Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 105 Part 3.djvu/499

 PUBLIC LAW 102-242—DEC. 19, 1991 105 STAT. 2383 (3) BRIDGE BANK.— The term "bridge bank" has the meaning given such term by section ll(i) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. (c) No PREMIUM COSTS IMPOSED ON FDic.— Subsection (a) shall not be construed as requiring the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to incur, by reason of this section, any obligation for any premium under any group health plan referred to in such subsection. (d) EFFECTIVE DATE. —Th is section shall apply to plan years beginning on or after the date of the enactment of this Act, regardless of whether the qualifying event under section 603 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 occurred before, on, or after such date. Subtitle J—Sense of the Congress Regarding the Credit Crisis SEC. 456. CREDIT CRUNCH. (a) FINDINGS.— The Congress finds that— (1) during the past year and a half a credit crunch of crisis proportions has taken hold of the economy and grown increasingly severe, particularly for real estate; (2) to date the credit crisis has shown no sign of improvement with its effects being felt broadly throughout the Nation as business failures soar, financial institutions weaken, real estate values decline, and State and local property tax bases further erode; (3) approximately $200,000,000,000 of the nearly ),000,000,000 in commercial real estate loans now held by commercial banks are coming due within the next 2 years; (4) banks for a variety of reasons, are reluctant to renew these maturing real estate loans; (5) both pension funds in the United States, with assets of nearly $2,000,000,000,000, and a stronger and more active secondary market for commercial real estate debt and equity could play a more significant role in providing liquidity and credit to the real estate and banking sectors of the economy; (6) many regulatory practices encourage banks to reduce their real estate lending without regard to long-term historical risk; and (7) the stability of real estate has suffered during the past decade first from tax rules that in 1981 stimulated excessive investment in real estate, and then in 1986 when rules were adopted that discourage capital investment in real estate, artificially eroding real estate values. 0)) SENSE OF THE CONGRESS. — It is the sense of the Congress that— (1) immediate and carefully-coordinated action should be taken by the Congress and the President to arrest the credit crisis referred to in subsection (a) and provide a healthy and efficient marketplace that works for owners, lenders, and investors; and (2) that efforts should be undertaken to explore measures that—

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