Press Conference with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI); Subject: The Economy

Statement

Press Conference with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI); Subject: The Economy

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SEN. SCHUMER: Well, thank you. I want to thank my colleagues, and Senator Reid for his leadership, as well as Senator Dodd, chairman of the Banking Committee, who couldn't be here because Banking Committee's having hearings. Senator Reed and I -- Senator Jack Reed and I serve on that committee.

The bottom line is that we are not going to get out of these economic problems, this recession, until we deal with the housing crisis. It's at the center, and it keeps sending out waves. And this administration has refused to address it. Why? Because they have ideological handcuffs on. They basically say, "We don't want the government involved." Well, you know, that was -- that sort of was the way people thought in the 1890s and maybe the 1920s, but not since then, until George Bush and his economic leadership got into town.

If we don't deal with the housing crisis, things are going to continue to get worse: foreclosures, decreased home values, home values, decreased consumer spending -- it was very low at Christmas, the lowest in many, many years.

Foreclosures also send shivers down the spine of the credit markets, and they're frozen. They are basically frozen. So it is very hard if you want to undertake a new project, whether you're an individual or a company, to get a loan. Yesterday the Port Authority of New York had to pay 20 percent just for an ongoing line of credit, and they're one of the most creditworthy people around -- groups around. Shows you how brittle the credit markets are.

And so we are stepping up to the plate today to say we're dealing with the center of this problem. And unless you do, you're not going to solve it.

The two areas that I'd like to mention are both from the Finance Committee on which I serve. Senator Reid mentioned them.

One is mortgage revenue bonds. It was pioneered by Senator Kerry, who is also a member of the Finance Committee. And what it will do would allow state housing finance agencies to float bonds so there'd be some money. The counselor is something that we've worked on and included in this bill. Patty Murray, myself, Senator Brown, Senator (Reid/Reed?), Senator Casey have done a lot on that. But you can have the counselor on the ground, but if there's no money to actually refinance the mortgage, forget it. The mortgage revenue bond provision, which the president supports -- Republicans -- was it in the House or Senate? -- Republicans somewhere took it out, but the president --

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SEN. SCHUMER: In the Senate -- but the president supports it. And it will provide the kinds of money that we need.

And the second thing is the loss carry-forward. If you have losses and you can carry them forward towards your taxes, whether you're a home group -- home-building group or any other business, it allows you to go forward and increase your economic activity. So these are both vital provisions to move us forward. They're part of a comprehensive package. And, you know, it would be nice if the president were standing here with us. It would be nice if the Republican leadership of the Senate was standing here with us, because we have to deal with the housing crisis before we're going to solve the economic crisis that faces the country.

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