Congressman Salazar’s Statement on House Passage of Bailout Legislation

Washington, DC – Today, the House of Representatives passed legislation that provides $700 billion to address the current crisis on Wall Street.  Congressman Salazar voted against this bill, and issued the following statement:

“I am disappointed Congress moved forward without making additional changes to the largest bailout in our nation’s history.  I am hopeful this bill has the promised effect, but I’m fearful our nation is going to look back on this day with regret.  

“It is beyond any doubt that our economic situation is grave.  The greed and “anything goes” attitude exhibited by both Wall Street and Washington regulators have led us to a point where action by Congress is necessary.  I have not left Washington since the day the administration asked the taxpayers for $700 billion.  And I was willing to stay and work on a bill that we could all support to free up our credit markets and get our economy moving on the right track again.

“Unfortunately, Congress has chosen to address our most serious financial crisis in almost a century with a band-aid.  This move raises our national debt to $11.3 trillion, the largest burden ever placed on the American taxpayer, with no assurances it will even work.  At the end of the day, that was a band-aid I simply could not support.

“Congress should have rejected the administration and brought forward a bill that was tough enough to protect the American taxpayer and small business owner, included the regulations necessary to prevent this mess from happening again, provided assistance to help Americans stay in their homes, and had the guts to be fiscally responsible.

“I know that some will criticize me for this vote.  I understand the anger over how we got here and the fear over what might happen in the future.  At the end of the day, my vote was one of principle for my three children, my grandson, and the millions of young Americans who are going to inherit the bill for a mess they didn’t create.  They deserve better – they deserve a Congress that sticks around, no matter how long it takes, to get it right.  Congress could have, and should have, stayed in Washington to produce a better bill.”