OFFICE OF THE MAJORITY LEADER

TRANSCRIPT

Statement on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
October 3, 2008

MR. FRANK: MADAM SPEAKER, I'M NOW PROUD TO YIELD ONE MINUTE TO THE MAJORITY LEADER, WHO HAS DONE A SUPERB JOB OF LEADERSHIP ON THIS BILL. THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE GENTLEMAN FROM MARYLAND IS RECOGNIZED FOR ONE MINUTE. MR. HOYER: I THANK THE CHAIRMAN FOR YIELDING. MADAM SPEAKER AND MEMBERS OF THIS HOUSE, I SAID THAT LAST MONDAY WOULD BE A DAY OF CONSEQUENCE. IT WAS A DAY OF CONSEQUENCE. WE HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED AS A BODY FOR NOT DECIDING AFFIRMATIVELY ON MONDAY. WHAT WE DID DECIDE, HOWEVER, THAT WAS INITIAL FAILURE SHOULD NOT STAND. BECAUSE THE CRISIS CONFRONTING OUR COUNTRY WAS TOO GREAT. AND REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS TOGETHER, ADMINISTRATION AND CONGRESS, CHAIRMAN AND RANKING MEMBER, EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER DECIDED THAT FAILURE WAS NOT AN OPTION. ON MONDAY, THE DIVIDING LINE IN THIS HOUSE WAS NOT BETWEEN PARTIES. IT WAS BETWEEN THOSE WHO BELIEVE THE DANGERS OF DOING NOTHING OUTWEIGHED THEIR RESERVATION ABOUT MON'S -- ABOUT MONDAY'S BILL AND THOSE WHO HAD YET TO BE CONVINCED. SINCE THEN, I BELIEVE THAT THE NUMBER OF THE CONVINCED THAT THIS ACTION IS ESSENTIAL HAS GROWN. SOME WERE CONVINCED WHEN A VOTE IN THIS CHAMBER LED TO THE EVAPORATION OF $1.2 TRILLION OF WEALTH IN ABOUT 120 SECONDS. SOME WERE CONVINCED WHEN THEY HEARD THAT AMERICA LOST ANOTHER 159,000 JOBS LAST MONTH, MAKING A TOTAL OF LOSS JOBS THIS YEAR OF 760,000 JOBS. IN A SIMILAR PERIOD EIGHT YEARS AGO, WE HAD GAINED 1.5 MILLION JOBS. A NET TURNAROUND OF OVER 2.2 MILLION JOBS. AMERICANS ARE IN TROUBLE. THEY'RE EXPECTING US TO ACT. SOME WERE CONVINCED BY THE STORIES LIKE THIS ONE FROM A SMALL TOWN CAR DEALER IN UTAH. HE SAID THIS, I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PAY MY EMPLOYEES NEXT WEEK. I CAN'T GET THE KIND OF CREDIT LINE FROM THE BANK THAT I'VE HAD THROUGH MY ENTIRE CAREER UNLESS YOU DO SOMETHING. THIS BILL REACHES OUT NOT ONLY TO MINORITIES BUT TO SMALL BUSINESSES AS WELL. AND I THANK THE GENTLELADY FROM CALIFORNIA FOR HER FOCUS ON THAT ISSUE, AND MR. BACHUS FOR HIS FOCUS ON THAT ISSUE. WHAT HAPPENS ON WALL STREET IS BOUND UP WITH THE JOBS OF MILLIONS ON MAIN STREET. AND THE RETIREMENT OF MILLIONS ON MAIN STREET. AND THE HOMES OF MILLIONS IN HOMETOWN AMERICA. AND DREAMS OF MILLIONS OF OUR FELLOW AMERICANS. AND IF DISASTER STRIKES THOSE FEW SQUARE MILES IN MANHATTAN, IT WILL SURELY SPREAD UNTIL EVERY ONE OF THOSE JOBS AND RETIREMENTS AND HOMES AND DREAMS ARE PUT AT GREAT RISK. THIS WEEK, I'VE HEARD FROM THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN, WHO ARE TELLING US THAT THEIR PEOPLE ARE BRACING THEMSELVES, WORRIED THAT AMERICA WILL NOT RISE TO THE OCCASION. I AM PROUD TO BE A MEMBER OF THIS HOUSE. WHEN CHALLENGED, I BELIEVE THIS HOUSE RISES TO ITS RESPONSIBILITIES. I BELIEVE IT WILL DO SO TODAY. WE SING THE PRAISES OF AMERICAN LEADERSHIP, AND TODAY I THINK WE WILL DESERVE THAT PRAISE. THIS IS THE RESPONSIBILITY THAT COMES WITH OUR DUTY AS REPRESENTATIVES IN THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE. FOR ALL OF THOSE REASONS, THIS BILL IS ESSENTIAL. SO MANY OF US HAVE IMPROVED THE ADMINISTRATION'S PLAN, REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS WORKING TOGETHER, WHICH CAME TO US AS A MERE THREE-PAGE BILL, GIVING ESSENTIALLY A $700 BILLION BLANK CHECK TO THE ADMINISTRATION. REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS KNEW, AS ONE, THAT THAT COULD NOT STAND. THE HEART OF THE BILL REMAINS THE PLAN FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO BUY UP BAD FINANCIAL ASSETS, ...