[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Page 857]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           ECONOMIC STIMULUS

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I had earlier this morning intended to spend 
a few minutes talking about the stimulus package that was at least 
agreed to between the leadership of the other body and the 
administration, a matter that will be coming here and the Senate will 
have an opportunity to express its will on that matter.
  But I wanted to speak on it for a moment, at least as Chairman of the 
Senate Banking Committee that will have at least a small part of that 
discussion, because of the inclusion of the FHA proposals as well as 
the loan limits within the GSEs, which I commend the administration for 
including. These are critical elements.
  We must, of course, deal with people's problems. But is something 
else again to deal with the problems that have caused people's 
problems. In my view, the deeper problem is the foreclosure crisis. 
That is the underlying issue, in my view, and therefore to have dealt 
with a short-term stimulus package that did not include some measures 
and steps that would address the housing issue and the foreclosure 
issue would have been shortsighted. So I was pleased to see that in 
addition with some rebates and refundable tax assistance, even to those 
who have very limited incomes, as well as assistance to those with 
young children and families. All are wonderful ideas.
  I know Senator Baucus, who will have the bulk of the responsibility 
in the Finance Committee for dealing with this, along with others who 
want to add elements of dealing with such things as unemployment 
insurance or food stamps or low-income energy assistance and the like, 
will have some additional thoughts on this short-term package. But I 
felt it was important to express some optimism about the direction it 
is going in and to note how important it is for consumers and investors 
to begin to have their confidence restored.

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