Date: 2007-12-14
Speaker: HARRY REID (democrat)
Chamber: S

NELSON. KLOBUCHAR. LIEBERMAN. HARKIN. and SALAZAR. Of course. we would not be here without our leader. Senator HARRY REID. I know this is a personal concern to him in Nevada. I know that in his State there is a real challenge. as in mine. as it relates to the mortgage crisis. and he has made this a personal priority. and I am very grateful for his support. Of course. Senator BAUCUS. our chairman of the Finance Committee. without whom. also. we would not be here. if it was not for his leadership. and his partner. Senator GRASSLEY. without their bipartisan working relationshipthey are so extraordinarywe would not have an opportunity to address this issue and pass this legislation. We held a hearing earlier this week. and I want to thank again our Finance Committee chairman for focusing a bright light on this mortgage crisis. what is happening not only in the subprime lending market but in the general economy as it relates to the ripple effect in the housing crisis. and his commitment has brought us to this point. I want to thank him. I also want to thank Senator JUDD GREGG. who brought this issue to the debate on the farm bill and. frankly. was very instrumental inbringing this focus to the Senate floor. very articulate in explaining what the problems are that families are facing. and he. too. deserves a lot of credit for being a part of the effort to get us to this point and getting the actual bill passed this year. Finally. I want to thank the White House. I think it is fair to say that there are not a lot of issues in which I find myself on the same side as our President. but this is one of those on which we have worked very well together. I appreciate his staffs good will in working with us to be able to get this done. This was an important bipartisan effort from top to bottom. and I think we can all be pleased and grateful that we have the opportunity to work together to really get something done. That is what people want us to do. I know our Presiding Officer understands that. that people want us to work together. they want us to understand what is going on in their lives and that it is not just a game. that there are real things that need to be fixed. that we need to solve problems. I know that is why we have come here. The examples today. working together on the Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act and FHA. are two examples of what happens when we work together. I am a member of the Agriculture Committee and proudly have worked with our chairman and ranking member and all of the members of the committee to get a farm bill passed. a Food and Energy Security Act that is good for the country. not just for rural America but for all Americans and for our economy. So this ig a daywe have the Department of Defense authorization that was passedthis is a day of good cheer. a day of showing what we can do with the right kind of leadership. and I again thank Senator REID for providing that leadership. He and Senator MCCONNELL. working together on the efforts that we were able to pass today. have made a real difference. We have. in fact. as it relates to families who find themselves in a very difficult crisis or on the verge of a crisis related to losing their homes. said to them: We not only hear you. but we are going to step up and we are going to help. That is what this bill does. That takes away the tax liability for families. That is what we did earlier today with FHA modernization. and it is a good wvay to end a very hardfought week. a very difficult. challenging week. to come together on this Friday to be able to get work done for the American people. and I am very proud we have been able to do that. I yield the floor.