Congress predicated the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) on one principle and two key facts when it passed the act in 1977. The principle is core and remains true. The facts point to what can and should change to make the CRA more effective in what has become a different kind of marketplace. The principle is that banks had an affirmative responsibility to serve everyone in their markets equally well without regard to place, race, gender, or ethnicity. This principle serves the fundamental precept of our nation—freedom of opportunity and justice for all—and fulfills the purposes of a robust financial services sector.