The Rural Credit and Development Act of 1994 (HR 4129) seeks to broadly expand the lending authority of the Farm Credit System institutions well beyond their original purpose of providing credit to US farmers and ranchers. While the American Bankers Association (ABA) stands committed to working with Congress on workable rural development initiatives that seek to address the unfilled needs of rural communities, the ABA remains opposed to the unsubstantiated and unnecessary need for the expansion of the current lending authorities of the Farm Credit System insitutions.