As I look at your agenda, I am struck by the fact that the problems we've seen with foreclosures and neighborhood destabilization stem from the over-provision of poorly designed credit, whereas, in contrast, CRA had its birth when credit was generally unavailable to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.
So as I talk today about the Federal Reserve and our role in consumer protection, I'd like to emphasize the importance of both the availability of credit and the ability of consumers to use such credit safely to increase their own well-being in transactions that contribute to economic growth.