[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 177 (Thursday, November 20, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2293]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, October 3, 2008

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Madam Speaker, I reluctantly supported this economic 
rescue plan on Monday, and I will do so again today. Not because I like 
it. I don't. Not because it is popular. It isn't. And certainly not 
because I think responsible taxpayers have any obligation to bail out 
Wall Street. They don't. Instead, I will support this plan because I 
believe that acting decisively now will almost certainly mean less cost 
to taxpayers and less pain on Main Street than allowing this credit 
crisis to get worse.
  In what history will record as the final verdict on 8 years of the 
Bush administration's failed economic policies, allowing this credit 
crisis to spread to Main Street would dry up existing lines of credit, 
cause more small businesses to fail, put more people out of work, place 
more retirees' pensions at risk, and accelerate the current downturn in 
our fragile economy. We simply cannot allow that to happen.
  Let's be clear: This legislation is a far cry from the original, 
three-page, blank check proposal Secretary Paulson submitted to 
Congress. Whereas the Paulson proposal had no oversight, no limits on 
executive compensation or golden parachutes, no help for homeowners, no 
upside for taxpayers, and no requirement that the President submit a 
plan to Congress to recoup the full amount of the taxpayers' money from 
participating institutions should any amount of the initial outlay not 
be recovered after 5 years' time, this legislation contains all of 
those protections.
  Additionally, as a result of the Senate's action last night, the bill 
we are considering today also includes a 1-year patch for the AMT to 
ensure 25 million additional Americans are not snared by this tax; $18 
billion in renewable energy incentives (paid for by eliminating 
subsidies to the oil and gas industries) to accelerate our transition 
to a 21st century green economy; and mental health parity legislation 
that will end the shameful history of insurance discrimination suffered 
by those whose conditions affect the brain, rather than the rest of the 
body. This revised package also contains bipartisan legislation I 
introduced to end the ISO AMT crisis affecting tens of thousands of 
law-abiding Americans by providing permanent relief from that 
universally condemned corner of our code. And it further protects our 
citizens' savings by temporarily increasing the cap on FDIC-insured 
accounts to $250,000.
  Like any legislation of this magnitude, there are provisions I do not 
support, other provisions I thought should be included, and still 
others I would have changed. For example, the renewable energy title 
includes several incentives that in my view fall outside the definition 
of ``renewable,'' and the tax title contains a number of narrowly drawn 
provisions that detract from the larger purpose of this legislation. 
Additionally, the final bill failed to include a measure I support to 
allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages on primary residences the 
same way they are currently able to modify mortgages on second homes 
and investment properties. Furthermore, the Senate package was not 
fully paid for and for that reason will unnecessarily add to our 
national debt. And finally, I personally would have preferred that that 
this rescue plan include some immediate regulatory reforms, recognizing 
that more comprehensive reform will follow congressional hearings that 
begin next week. Nevertheless, our citizens can be assured that 
Congress is determined to get to the bottom of what caused this mess 
and act promptly to make sure this kind of crisis never happens again.

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