Washington, DC (October 3, 2008) – Congressman Rubén Hinojosa (D-TX15) today again voted in favor of HR 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act. Below is his statement on the vote:
“After the failure Monday of the House to pass this critical legislation, we saw the stock market plunge 777 points and over $1 trillion of investment assets were lost. These weren’t just the assets of big investment banks and large corporations, they were the pensions and retirement accounts of ordinary Americans. I received calls from small business owners throughout my district concerned about how they were going to stay in business because they could not get the credit to operate and buyers could not get the credit to purchase their products.
The Senate version of the bill, which passed on Wednesday, made several improvements such as raising the FDIC insurance guarantee to $250,000 to protect bank deposits. In addition it added several tax provisions that are critical to keep us competitive and to help American families. These include:
• Tax credits for a variety of renewable energy and green job activities;
• Alternative Minimum Tax relief for 25 million middle-class families.
• extending the sales tax deduction for people in states like Texas which have no state income tax;
• allowing 3.4 million teachers to deduct their classroom expenses;
• expanding the child tax credit to those earning $8,500 a year;
• helping 4.5 million families better afford college with a tuition deduction; and helps businesses stay competitive by extending the research and development tax credit
The Senate also added the Mental Health Parity act which will finally end discrimination against patients seeking treatment for mental illness. Additional hurricane and flood disaster relief was also included, which will benefit Texas.
While the bill included many things I did not like and did not include offsets for some of the spending, it was a bi-partisan compromise that could pass quickly and stop the downward spiral in our stock market, free up our credit system and get our economy back on track. It will protect taxpayers, keep people in their homes and rein in the huge CEO salaries. I firmly believe that a “yes” vote on HR 1424 was the right thing to do.
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