Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, we swore an oath to protect this country, to protect our Constitution, and protect our people.

Most days in the House of Representatives, we make judgments. Those judgments are between what we think are good and better and perhaps bad. Most days are not like today. This is a day of consequence for the American people. This is a day of consequence to our country. This is a day when the Democratic leader, myself, rises to follow the Republican leader, and they speak with one voice as America faces crisis. That's what Americans want us to do.

I congratulate Mr. Boehner for his courage and for his leadership. And I congratulate my good friend Roy Blunt, with whom I have worked on issue after issue to try to bring us together, not on behalf of Republicans or Democrats but on behalf of our people.

Why should taxpayers lend out their own money to solve a crisis brought on by someone else's greed? Because when it comes to our economy, none of us, none of us is an island. We are all bound together in boom or bust, in growth or collapse, from the bankers on Wall Street to the smallest rural community that we represent.

Imagine, my colleagues, that we do nothing. A million more homes will likely be foreclosed on. Banks would likely be unable to lend. Credit, the lifeblood of any economy, might dry up across America. That means families unable to take out a loan to buy an appliance when their washing machine or refrigerator breaks, or send a child to college. It means retirement savings devastated. It means businesses shrinking all over America unable to meet their payrolls, and jobs lost and families at risk. That's what Mr. Boehner said and that's what I say. That's what Mr. Paulson has said. That's what Mr. McCain has said. That's what Mr. Obama has said. America faces a crisis, and Americans call out for us to come together to confront that crisis on their behalf.

It means workers losing their jobs on top of the more than 600,000 that we have lost this year. The meltdown would begin, it is true, in a few square miles in Manhattan. But before it was over, all of us know no city or town in America would be untouched.

With this bipartisan rescue plan, I am hopeful, every one of us in this body is hopeful, the President of the United States is hopeful, and I know that every American that we have the honor and privilege of representing hopes that we will prevent the worst-case scenario.

Under a plan put forward by President Bush, the government would purchase the bad assets clogging up our financial system, with the goal of restoring the flow of necessary lending and credit.

The original plan gave unchecked power to the Secretary of the Treasury to spend $700 billion as he saw fit. We, who represent the American public, who will be at risk, we hope they will not lose and we think they may not, but we said, no, we cannot do that. Our responsibility is to ensure transparency and oversight so that we know how their money is being spent and can ensure to the extent possible that it is spent in as honest and as effective fashion as we can effect. We made clear that this Congress does not write blank checks.

Both Chambers and both parties negotiated around the clock. I especially want to thank my colleague, as I have before, my friend Minority Whip Roy Blunt. Roy Blunt came to the table, and everybody that has been at that table has said Roy Blunt represented the American public at that table, as Barney Frank represented the American public at that table.

We've made significant improvement to the President's plan. First, we fought to add provisions ensuring that if and when financial institutions helped by this rescue begin to grow again, taxpayers will be the first to share in their profits; so even though this bill authorizes a total of $700 billion, as Mr. Spratt pointed out earlier today, the Congressional Budget Office does not believe that it will be anywhere near that price tag.

Some of you have heard me say that I was sworn in to the Maryland State Senate in January of 1967. On that same day in my State, Spiro T. Agnew was sworn in as Governor of the State of Maryland. And in his inaugural address, he said to all of us that the cost of failure far exceeds the price of progress. I think that is what is at stake here today, that the cost of our failure will far exceed the price of the progress we try to effect in this bill.

Secondly, we added a repayment clause originally championed by Congressman Tanner. And after 5 years the administration will have to tell us the true net cost to taxpayers and submit a plan laying out how Wall Street and financial institutions will pay back the taxpayer. While the final provision we negotiated with Republicans is not as strong as either of us would have liked, it is a step in the direction that both of us sought.

Thirdly, this bill restricts the compensation of executives. We ought not ask taxpayers to take a risk and advantage people who are making millions either as they work or as they leave successful or failed institutions.

Fourth, the Treasury Secretary's decisions will be subject to oversight and judicial review.

Finally, we will help homeowners change the terms of their mortgages to forestall the 2 million projected foreclosures that could further cripple our economy and devastate our neighborhoods. I know that it is not as good as some would like, but the alternative is nothing, and that is not acceptable.

We have ensured that this bill will not reward Wall Street for bad risks. Instead, it will keep local banks open. It will protect retirement accounts. It will help families get the credit they need. It will help small businesses stay alive and hiring.

But we must also reform our financial sector to safeguard against another collapse like this, and we will do so. Fiscal irresponsibility and regulatory neglect were at the core of this crisis. We must and we will investigate just how that failure occurred. And we will strengthen regulation and put economic referees back on the field. Responsible oversight must return to Wall Street.

Today, though, today, we are doing our best to forestall what Secretary Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke are predicting would be a disaster.

I opened by saying America was in crisis and that this was a day of consequence for our country. They have sent us here to respond. Today, this is not a Republican House or a Democratic House. It is the People's House. And the people, by an overwhelming majority, have asked us to act. They have not said act on this bill in this way because, like us, they're not sure. But what they do know is that inaction is not an option, that inaction will result in greater pain for our people and for our country.

So I rise with my friend John Boehner and my friend Roy Blunt and with Speaker Pelosi and with President Bush and with John McCain and with Barak Obama and say this day of consequence, let us meet the challenge, let us act, let us confront this crisis, let us be the best of the people's House.

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