Congressman Mike Ferguson

“Throughout my service in Congress, I have always worked to defend New Jersey’s hard-working families and their hard-earned tax dollars. I’ve also generally opposed government involvement in our free-market system. Yet today our nation’s financial system faces a crisis of historic proportions.

“I voted in the House for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act because I believed that failure to respond would be nothing short of economic catastrophe. Failure to act could lead to a freeze on credit that could ultimately hurt those on Main Street – families, small businesses and every American who tried to purchase a home, refinance a mortgage, buy or lease a car, take out a student loan or seek access to capital to expand a small business.

“I’m deeply disappointed by the outcome of the House vote – mostly because we were so close to passage of this important legislation. In the last several days, we saw both earnest and honest negotiations between Republicans and Democrats, and lawmakers on both ends of the political spectrum came together to put America’s interest first. Unfortunately, that was not enough.