Statement on Financial Rescue Plan
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, issued the following statement today regarding today’s vote on a bill to stabilize the credit and financial markets.
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“I voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act today to head off what could be one of the worst financial crises to face our country. I am disappointed that it did not pass today but I am confident Congress will be taking up this issue again just as quickly as is possible.
“We had an agreement on the bill between the House and Senate and the White House. More than half of the Democratic Caucus was committed to voting for this bill. It was our understanding that half of the House Republicans would support it as well. Democrats lived up to our end of the bargain -- in fact two thirds of our members voted for the bill. House Republicans did not deliver enough votes today – in fact only one third of House Republicans supported the President’s bill.
“The fact remains, however, that the serious problems plaguing our financial sector and our economy have not gone away. I remain fully committed to approving a bi-partisan solution to stabilizing the credit markets. I believe we are still on track to achieve such a bi-partisan solution.
“I supported this bill today because I believe the experts, such as the Treasury Secretary, the Fed Chairman, and many other economists, who have made it clear that we face one of the worst financial crises our country has ever seen; a crisis that will touch every American.
“This bill was an attempt to stabilize the credit markets because that is so important to fuel our economy. I did not support the bill because I wanted to help Wall Street. If this bill were just about Wall Street, given their behavior over the years, I wouldn’t walk across the street to save them. But this is really about our communities and families and people’s access to credit and jobs. And that is why I am fully committed to a solution.
“The ‘blank check’ plan the President presented to Congress over 10 days ago was unacceptable and we rejected it. We worked hard to craft a bi-partisan alternative that provided relief to the credit markets but also protected the taxpayer. I am disappointed that this alternative did not pass but I believe that a strong bill that protects the taxpayer and relieves the credit markets can and must pass soon.
“A collapse of our financial system would cripple the credit markets and prevent the economy from growing, hurting Americans’ ability to borrow at reasonable rates to make payroll at small businesses, invest in new equipment, borrow for college, take out a mortgage, start new businesses, or buy new cars. It would further erode savings in people’s pension accounts, retirement accounts, college accounts and other savings. It would hurt our ability to create new jobs. As we are seeing already in California, schools districts, counties, and cities are losing millions of dollars because of the collapse of Wall Street firms in which they invested.
“Americans are furious with the CEOs of Wall Street, and they have every right to be. Just as they should be furious with eight years of the Bush Administration and 12 years of the Republican-led Congress that did nothing but cut taxes for the rich, help Wall Street with deregulation, and provided no oversight from Washington.
“Clearly we must act to help the economy as well the markets, in order to help create jobs and reduce the decline in home values. That’s why the House passed a bill last week to spend $60 billion quickly on a recovery plan for infrastructure and unemployment insurance. At a time of rising unemployment, it is unfortunate that President Bush opposes us and refuses to support our economic plan.
“We must continue to fight to get Americans working again. The financial bill we voted on today is necessary and we will keep working on it, but much more needs to be done quickly to help create jobs and grow the economy.”
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Posted by Peake, Amy at October 1, 08 04:43 PM | Comments (13) | TrackBack (0)
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