174. S . Rep. 105–167 (1998); see http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=105_cong_reports&docid=f:sr167p1.105.pdf or http://www.senate.gov∼gov affairs/sireport.htm (sites accessed May 12, 2006).
175. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975, Pub. L . 94 –299, Title III, December 31, 1975, 89 Stat. 1125 (codified at 12 U.S.C . §2801 et seq.(2000)), amended by Financial Institutions, Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, Pub. L. 101 –73, August 9, 1989, 103 Stat. 183 (codified in scattered sections of 12 U.S.C.).
176. See http://www.ffiec.gov/about.htm (site accessed May 24, 2006).
177. See http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda (site accessed June 8, 2006).
178. Legislative History, Pub. L . 94 –200 .
179. Proxmire also played a leading role in the enforcement of fair lending legislation. In 1988 he held public hearings in which he urged regulatory agencies to be more aggressive in assuring lending to low-income areas. In the late 1980s regulators started to deny banks’ merger applications on the grounds of poor lending to local communities.
180. See 121 Cong. Rec. 34,581 (1975) (passage in the House) and 121 Cong . Rec. 27,623 (1975) (passage in the Senate.)
181. 12 U.S.C . §2901.
182. Housing and Community Development Act, Pub. L . 96 –399, October 8, 1980, 94 Stat. 1614 (codified as amended at scattered sections of 12 U.S .C ., 15 U.S .C ., and 42 U.S.C.)
183. Financial Institutions, Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989, Pub. L. 101 –73, August 9, 1989, 103 Stat. 183 (codified in scattered sections of 12 U.S.C.). Following a wave of deregulation in the early 1980s, many savings and loans diversified their investments into unfamiliar areas. By 1987, hundreds of savings and loans had failed, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation was insolvent , and losses amounted to more then $100 billion.
184. Community organizations argued that they represented neighborhoods that had not benefited from the bad loans that caused the savings and loan scandal and should not suffer the public costs of the bailout.
185. In 1989, Bill Dedman was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in investigative reporting for his series titled “The Color of Money,” published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on May 1–4, 1988. The articles are available online at http://powerreporting.com/color/color_of_money.pdf (site accessed May 24, 2006).
186. Munnell et al., 1996, p. 25.
187. From 1977 to 1991, banks committed $8.8 billion in CRA agreements involving lending, investments, and other services to communities. From 1992 to 2000, banks committed more than $1.09 trillion. National Community Reinvestment Coalition, 2001. 188. A 2000 Federal Reserve Board study found that the vast majority of banks operated profitably in CRA-related loans. The study analyzed the performance and profitability of CRA-related lending and reported that nearly two-thirds of responding institutions agreed that CRA-related lending had opened new business opportunities and served as a tool to promote a good image of banks in the community. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2000,
