Cite as: 510 U. S. 471 (1994)
Opinion of the Court
See also Loeffler, 486 U. S., at 561; Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Postal Service, 467 U. S. 512, 517-518 (1984). Absent such a showing, agencies "authorized to 'sue and be sued' are presumed to have fully waived immunity." International Primate Protection League v. Administrators of Tulane Ed. Fund, 500 U. S. 72, 86, n. 8 (1991) (describing the holding in Burr).
FDIC does not attempt to make the "clear" showing of congressional purpose necessary to overcome the presumption that immunity has been waived.8 Instead, it bases its argument solely on language in our cases suggesting that federal agencies should bear the burdens of suit borne by private entities. Typical of these cases is Burr, which stated that "when Congress launche[s] a governmental agency into the commercial world and endow[s] it with authority to 'sue or be sued,' that agency is not less amenable to judicial process than a private enterprise under like circumstances would be." 309 U. S., at 245 (emphasis added). See also Franchise Tax Bd., supra, at 520 ("[U]nder Burr not only must we liberally construe the sue-and-be-sued clause, but also we must presume that the [Postal] Service's liability is the same as that of any other business") (emphasis added); Loeffler, supra, at 557 (through a sue-and-be-sued clause, "Congress waived [the Postal Service's] immunity from interest awards, authorizing recovery of interest from the Postal Service to the extent that interest is recoverable against a private party as a normal incident of suit" (emphasis added)).
When read in context, however, it is clear that Burr, Franchise Tax Board, and Loeffler do not support the limitation FDIC proposes. In these cases, the claimants sought to subject the agencies to a particular suit or incident of suit to which private businesses are amenable as a matter of course.
8 In its brief discussion of the sue-and-be-sued clause, FDIC does not mention—let alone attempt to overcome—the presumption of waiver. See Brief for Petitioner 12-13.
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