Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share with you my thoughts on Congress’ ongoing efforts to address problems in our credit markets and our economy at large.

Most experts argue that something must be done quickly to bring normalcy to the credit markets – an essential part of doing business in America. I could not agree more. That is why I have consistently supported a bipartisan solution that would help get credit moving, restores confidence in the markets and does not bail out Wall Street executives and stick average Americans with the bill.

The question is not should we do something, but how we should do it. The frantic push for only this single Wall Street solution, written by a Wall Street guy to solve a problem created by Wall Street, will not serve America in the long run.

The Paulson Plan would have taxpayers fork over as much $700 billion to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, a former CEO of Goldman Sachs, so the federal government can buy up toxic mortgages - mortgages that cannot currently be sold on the private market. Then sell them at a later date, if they can. At what final price to taxpayers? No one can know. Billions of tax dollars would likely go to Wall Street firms in consulting and processing fees.

The bill also calls for a “Federal property manager” to deal with the mortgages the government will now own and has the government taking an equity stake in privately-held companies. This sounds more like something that would fly in Vladimir Putin’s Russia or Hugo Chavez’s Venezuela.

In order to come up with $700 billion, the Treasury Department would sell Treasury Bonds, likely to foreign governments like China, Japan, Saudi Arabia or Russia, amounting to $2,300 per man, woman and child in America. To do this, the Paulson plan increases the federal debt ceiling to more than $11 trillion. Last year alone, America spent more than $400 billion just on the interest on our national debt, with a large portion going to foreign governments.

This plan will likely bring some certainty to parts of the credit market. But by borrowing billions from foreign governments, and by taking a significant risk with taxpayer’s hard- earned money Congress is taking an even bigger risk on the future of our economy. Equally as important, this plan will not do enough to prevent further trouble in our banking in credit markets. In other words, this plan will not solve our problems.

So what could we do to ensure Michigan families have the credit they need to buy cars and homes and Michigan companies have the credit they need to grow, create jobs and sell cars? We must:

1. Increase the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation insurance to protect savings. While the final version of the Paulson Plan approved by the House today raised insurance, it did not go far enough.

2. Change accounting rules that force banks to sell their assets at fire sale prices. While the Securities and Exchange Commission has made progress on this important issue, more must be done now.

3. Issue Net Worth Certificates to struggling banks, providing them with capital. Direct assistance to struggling banks will allow credit to flow, protect taxpayers, and will not involve the federal government trying to buy and sell property and securities like a giant hedge fund.

4. Increase the home mortgage tax deduction to 105%. At a time when many American’s are struggling to pay their mortgages it makes sense to help American’s meet their obligations. Increasing the mortgage tax deduction would provide a direct helping hand to every American homeowner.

The bottom line is Michigan families should not have to pay Wall Street billions for a risky plan to bailout Wall Street’s mistakes. Instead we should pursue a more certain path, that returns credit to help Michigan’s economy, without betting billions in taxpayer dollars on a one-shot plan.

That said, Congress today voted to give Treasury Secretary Paulson unprecedented authority to deal with our economic problems. Like every American, I hope this works. The good news is that this legislation gives Secretary Paulson great discretion, and several of the bipartisan proposals I have made could actually be implemented by the Secretary. As your U.S. Representative I promise to continue to work to make sure that we get our economy back on the right track immediately.