Date: 2008-09-29
Speaker: EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Texas

Madam Speaker. my constituents are justifiably anxious about the threats this financial chaos poses to their savings. their childrens future and their retirement security. I share their outrage that this administration and its supporters in Congress failed to prevent this foreseeable crisis and punish those responsible. I appreciate their anger and their opposition to using their tax dollars to bailout the executives of corporations who profited from the lax oversight of the past 8 years. I have been told that this crisis is called an economic Pearl Harbor. In those war days. American credit. which is necessary for all commerce. had stalled. Investors were pulling record amounts of money from even the safest investments. which meant that money for the shortterm loans that businesses use every day were either unavailable or cost three to four times more than they had cost just a few days prior. If allowed to continue. the result would have been catastrophic for individuals and businesses alike. The wartime government developed a plan to have the government buy the troublesome securities on the books of financial institutions in order to rescue our Nations and worlds economy. Since the Reagan administration. deregulation has spiraled out of control. Executive compensation and buyout packages have outraged millions of Americans. and rightfully so. We cannot continue with the path we currently are on. This measure is aimed to do that. Madam Speaker. I truly understand that the cost of this rescue package may also limit discretionary spending. Federal spending also might be hampered by the much larger commitments that the government has made for Medicare. Medicaid and Social Security. Regional economies. such as ours in north Texas. may have to fight even harder for scarce Federal dollars for roads. bridges and sewer projects. Creative solutions will be needed to find pragmatic ways to fund these needs. We need credit in order for this country to operate economically. Madam Speaker. state and local govemments rely on their ability to borrow to finance special projects. Think of how new schools get built: a district issues bonds through a bond house. the bonds are sold to raise money. the money is paid back over time with interest. Its like a mortgage. Texas companies rely on freeflowing credit to finance both daytoday operations and. longterm needs. Credit is tighter for businesses across the region at the moment. sometting of particular concern to manufacturers. And individuals rely on credit to buy homes. cars. and to pay for college. In a troubled economy. now made more difficult by the credit crisis. it is more important than ever to work together to nurture job growth in north Texas. From worker training to transit to luring new business to helping existing businesses expand. a lot is at stake right now. If this really is our economic Pearl Harbor. then the way we. as a nation and as individuals. act in the coming days will be the measure of whether we meet the challenge with the same resolve as our parents and grandparents. For that. I intend to vote for this measure.