*  *  *  Chairman Sarbanes, Senator Gramm, it is a pleasure to appear before this Committee to present the views of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on deposit insurance reform. I will be addressing general reform issues, as proposed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the spring of 2001, rather than any specific bill.
Consequently, I will be expressing the broad views of the Federal Reserve Board on the issues associated with modifications of deposit insurance. At the outset, I should note that last year's FDIC report highlighted the significant issues and developed an integrated framework for addressing them.