Urban Caucus Chair Praises Treasury for New Guidelines to Add Minority- and Women-Owned...

Urban Caucus Chair Praises Treasury for New Guidelines to Add Minority- and
Women-Owned Firms as Troubled-Asset Managers

WASHINGTON, July 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Chaka Fattah
(D-PA), chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus, releases the following
statement upon announcement by the U.S. Department of Treasury that it has
established meaningful partnership roles for minority-, women-, veteran- and
small business owned firms in managing assets under the Legacy Securities
Public-Private Investment Program of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and
Term Asset Backed Securities Lending Facility (TARP/TALF):

"The economic meltdown crosses all racial, ethnic, gender lines in American
society and hammers businesses big and small, and especially in our urban
communities. As Congresswoman Maxine Waters spotlighted in the TARP/TALF
Access Summit, convened by the Congressional Black Caucus on March 30, 2009,
the national effort to repair our economy has all too often excluded those
groups in our society -- minorities, women and small business owners in
particular -- that are most dramatically affected.

"The original Legacy Securities program required that any asset manager have
at a minimum of $10 billion of Eligible Assets under management -- a
guideline, as I said during the Forum that automatically locks out all the
women and minority asset managers in the country.

"The Department of Treasury has now taken steps to fill that void and it is to
be commended for this action. Treasury has changed the rules in a necessary
and sensible fashion to allow these firms to meaningfully participate in the
country's economic recovery.

"Now Treasury has released a list of firms from these overlooked and excluded
sectors of our economy, and is requiring that they must be brought in for
meaningful partnership roles with the asset managers selected for the
Treasury's Legacy Securities Public-Private Investment Program.

"Our national economy will rebound -- and it must rebound. That recovery, to
be effective and credible, must include the talents, skills and business moxie
of leaders from every segment of our diverse society."

SOURCE Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah

Ron Goldwyn of Office of Congressman Chaka Fattah, +1-215-387-6404, or
+1-215-913-0972