilities of both credit unions and community banks to serve more of the currently unbanked and bring into the depository banking system. Remaining outside the system forces too many people into high fee financial services offered by payday lenders, check cashers, and high fee remittance services.