[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 15]
[Senate]
[Pages 20727-20728]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              THE ECONOMY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, as I have said on many different occasions, 
one of the heroes in my family as I was growing up was Franklin 
Roosevelt. That is an understatement. One of the things I admired most 
about President Roosevelt was how he lifted our country out of the 
Great Depression and did so by speaking directly to the American people 
on the radio, telling the American people the truth. All he told us was 
not good news, explaining plainly what needed to be done.
  Another President that we all admire, Democrats and Republicans, was 
Harry Truman. We all know that President Truman had on his desk a 
wooden sign that said, ``The buck stops here.'' It did, and it does.
  Today we face what economists call the greatest economic danger since 
the Great Depression. We have come to this point after 8 years of 
President Bush waging a war on fiscal responsibility. His Republican 
philosophy of removing all accountability from big business and 
expecting no responsibility from them in return has created this crisis 
that now threatens to devastate America's working families. President 
Bush put cronies and ideologues in charge of all critical regulatory 
agencies, including the Justice Department, who ensured that special 
interests would always come before the common good.
  In one example of particular irresponsibility, the Bush 
administration refused to exercise its regulatory authority over the 
mortgage industry. The President's neglect allowed massive fraud and 
widespread predatory lending to pave the way for the largest mortgage 
crisis in our entire history, a crisis he continued to ignore long 
after the consequences of the plundering and pillaging of the mortgage 
market became clear.
  Here in the Senate, we never got the support of President Bush when 
we were trying to do something with housing reform. In fact, just the 
opposite; he was threatening a veto. We had to break seven Republican 
filibusters on that legislation.
  History will show that while all this was going on in the White 
House, for the last 20 months we Democrats were trying to restore 
fiscal sanity. Here are some examples over the years.
  We have only been in control of the Senate for the last 20 months. 
Prior to that, in 2000, Senator Paul Sarbanes of Maryland, chairman of 
the Banking Committee, introduced the Predatory Lending Consumer 
Protection Act to restrict abusive predatory lending. The same year, 
Senator Schumer introduced the Predatory Lending Consumer Protection 
Act. In 2002, Senator Sarbanes reintroduced his bill. In 2004, Senator 
Sarbanes and the current chairman of the Banking Committee, Senator 
Dodd, called on the Federal Reserve to take action on alternative 
mortgages. Senator Dodd called them a nightmare for low-income 
Americans. In 2005, the House of Representatives passed bipartisan 
legislation to reform the regulation of government-sponsored 
enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It passed the House 331 to 90.
  The Democratic minority in the Senate tried to pass it. We were 
blocked by the White House and Senate Republicans. When Representative 
Oxley, one-time chairman of the Banking Committee and a devout 
Republican, brought this legislation to the White House, the President, 
in the words of Mike Oxley, gave him ``the cold shoulder and the one-
finger salute'' and rejected the bipartisan plan.
  In February of 2008, Senate Democrats introduced the Foreclosure 
Prevention Act, which was blocked by Senate Republicans after a veto 
threat from the White House.
  In June 2008, the White House threatened to veto the Federal Housing 
Finance Regulatory Reform Act, which would have improved oversight of 
Fannie and Freddie. The reason for the veto threat? They did not want 
to help

[[Page 20728]]

communities struggling with foreclosures. If the President had signed 
this bill in June, we would have saved billions we must now spend to 
bail out Fannie and Freddie.
  In every one of these instances, Democrats saw the storm clouds 
gathering and attempted to pass legislation that could have steered our 
course away from the crisis we now face. But every time, the White 
House and congressional Republicans chose to continue along their own 
irresponsible path, which brings us to where we are now.
  After ignoring Democrats in Congress and good fiscal sense for 8 
years, President Bush has sent Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke 
to Congress to pitch his $700 billion bailout. As I have said before, 
Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke are good men. I believe they 
both have the best interests of our country at heart. I certainly hope 
so. But the testimony of yesterday's Banking Committee hearing made it 
clear that Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke have not yet 
successfully made the case for the Bush plan. Democrats and Republicans 
raised serious questions about the plan, and I do not believe anyone--
Democrat or Republican--felt those questions were sufficiently 
answered.
  At 2 o'clock today, in the House of Representatives, their Banking 
Committee is going to listen to the Chairman and the Secretary.
  As our country prepares to face the consequences of George Bush's 
fiscal dereliction of duty, Congress is prepared to act as quickly as 
we responsibly can. But the Congress, and especially the American 
people, have a right to know this: Where is President Bush? President 
Bush has sent Congress an unprecedented $700 billion bailout proposal--
$700 billion straight from the pockets of every single man, woman, and 
child in America. Yet President Bush has been absent from what may well 
be the most important debate on economic policy in a generation.
  Isn't it interesting. You look at our experience, the Presiding 
Officer's and my experience. When there was an issue of such paramount 
importance, we were always called to the White House. Not this time. 
The President has not been available. It has not been his issue.
  Well, it is his issue. We have a right to know--Congress and the 
American people--where is President Bush? He sent Congress this 
unprecedented $700 billion bailout proposal. This money, as I have 
said, is straight from the pockets of each one of us, and even our 
children and our children's children. Yet President Bush has been 
absent from what may well be the most important debate on economic 
policy in the history of our country.
  I was listening to the radio this morning and Allan Sloan, who is an 
economic writer, said this issue is as big as he has ever seen or heard 
about. Well, I do not know if he is right, but I think the President 
should be available. He has given two brief statements to the press and 
a press release admonishing the Congress to accept his bailout plan 
immediately. Other than that, President Bush has been silent.
  We must not forget, President Bush is still President of the United 
States. It is time for him to focus on the issues and tell the American 
people where he is. It is time for him to explain why 8 years of 
deregulation policies have bought us to this dangerous ground. It is 
time for him to explain why this administration sat on its hands for 
months and only now has come to realize the need for immediate and 
unprecedented Government action.
  Where was he when it was called for during his first 7\1/2\ years? It 
is time for him to explain how he could tell our country for months 
that our economy was fine, the fundamentals were fine, yet overnight 
declare that if American taxpayers do not accept his bailout proposal, 
our country will face economic disaster.
  And, most importantly, it is time for him to explain how his plan, 
drafted literally under the cover of darkness, will help America 
weather this storm. This is not the Paulson plan. This is not the 
Bernanke plan. This is not the Congress's plan. This is the Bush plan. 
It is time for him to take ownership and demonstrate leadership. He is 
our President, and it is time for him to realize that the buck stops 
with him, as President Truman said.
  If President Bush is serious about passing legislation quickly, he 
should address our country and make his case. Then he should seek to 
work with Members of both parties to reach a reasonable solution that 
American workers, families, small and large businesses all desperately 
need.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________