[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 39 (Friday, March 7, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1735-S1736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
MORNING NEWS
Mr. REID. Mr. President, every morning when I get up, I go out and do
my exercise. It takes about an hour. I usually listen to public radio.
I am anxious to hear the news in the morning to see what has happened.
This morning, hearing the morning news was very distressing. It was a
terrible day both at home and abroad in Iraq. A coordinated suicide
bombing killed--we don't know how many at this stage--at last count,
about 70 and injured at least 120. We don't know how many, but 120 will
die. It happened in a crowded Baghdad shopping district.
A couple days ago, another attack killed 26. A few weeks ago, a
horrifying suicide attack on Shiite pilgrims killed about 100. This
doesn't take into consideration the kidnappings, the small bombings,
and other acts of terror that take place in Iraq every day.
Although it may have receded from the front pages of our newspapers,
there is no doubt the Iraqi civil war wages on, with no end in sight.
There are 150,000 brave young Americans in that far-off land policing
another country's civil war. Our troops are shouldering an enormous
burden of the war, but all Americans are suffering the consequences. We
are now spending $12 billion a month on that war. That is more than
$400 million every day, $17 million every hour. In my short remarks
here, we will wind up spending about $5 million in Iraq. Mr. President,
$12 billion a month from a country, our country, that is staggering
economically; $12 billion a month to build roads in Iraq while our own
roads crumble.
From where does this money come? It is all borrowed. President Bush
already burned through trillions of dollars prudently saved by the
Clinton administration and has spent trillions of dollars on tax
giveaways for big business and the superwealthy.
We are putting the cost of the war on credit cards. Who will pay the
bill? My children, my children's children and my children's children's
children will be paying this bill. Future generations will be burdened
with paying this bill, plus interest; meanwhile, the burden of an
economy that is spiraling downward every day.
This morning's news on the economy announced the U.S. economy lost
63,000 jobs last month. When I first started listening to the news this
morning, they expected this report to come out that they expected 5,000
jobs lost. They were 58,000 wrong; there were 63,000 jobs lost--the
largest monthly job loss in nearly 5 years. For the second month in a
row, our country has lost jobs. We also learned that the number of jobs
lost in January was larger than previously reported. The number has
been revised up to more than 20,000.
It comes as no surprise that the manufacturing and construction
sectors were among the hardest hit. Manufacturing had 52,000 jobs lost;
construction, 39,000 job losses. Homebuilders are laying off
construction workers as new homes remain unsold. Today, we learned the
fourth quarter of 2007 saw the highest level of homes having
foreclosure in our history. And now the amount of equity Americans have
in their homes has dropped to the lowest level since World War II.
Yesterday, oil went to more than $106 a barrel. We all remember when
we were concerned when it hit $50 a barrel. It was good news last night
because it dropped to $105.47 a barrel.
The American people are already struggling under the enormous burden
of skyrocketing prices for groceries, heat for their homes, gasoline.
I heard my friend, the distinguished junior Senator from Texas, say
that during the Bush administration 9 million jobs have been created.
That is nothing to brag about. During the Clinton 8 years--this
President has been on the job 7 years and going on 3 months--President
Clinton created 23 million jobs.
By every indication, things are getting worse. President Bush said
this week that he does not believe our country is heading for a
recession. This morning, all signs say he is wrong. But regardless of
what label we use, there is no doubt whatever that people in America
are suffering. There is likewise no doubt that if we do not take
action, things will get worse.
The economic stimulus bill we passed last month will help. I am
pleased Democrats were able to secure rebates for 21.5 million senior
citizens and 250,000 disabled American veterans in the bill that was
passed. There is no doubt that an extra $600 will help Americans pay
for groceries, health, and gas. But no one thinks this economic
stimulus is enough to turn our economy around. We must legislate the
growing housing crisis--the eye of the economic storm.
President Bush, who does not think America is headed for a recession,
responded to the housing crisis by directing Secretary Paulson to
create a voluntary program to encourage banks to work with homeowners
facing foreclosure. Do we need a directive from the President to tell
banks to work with homeowners who are facing foreclosure? I hope not.
This week, Secretary Paulson released data on the President's
proposal. How did the voluntary approach work? Not very well. Just a
drop in the bucket. It helps hardly any; some say about 2 percent. For
hundreds of thousands, the only thing this offer did was to add on the
amount of the missed payment to the amount due. That is not a
modification. That will do nothing to help struggling families keep
their homes.
The voluntary efforts Secretary Paulson led have had a positive
impact but not much. Even one family saved from foreclosure is a good
step. But with millions at risk to lose their homes and the news
growing worse every day, the Bush administration's voluntary program is
not the way to approach this.
Last week, we introduced a comprehensive housing stimulus bill that
would help hundreds of thousands of homeowners that the President's
voluntary program leaves behind. It has five points to help families
avoid foreclosure: First, by improving loan disclosures. Second, we
help families avoid foreclosure by increasing preforeclosure counseling
funds. Third, we expand refinancing opportunities for homeowners stuck
in bad loans. Fourth, we provide funds to help the highest need
communities purchase and rehabilitate foreclosed properties. Fifth, we
amend the Bankruptcy Code to allow home loans on primary residences to
be modified.
How have our Republican colleagues responded to our responsible plan?
They blocked us from going forward, stopped us. The Republicans
proposed an alternative plan consisting of four concepts. One of these
was to change the tort law. This is not the way to go. One of their
other proposals was to lower taxes. This is not the way to go.
Just this week, Chairman Bernanke said the crisis demands a vigorous
response. He said:
Reducing the rate of preventable foreclosures would promote
economic stability for households, neighborhood, and the
Nation as a whole. Although lenders and servicers have scaled
up their efforts and adopted a wider variety of loss-
mitigation techniques, more can, and should, be done.
Those are the words of Chairman Bernanke, a call for our legislation
to pass. That is what we need to do. Voluntary programs will not work.
We have to move forward. We ask the Republicans to join with us in this
most important legislation and stop blocking our ability to stimulate
the economy as it relates to housing. They have to stop being beholden
to the big banks and Wall Street and be beholden to the people who are
in trouble--middle-class America.
We have a few things left here.
My friend from Montana, who has, at this stage of the year, probably
the most important job in the Senate, being chairman of the Finance
Committee--every problem we have, we go to the Finance Committee to see
what we can do to work it out. So I appreciate the good work of my
friend from Montana. The people of Montana are fortunate to have this
good man as their Senator because we all know that
[[Page S1736]]
with Senator Baucus, Montana comes first, but we all know, all of us
serving in the Senate, that he is a reservoir of good will,
intelligence, and understanding, and he helps us all with our problems.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
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