Washington, Oct 3 -

Today, Congressman David Scott voted to support final passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (H.R. 1424).

“Two things changed this week to help me decide to vote for the final version of this economic assistance bill,” stated Congressman Scott. “First, I was able to work with House leadership to strengthen language providing assistance to homeowners. The language of the bill now forces the Secretary of the Treasury to take a more aggressive strategy to restructure troubled mortgages and prevent further foreclosures.”

“Secondly, small businesses in Atlanta started running out of short term loan options,” Congressman Scott said. “They said they would have to start cutting payroll to make ends meet. I believe that in order to help keep employees on the job we could not wait around for a perfect bill. If I thought this was just a bailout for Wall Street, I would continue to oppose it.”

Congressman Scott also wants to bring more attention to legislation that he previously helped pass to bring relief to homeowners. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, he helped draft the Housing and Economic Recovery Act. This week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Administration just announced two major programs created by the bill.

The HOPE for Homeowners (H4H) program will help those at risk of default and foreclosure refinance into more affordable, sustainable loans. As many as 400,000 homeowners could avoid foreclosure through this program over the next three years. For more information go to www.FHA.gov.

HUD’s new Neighborhood Stabilization Program will provide emergency assistance to state and local governments to acquire and redevelop foreclosed properties that might otherwise become sources of abandonment and blight within their communities. The Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) provides grants to every state and certain local communities to purchase foreclosed or abandoned homes and to rehabilitate, resell, or redevelop these homes in order to stabilize neighborhoods and stem the decline of house values of neighboring homes. For more information go to www.HUD.gov.

Congressman Scott Speaks Out About the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act:

Editorial from Congressman Scott
Atlanta Journal Constitution: Fed Program Could Slow Foreclosures
C-SPAN
CNBC
Fox 5 Atlanta