Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendments to H.R. 3221, Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008
PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF SENATE AMENDMENTS TO H.R. 3221, FORECLOSURE PREVENTION ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - May 07, 2008)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. AL GREEN of Texas. I thank the gentleman for yielding the time. I'd like to thank the chairman, BARNEY FRANK, for this outstanding piece of legislation.
Let me quickly say that Hope Now is good, which is what my friend referenced. Hope Now is good. However, help now is better.
We didn't give Penn Central hope now. We gave Penn Central a $7 billion bailout. Lockheed Martin got a $250 million bailout. Franklin National Bank, $1.7 billion bailout. Chrysler, $1.5 billion bailout. Continental Illinois, $4.5 billion bailout. Farm Credit System, $4 billion bailout. First Republic, $1 billion bailout. Major airlines, $5 billion bailout. Steel companies, $7 billion bailout. And Bear Stearns, if we talk about the bare facts, $29 billion, plus a $13 billion loan through J.P. Morgan, which makes a total of $42 billion, if we talk about the bare facts.
This is a good piece of legislation, Mr. Speaker. This piece of legislation is voluntary, as has been indicated. But more importantly, it is a guarantee, not a loan. It does allow FHA to guarantee loans, about $300 billion, and that's going to help a lot of families to stay in homes. But it will also help this economy.
This economy is right now in a credit crisis. And in this credit crisis we've got to realize that there is interconnectivity. There's an interconnectedness, that we are living in a world wherein we are related to each another in a certain way. In this crisis, Mr. Speaker, when one home in a community has a for sale sign up, it impacts other homes in the community. It impacts the tax base of the community. It impacts the lives of children who are going to school in the community. So this piece of legislation will help us to keep people in their homes, but it will help to maintain the community. We sleep in houses and live in neighborhoods. This legislation helps neighborhoods.
I would also add that flippers don't benefit because you have to be a resident of the property. The government maintains a lien on the property. And there's an amendment in this bill, the Watt-Velázquez-Green amendment, which will help those persons who are being evicted, who happen to be tenants. Many persons who have their rent paid, their rent is paid, but they're being evicted because the owner of the property was foreclosed on. This amendment will help them to stay in their homes.
I ask that my colleagues please support this amendment, and please remember that we bailed out a lot of companies in this country. This is a hand up for a lot of people who are suffering and who may lose their homes, others who have their rent paid but who are about to be evicted.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source