Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation

From: rpaster@cwsny.com [mailto:rpaster@cwsny.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 10:51 AM
To: Comments
Subject: RIN 3064-AC50

Re: Preserving the Community Reinvestment Act
Mr. Robert E. Feldman
Executive Secretary
Attention: Comments/Legal ESS
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
550 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20429

Dear Mr. Feldman:

It was with deep distress that I read this morning in the New York Times of the FDIC's plan to loosen the regulations concerning banks' investment in community developments. As banks are crucial to the financial well being of the country, so too is the financial well being of the country crucial to banks. When banking institutions abandon the communities which they serve, those communities become financial weaker, which weakens the financial network as a whole.

I urge you to withdraw the FDIC’s rule proposal that would allow midsize banks to pursue only one of the three important community development activities they are now required to undertake: lending, investment, and services. I believe that this misguided rule would mean a devastating reduction in support for the essential work of CDFIs, resulting in fewer jobs, fewer affordable homes, and fewer community services. In a time of an already weak economy, this can only serve to hasten the cyclical race to the bottom.

Yours Sincerely,
Rachel S. Paster