Foreclosures Focus Of Congressional Hearing

ATLANTA (AP) -- Foreclosures in the metro-Atlanta area and bank
failures throughout Georgia were the focus of a congressional field hearing at the state Capitol.

Monday's hearing was led by an unlikely pair of congressmen --
Dennis Kucinich and Lynn Westmoreland. Kucinich, an Ohio Democrat, is among the most liberal members of Congress and Westmoreland, of Georgia, is considered one of the most conservative. Kucinich is chairman of the Domestic Policy Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He blamed "ruthless and largely unregulated predatory lenders" for trying to make a quick profit in Atlanta's low-income neighborhoods.

Westmoreland said the region's high number of foreclosures are
"destroying wealth."