WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) took to the Senate floor today to discuss the way forward on a financial rescue bill. The Senator said that passage of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (H.R. 1424) is necessary to restore confidence and stability in the markets to save our economy and Americans’ jobs. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 is a vastly improved version of the economic rescue plan sent to Congress last week by President Bush and Secretary Paulson. It protects tax payers, provides oversight and transparency, and rejects using tax payer dollars to finance golden parachutes for Wall Street CEOs.

“I know that the taxpayers are angry and mad as hell. And so am I. We all agree that the greed on Wall Street and lax regulatory practices of this Administration got us into this mess,” said Senator Mikulski. “Regrettably, a rescue plan is needed. I’m afraid that if we do not act today and if we do not act with resolve then our economy could come to a crashing halt. I’m afraid about massive layoffs. I’m afraid about small businesses folding. And I’m worried that retirement and pension funds could shrink. Therefore, I will vote for this bill.”

The Senate will vote on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 as part of a package of bills later tonight.

AUDIO: To hear and/or broadcast Senator Mikulski’s floor speech, please call (800) 511-0763 and enter actuality number 3087 or go to: http://demradio.senate.gov/actualities/mikulski/mikulski081001.mp3

VIDEO: Senator Mikulski’s statement will also be available tonight at: http://mikulski.senate.gov/Newsroom/VideoGallery/index.cfm

Senator Mikulski’s floor speech, as delivered, is below:

“I’m here to talk about this rescue plan, and regrettably a rescue plan is needed. I’m afraid that if we do not act today and if we do not act with resolve then our economy could come to a crashing halt. I’m afraid about massive layoffs. I’m afraid about small businesses folding. And I’m worried that retirement and pension funds could shrink. Therefore, I will vote for this bill.

“I know that the taxpayers are angry and mad as hell. And so am I. We all agree that the greed on Wall Street and lax regulatory practices of this Administration got us into this mess. Taxpayers who played by the rules are asking tough questions. And what are their questions? ‘Barbara, what did you do to prevent us from getting us into this? What are you going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again? What are you going to do to make sure that heads roll?’

“Let me tell you this: Heart and soul, I’m a regulator and a reformer. Time and time again we have seen the consequences of a lax regulatory culture and very wimpy enforcement. Time and time and time again I voted for more teeth and better regulation. I voted for regulation and more teeth in the Consumer Product Safety Commission to get the lead paint out of toys and the lead out of the bureaucracy. I voted to strengthen Federal Drug and Administration (FDA) regulation to make sure it didn’t approve dangerous drugs. I also worked to stop predator lending and flipping in the mortgage market and I remember way back in 1999 how all this banking mess got started.

“Phil Gramm, a Senator from Texas, and Bliley, a House member, advocated something called the Banking Deregulation Bill. It passed and it got us into this mess because it got rid of the distinction between investment banks and commercial banks, which lowered the bar on regulation and allowed for casino economics. During that debate, I was one of the nine Senators who voted against it because I said we were going to create an environment where we were creating whales and sharks and the minnows would be eaten alive. Regrettably, my prediction proved right.

“During that debate, I was told ‘Get with it, Barb. This is a global market. You are old fashioned.’ You bet I believe in old-fashioned values and honesty. Wall Street ran around acting like masters of the universe and now they have taken us into a black hole. We need to get back to basics, whether it is regulating toxic securities or tainted dog food. And Madam President, our leader, Senator Dodd of Connecticut has done a master job in improving this bill, but while we’re looking at reform and regulation and rescue, there are those who also say ‘Are there going to be any heads that roll?’ Well, you bet, Madam President.

“What we’re doing here is that for those who said ‘Let the good times roll’, we’re making sure we’re bringing in the F.B.I. so that so that heads roll. I went to work when I smelled this crisis coming in January and at an Appropriations Committee hearing said to Director Mueller of the F.B.I., ‘What’s happening in terms of mortgage fraud?’ He said, ‘Senator Mikulski, we now have over 2,000 investigations going on.’ It is now tripled in number. I said, ‘Do you need money,’ and he didn’t want to answer because the Office of Management and Budget and the Bush Administration didn’t want to say that they did. Well, working on a bipartisan basis we added several million dollars to hire more F.B.I. agents and right this minute they’re investigating mortgage fraud, predatory practices, deceptive marketing and lending schemes. So Senator Mikulski, while voting for reform made sure she had the F.B.I. coming in against the scam artists that helped get us into this mess.

“So Madam President, yes, I supported reform. Yes, I have supported going after the real crooks and the bad guys because not everybody in the mortgage market or in mortgage securities or in our financial things are crooks, but we’ve got to restore confidence and the way we’ll restore confidence is to vote for this rescue plan. It will deal with the credit crisis. If we do not deal with the credit crisis, I believe that the Main Street economy will have to pay the bill for the bailout and pay the bill again in lost jobs, the ability to get along and in shrinking retirement and pension. So Madam President I will vote for this bill. But I heard the taxpayers loud and clear.”