Washington, D.C., Oct 2 -

Putting partisanship and politics aside, a bi-partisan group of four Congresswomen have joined together and submitted a letter to leaders on both sides of the aisle outlining a series of principles they would like to see in the next bailout proposal. The group, all of whom voted against the initial bailout, is comprised of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO).

After a joint appearance on ‘Good Morning America’ to explain their vote on Monday’s legislation, Reps. Musgrave and Kaptur assembled colleagues and worked together to write the letter.

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur of Ohio emphasized the importance of finding an acceptable alternative, “We owe it to the American people to craft a better alternative than the Paulson proposal,” Kaptur said. 

Congresswoman Musgrave was pleased by the bi-partisanship showed by all participants, “Each of the women who wrote this letter clearly understands that inaction is not an option,” said Musgrave. “We want to help provide a solution, not a roadblock.  This is a serious situation that requires us to put aside partisanship and finger pointing and serve the American people, not our own political interests.”

Rep Virginia Foxx from North Carolina echoed Musgrave’s sentiment, “America is faced with a real economic illness. Congress must take action to address this problem. But rewarding Wall Street’s bad decision-making with a bailout by sticking taxpayers with a $700 billion bill is the wrong solution. Make no mistake, our economy needs medicine. And Congress has an obligation to work together to make sure we prescribe the right medicine.”  

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann highlighted the policy suggestions made by the working group, “I believe that Congress must suspend mark-to-market accounting, which forces companies to take losses on artificially devalued assets on an artificial timetable, to give investors more confidence. It is imperative that Congress focus on long-term economic stability not solely on short term growth. And, Congress can no longer afford to ignore Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- government sponsored enterprises that are at the heart of this crisis.  Congress must enact real reform so that taxpayers no longer back them -- implicitly or explicitly -- and so that they do not artificially grow larger than the market will allow.”