A plan to merge two banks - including one based in North Carolina - faced scrutiny on Capitol Hill this week.

Lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee had a chance to question the CEOs of Winston-Salem-based BB&T and Atlanta-based SunTrust Wednesday.

Combined, they would become the sixth-largest U.S. bank. It would also be the largest bank merger since the financial crisis a decade ago.

The proposal has set off alarm bells among some Democratic lawmakers.

“I am concerned that if this merger goes forward, it will create another megabank that will too big to manage and that poses a risk to our financial system,” said Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif.

During the hearing, the two CEOs offered reassurances.

“With this merger, bigger doesn’t mean riskier,” said William Rogers, chairman and CEO of SunTrust.

If the merger happens, the new company is set to be called “Truist.” It would be headquartered in Charlotte.

Rep. Alma Adams, a Democrat who represents the Queen City, says she wants assurances that the combined bank will be an active player in the Charlotte community - helping in efforts to combat local issues, like the affordable housing shortage. 

“When they get there, we want to make sure that they are fully vested in the community and making sure that they are doing their part to help the community,” she said.

The two banks have already introduced a $60 billion plan to lend to and invest in the low and moderate income communities where they operate over a three-year period.

Across the aisle, many of the Republicans of the committee expressed less skepticism about the merger than their Democratic colleagues. Some criticized that there was a congressional hearing in the first place. 

North Carolina Congressman Patrick McHenry, R-10th District, accused Democrats of having “buyer’s remorse” after enacting banking regulations a decade ago in the aftermath of the financial crisis. He says those regulations created higher compliance costs for banks, setting the groundwork for mergers.

“It is my colleagues on the other side of the aisle that have made the largest banks larger, while suffocating smaller institutions,” McHenry said.