Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman criticized a Senate debate he said is aimed at "seriously" weakening a law that requires banks to lend money in communities where they are located. The law is the Community Reinvestment Act.

Glickman said the law "is helping to revitalize communities all across rural America."  Rural residents who deposit money in their community bank "know that their bank makes loans that stay in their community," he said.

These banks make loans to farmers for equipment, to areas businesses and home owners, "not just to major corporations and foreign companies."  In 1997, rural banks provided $11.2 billion in loans due to the CRA.

"Weakening its provisions is wrong," said Glickman, "not just for rural America but for all of America."  The Senate has been debating a financial modernization bill that would affect the CRA.