Cite as: 519 U. S. 213 (1997)
Opinion of the Court
on the overriding Federal interest in protecting the soundness of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation fund and is very limited in scope. It is not a wholesale preemption of longstanding principles of corporate governance . . ."). To have pre-empted state law with a uniform federal "gross negligence" standard would have cured the problem in some instances (where state law was weaker) but would have aggravated it in others (where state law was stronger).
In fact, the legislative history says more. The relevant Senate Report addresses the point specifically. It says:
"This subsection does not prevent the FDIC from pursuing claims under State law or under other applicable Federal law, if such law permits the officers or directors of a financial institution to be sued (1) for violating a lower standard of care, such as simple negligence." S. Rep. No. 101-19, p. 318 (1989).
This Report was not published until two weeks after Congress enacted the law. But, as petitioner elsewhere concedes, the Report was circulated within Congress several weeks before Congress voted. In fact Senator Riegle, the Banking Committee Chairman, read the statement, on his own behalf and that of Senator Garn, six weeks before Congress voted on the law. 135 Cong. Rec. 12374 (1989). Contrast Clarke v. Securities Industry Assn., 479 U. S. 388, 407 (1987) (refusing to "attach substantial weight" to a Representative's statement made 10 days after the enactment of the law).
The history is not all on one side. The Congressional Record contains one statement that suggests a competing congressional purpose, namely, to protect bank officers and directors from too strict a liability standard. 135 Cong. Rec. 7150 (1989) (statement of Sen. Sanford) (supporting "provisions relating to State laws affecting the liability of officers and directors of financial institutions" because "these changes are essential if we are to attract qualified officers
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