Washington People: Singular Distinction: CRA Questioner Catches

While the first woman to head a banking agency packed 'em in at a Women in Housing and Finance luncheon last week, the initial question asked of FDIC Chairman Ricki Tigert Helfer was a doozy.

Will Community Reinvestment Act reform be delayed while Congress reviews the regulators' work? Ms. Helfer was asked.

Remember, Ms. Helfer dived into some hot water earlier this month when she presumed to speak for her colleagues at the other agencies. In a Jan. 19 letter to Rep. Marge Roukema, Ms. Helfer - using the pronoun"we" - suggested the regulators would be happy to defer completion of the CRA rules while Congress assessed their impact. However, the other agency chiefs quickly noted that they had no knowledge of the letter and planned to push ahead with final rules.

Ms. Helfer clearly was not going to repeat the same mistake twice. So, at the lunch she hedged by saying, "We're continuing to look at the issues . . . I welcome Congress' interest . . . I believe there will be sufficient time" for Congress to consider the rules."

The questioner would not be put off, asking a second time: Will the rule be delayed?

With nothing else to say on the matter, Ms. Helfer responded: "Is there another question?"

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It's official: Anthony F. Cole is the House Banking Committee's staff director and Joseph Ventrone is deputy staff director. Joseph L. Seidel is the panel's general counsel.

The three held exactly the same positions on the Republican staff in the last Congress and they were expected to assume these positions on the majority staff.

The banking committee has also added a number of new staffers, most of them serving as assistant subcommittee staff directors as part of the panel's new unified staff structure.

Until now, the panel's individual subcommittees have hired their own staffs. Under the new Republican regime, each of the subcommittee chairmen will hire one aide to serve as staff director, with the chairman of the full committee designating an assistant. Other support services will be available from the full committee.

The assistant directors selected by chairman Jim Leach, with their subcommittees:

Laurie Schaffer, a former Federal Reserve Board staffer - financial institutions subcommittee;

Greg Wierzynski, who was staff director for the U.N. Commission when it was headed by Rep. Leach - capital markets subcommittee;

Jamie L. McCormick, who previously worked for Rep. Leach on the foreign affairs panel - international subcommittee;

Jack Sharman, a lawyer with Covington & Burling - oversight committee. Also new on the panel are Jim Clinger, a lawyer who had been with Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, and Alison Watson, a former national bank examiner.

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John K. Hardage, who was deputy staff director of the House Banking subcommittee on financial institutions until Republicans won control of Congress, has become the Federal Housing Finance Board's new director of congressional affairs.

Mr. Hardage, who started earlier this month, was a key congressional staffer the last time Congress considered overhauling the Federal Home Loan Bank system. The last attempt was known as the Baker-Neal bill, and was sponsored by his boss, Rep. Stephen L. Neal, D-N.C., who retired last fall.

Looking forward to this year, Mr. Hardage said, "Certainly our highest legislative priority will be the restructuring plan." The Clinton administration is expected to draft legislation on the matter by the end of March. Mr. Hardage said, "I was interested in seeing all this through and was attracted to the Finance Board for that reason."

Mr. Hardage replaces Scott Baker, who left the finance board to work for Tom Ridge, the new Republican governor of Pennsylvania, as chief lobbyist to the state Legislature.

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