[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 21983]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                ECONOMY

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                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON-LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 24, 2008

  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, the United States economy 
has spiraled downward within the last few years of the Bush 
administration. Sadly, the state of the U.S. economy has worsened as a 
result of recent crises, such as the impending mortgage crisis, 
financial crisis on Wall Street, and Hurricane Ike, which has inflicted 
hardship upon the people of Houston. Consumers are finding that their 
wages have decreased, yet food and gasoline prices have been steadily 
rising.
  By the end of the year it has been estimated that 15 million 
Americans could have mortgages worth more than the value of their 
homes. It is absurd that home prices could fall enough to produce about 
20 million Americans with a negative equity. While there is not much 
time to take action, Congress must act responsibly.
  A crisis of this magnitude requires a significant bipartisan 
response, but Democrats will work to protect American taxpayers from 
undue exposure and believe a properly designed legislative package 
could ultimately allow taxpayers to be paid back for this emergency 
measure.
  The Congress will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to 
Wall Street and hope for the best. Not after having pushed for greater 
oversight, regulation and accountability from Wall Street for years 
while the Bush administration refused to take action. Congress must 
implement strict limitations and restrictions along with rigorous 
oversight over any and all monies disbursed, as well as new 
regulations. We must work together to strengthen our economy and 
conduct vigorous oversight.
  It is imperative that Congressional committees hold a series of 
hearings that will examine the Bush administration's mismanagement of 
financial market regulation and how it led us to this remarkable 
failure. Wall Street CEOs should not be pocketing millions while 
taxpayers are forced to bail them out. Democrats will continue to work 
to secure reasonable limits on executive compensation for CEOs and 
other top executives
  I came across a quote that I would like to share with everyone from 
the former chairman of AT&T: ``The ancient Romans had a tradition: 
whenever one of their engineers constructed an arch, as the capstone 
was hoisted into place, the engineer assumed accountability for his 
work in the most profound way possible: he stood under the arch.'' 
There needs to be accountability somewhere, especially since the 
American people are going to be paying for the mistakes of Wall Street 
with or without a bailout.
  The Federal bailout of the U.S. mortgage market is going to cost the 
government upwards of $700 billion. The mortgage bailout is more than 
the war in Iraq has cost the U.S. Government thus far. To put that 
number in perspective, it amounts to more than the GDP of Turkey and 
only modestly smaller than that of Australia.
  Additionally, there have been unforeseen costs which have been 
incurred over the past few years due to natural disasters such as the 
recent Hurricane Ike. Houston and the other affected areas suffered a 
minimum of $6 billion and as much as $16 billion in property damage. 
That estimate does not include the cost of inland flooding, a type of 
damage not covered by conventional insurance policies.
  Due to insurance companies pulling out of the Gulf coast after 
previous hurricanes, the state-led insurance pool must pay much of the 
cost, yet only has $2.3 billion, leaving the state of Texas potentially 
responsible for billions of dollars in claims. Due to hurricane Ike, 
gas prices have surged in Texas and the impact of Hurricane Ike will be 
felt throughout America. Oil refineries near Houston provide more than 
20 percent of the transportation fuel used in the U.S. Many of the 
operations were shut down in anticipation of the storm's arrival and 
gasoline prices jumped in parts of the country as a result.
  The American people are struggling as it is to pay their mortgages, 
feed their families, fill their cars with gas and find employment. More 
than a week after Hurricane Ike passed through, there are still parts 
of the Houston metropolitan area without electrical power and it may 
take weeks to restore normal life in the most devastated areas, like 
Galveston.
  In order to get the U.S. economy back on track we must work in a 
bipartisan manner. Nevertheless, Americans ought not forget the 
catastrophic choices of the last eight years under Republican 
leadership, choices that led to financial meltdown, massive job losses, 
a disastrous energy policy that prioritizes oil company profits over 
people, skyrocketing health care costs, a costly war that should never 
have been waged, and a surplus turned into a deficit that will burden 
generations to come.
  It is a necessity that the government create jobs through investment 
in our Nation's infrastructure, extend unemployment benefits, ensure 
families don't go hungry with food stamp assistance, make certain that 
Americans do not lose health coverage as a result of State budget 
crises, provide additional foreclosure assistance to families and make 
home heating assistance available at a time of record energy prices. 
Americans are suffering and this decision must be hard thought and 
given much deliberation.

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