[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24012]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


         WHY I VOTED AGAINST THE SENATE REPUBLICAN BAILOUT BILL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Washington (Mr. McDermott) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Speaker, on Thursday morning, the morning after 
the Senate passed a very different bailout bill, two things happened: 
The filings for new unemployment benefits hit a 7-year high, and a 
number of telephones melted in my congressional office as my 
constituents called in their opinions. By the thousands, the people in 
the Seventh Congressional District are absolutely enraged by what the 
Senate put over here.
  Senate Republicans blocked Senate Democrats from legislation that 
delivers for Main Street. Senate Republicans demanded the pot be 
sweetened, but they left out the millions of Americans who can't find a 
job and are running out of benefits. And they left out a lot of other 
Americans, too.
  With economic times getting rougher by the day, Senate Republicans 
have no problem telling the American people you've got to go it alone.
  Last week, the House passed on a strong bipartisan vote a stimulus 
package that would help Main Street, but Senate Republicans said no. 
They were willing to help Wall Street, but looked the other way for 
Main Street.
  One caller said they were stunned that the Senate included a call for 
the Securities and Exchange Commission to alter a fundamental way 
assets are valued. It's called mark-to-market accounting, and let me 
quote an NPR report.
  The Council of Institutional Investors and the CFA Institute oppose a 
suspension of mark-to-market--also known as ``fair value''--accounting 
because, in their opinion, the rule offers investors transparency.
  In other words, suspending the rule is letting the fox into the 
henhouse.
  The other day I voted in favor of the House bailout bill because I 
trusted Democratic leaders who worked tirelessly to represent Main 
Street. I still do, but Senate Republicans changed all that.
  When Republicans force a bill that ignores the plight of regular 
Americans but includes so-called sweeteners, that is not worthy of 
support.
  When Republicans force a bill that slips in more earmark spending, 
that's not worthy of support.
  When Republicans force a bill through that includes an accounting 
gimmick, that is not worthy of support.
  The Senate dug an enormous ditch alongside Main Street, and they want 
the House to drive into it. That is exactly what the President has 
driven this economy into over the last 7 years.
  When Senate Republicans set the agenda, that's just another way of 
saying they are following the orders of the President who long ago lost 
all the trust of the American people.
  That is not how we are going to restore the trust with the American 
people. And that is why I voted against the Senate Republican bailout.

                              {time}  1500

  There is no question that we need a rescue plan, but the Senate has 
just made matters worse, and that is pretty hard to do in this economy. 
Government has a role to play in calming the markets and addressing the 
economic crisis, but the more we learn, the more convinced I am the 
latest Senate plan is taking us in the wrong direction.
  There are two models that have worked and which would serve as the 
foundation blocks that we can build upon in a short period of time to 
produce a plan that Americans could trust and believe in. During the 
Depression, President Roosevelt developed a Home Loan Housing 
Corporation that stabilized the housing market and helped homeowners 
work through the foreclosures. More recently, in the 1990s, Sweden 
stepped in and assumed temporary control of the financial system, 
cleaned up the mess, and then got out.
  There are models available that we can use to quickly produce a 
solution that the American people will actually believe in because they 
will understand it and it will be transparent. The amendment from the 
Senate was to make it more un-transparent. There is a credit crisis in 
the United States to be sure, but there is no question today that there 
is also a trust crisis in America, every bit as damaging and 
debilitating.
  We cannot solve the first crisis before we address the second. Since 
the current administration precipitated this, we should be focused on 
rebuilding a new foundation for a new administration to restore the 
faith and trust of the American people as we work to restore the trust 
and credit of our financial system.
  Since the current administration precipitated this, we should be 
focused on building a foundation for a new administration to restore 
the faith and trust of the American people as we work to restore the 
trust and credit of our financial system.

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