Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

Floor Speech

EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT OF 2008 -- (House of Representatives - October 03, 2008)

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Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, I didn't take pleasure in voting yes today. But in tough times, Congress is required to make tough decisions. Voting for this bill is a risk, yes. But voting against this bill is a greater risk. Given the prevailing, dreadful economic trends, a bet that our economy will miraculously right itself on its own, without significant damage to the jobs and livelihoods of the people in my district and across America, is the greater risk I am not willing to take.

We are facing a startling reality. Without action, student loans, home loans, and lines of credit for local businesses will tighten, and eventually be cut entirely. With no credit source from which to pay employees, business will impose massive layoffs. Farmers, whose products are so vital to the Second District economy and who depend on a secure line of credit during planting season, won't have a crop. People facing foreclosure will not be able to refinance their mortgages, and will lose their homes. People looking to retire will have to take on part-time employment, or delay retirement entirely, because their savings, 401(k)s and pension plans will have been drained of assets.

I wish the bill we took up today was a cleaner bill. I wish we could have passed the bill Monday, and saved our deficit another $150 billion. Many of the provisions added onto this bill, especially relief for middle class taxpayers, are needed, but they add to the bill's cost. And any other day, I would stand firmly opposed until those costs were off-set.

But this is not ``any other day''--this is an extraordinary day, and these are extraordinary circumstances. The economy is on life support and not passing this bill would be tantamount to pulling the plug. Not passing it would imperil the very opportunities our society is known for, and that we behold as integral to American life: the chance to go college, run a business, own a home, enjoy retirement.

For the poor, for those who have been financially prudent, for the unemployed, for those who saw their 401(k)s dwindle this is not the end. In the coming months, it is my hope that Congress pours as much or more effort into investigating the financiers whose actions precipitated this crisis and who walked away with millions for themselves, as we have put into crafting this bill. It is also my hope we can repair the damage done the deficit. Meantime, I encourage my colleagues and my constituents to join me in supporting this first step toward regaining our financial footing and setting in place a new system, one that lacks the greed and the excess that brought us to this point in the first place.

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