[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 4455-4456]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HOUSING AND THE ECONOMY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, 76 years ago, Franklin Roosevelt, who was 
then the Governor of New York, was engaged in a fierce Presidential 
campaign. The country was reeling from the stock market crash of 1929. 
Consumer confidence in banks had plummeted. The Great Depression was in 
full force at that time, and the American people had lost confidence 
that President Herbert Hoover had what it took to lead the country out 
of economic darkness.
  In April 1932, Governor Roosevelt, seeking the Democratic nomination 
for President, took to the radio waves and said this:

       I do not want to limit myself to politics. I do not want to 
     feel that I am addressing an audience of Democrats or that I 
     speak merely as a Democrat myself. The present condition of 
     our national affairs is too serious to be viewed through 
     partisan eyes for partisan purposes.

  He went on to say that troubled times call for us to:

     put [our] faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom 
     of the economic pyramid. . . . The two billion dollar fund 
     which President Hoover and Congress have put at the disposal 
     of big banks, the railroads and the corporations is not for 
     [the average person].
       Here should be an objective of government itself--to 
     provide at least as much assistance to the little fellow as 
     it is now giving to the large banks and corporations. This is 
     [an] example of building from the bottom up.

  Mr. President, the more things change, the more they seem to stay the 
same. Recently, the Federal Reserve provided taxpayers' money to 
prevent the collapse of Bear Stearns. The Fed took the additional 
unprecedented step of opening its discount lending window to securities 
firms, even though--unlike banks--those firms aren't regulated by the 
Fed.
  I understand the need to take some bold steps. I believe the Federal 
Reserve is doing what they think is best in the face of a deep and 
growing economic crisis. While on principle the spirit of capitalism 
would call for Wall Street firms to shoulder the burden of loss along 
with the spoils of profit, it is incumbent upon our Government to look 
for the greater good. But we must not neglect the lessons of history. 
If we agree that it is a responsibility of Government to provide 
liquidity and security to the titans of Wall Street--and we do--then 
how can we think it is any less our responsibility to do the same for 
Main Street?
  The American people are suffering. We are paying more than ever for 
gasoline, groceries, and heat for our homes. Home values are falling--
in January alone, almost 13 percent. Millions face foreclosure, and 
communities are suffering because of the housing meltdown. This crisis 
is real, it is immediate, and it calls for Congress to take action. 
Every day that Congress and the President do nothing is another day 
closer to another American family losing their home. This is not the 
time for politics or partisanship. It is, as President Roosevelt said, 
time to give

[[Page 4456]]

some ``assistance to the little fellow''--those were his words--it is 
time to do the right thing, the responsible thing, for the American 
people--the little fellow.
  Last work period, Democrats introduced a housing bill. The President 
and his Republican Senators filibustered and blocked this much needed 
legislation. This legislation is not a catch-all or a silver bullet, 
but financial experts agree it is a good start. If passed, it would 
have an immediate positive impact on struggling homeowners and hard-hit 
neighborhoods.
  Mr. President, I have talked in length about this legislation to 
Chairman Bernanke. I have spoken to Secretary Paulson. I think they 
have done good work. But I think if they were asked point blank--and I 
am not going to, certainly, state here publicly any of the things they 
said to me, but someone can ask them themselves--I think they would say 
our legislation is a step in the right direction. If this law passed 
today, it would have an immediate positive impact on struggling 
homeowners and hard-hit neighborhoods.
  These are the five points of our plan:
  First, we help families keep their homes by increasing funds for 
preforeclosure counseling. It is imperative we do that.
  Second, we expand refinancing opportunities for homeowners stuck in 
bad loans. Mortgage revenue bonds--the President said he liked that in 
his State of the Union Message.
  Third, we provide funds to help the highest need communities purchase 
and rehabilitate foreclosed properties, as well as tax relief to 
struggling businesses affected by the housing downturn.
  Fourth, we help families avoid foreclosure in the future by improving 
loan disclosures and transparency during the original loan and 
refinancing process.
  Fifth, we amend the Bankruptcy Code to allow home loans on primary 
residences to be modified in certain circumstances, with very strict 
guidelines. We have a tax provision which is extremely important to the 
homebuilding industry: Loss carryback. We have a program that allows 
the bankruptcy courts to step in on primary residences and, if 
necessary, help adjust those loans.
  It is time we pass this bill.
  Last work period, Republicans blocked a vote on this, as I have said 
before. One Republican Senator said that all Republicans wanted was the 
opportunity to propose amendments. Mr. President, I have said on this 
floor, I have said privately, I have said at press conferences--the 
record will clearly show--Democrats are happy to allow amendments. 
Democrats want to offer amendments. Republicans want to offer 
amendments. We would like nothing more than an open debate on this bill 
and how we might be able to make it better. I have told my 
distinguished counterpart, Senator McConnell, if Republicans object to 
parts of our bill, they are welcome to seek enough votes to amend it, 
to change it. That is how the legislative process is supposed to work.
  It would be a fool's errand to put our proposal up and the Republican 
proposal up and move to invoke cloture on each one of those. It would 
take 60 votes. That is not what we need to do. It would be failure for 
sure.
  Why don't we move forward on our bill? There will be a vote at 2:15 
tomorrow. If my colleagues want to have a limited number of amendments, 
fine, let's have a limited number of amendments dealing with this 
problem. Experts say we are in a crisis and have to do something now.
  I respect Secretary Paulson very much. I like Secretary Paulson. The 
proposals he made at 10 o'clock today are certainly worth considering, 
but they are not going to do one simple thing to help the people who 
are now in foreclosure--nothing. It is for the future. That deals with 
the future. We need to deal with the present. But so far my Republican 
friends have not allowed this bill to proceed to the point at which 
amendments can be offered. In short, they have stalled this necessary 
help to working Americans.
  Tomorrow, we will have another opportunity to work on this piece of 
legislation. We cannot sit on our hands. We cannot take a wait-and-see 
approach. And we cannot embrace the status quo as the economy continues 
to deteriorate. Let's legislate. Let's work to help beleaguered 
Americans. Democrats have no agenda but to get this bill passed quickly 
and fairly so the American people can reap the benefits. If we are able 
to pass this legislation, it will be one where credit can go to 
everybody. This is something we need to do. We cannot do it alone. We 
have 51 Senators. They have 49. We have to do this together or it will 
not be done at all. In America's darkest economic hour, that was the 
leadership Franklin Roosevelt showed--and that is what we must do as we 
face our own crisis today.

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