    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [October 2, 2008]
    [Pages 1265-1266]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With Business Leaders on Economic
    Stabilization
    October 2, 2008

        I want to thank the job creators who have joined me here today to
    talk about the state of the economy and the need for the House of
    Representatives to pass the bill that passed the Senate last night with
    an overwhelming bipartisan majority.
        Our discussion today centered around credit. I know there's a lot of
    discussions

    [[Page 1266]]

    in the newspapers and on TV about the credit freeze. Well, let me tell
    you what this means. It means that if you're running a small company and
    you need to make payroll or you need to make sure you got inventory to
    be able to sell a product or you want to expand so you can hire
    somebody, you need to have credit. You need to be able to have money on
    a regular basis from your local banker.
        And the problem is, because people are worried about the future,
    they're worried the Government won't act, credit is frozen. People
    aren't lending money from bank to bank, or they're not lending money to
    our medium- and small-sized businesses.
        And that means people's jobs are in jeopardy. And the bill that's
    before the House of Representatives tomorrow is a bill that has got the
    best chance of providing liquidity, providing credit, providing money so
    small businesses and medium-sized businesses can function.
        A lot of people are watching the House of Representatives now to
    determine whether or not they will be able to act positively on a bill
    that has been improved. People say, ``What do you mean by that?'' Well,
    the insurance for the FDIC goes up to $250,000. That's an improvement to
    the legislation, not only for banks, but for credit unions as well.
        And so I'm talking to people who are, you know, who come from the
    heartland, that understand what's taking place in our economy today,
    people who understand that the House of Representatives needs to pass
    this piece of legislation.
        And I want to thank you all for going up and telling these Members
    of Congress what's on your mind and how this affects your businesses at
    home and how it affects the communities in which you live. This thing--
    this issue has gone way beyond New York and Wall Street. This is an
    issue that's affecting hard-working people. They're worried about their
    savings; they're worried about their jobs; they're worried about their
    houses; they're worried about their small businesses. And the House of
    Representatives must listen to these voices and get this bill passed so
    we can get about the business of restoring confidence.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:36 a.m. in Room 350 of the Dwight D.
    Eisenhower Executive Office Building. In his remarks, he referred to
    H.R. 1424. The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish
    language transcript of these remarks.