Political Quotes

“I thank the leaders of this effort, my good friends, Senators Dodd and Shelby, for their hard work and their efforts to address the housing crisis and the need to reform regulatory oversight of the government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mack, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, and reforming FHA. These are clearly needed. They are long overdue. I am happy to support them. In addition, there is clearly a role and a need for the Government to address the current housing crisis. I have supported and led various efforts in the SAFE Act--Security Against Foreclosure and Education Act--that I introduced in March. That had additional housing counseling, improved disclosure and transparency in the home-buying process, and strong enforcement actions against predatory lending. These were essentially included in the bipartisan measure this Senate passed early in April. But I have grave concerns about some aspects of H.R. 3221, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. I filed three amendments to that bill today that I hope we will be able to discuss thoroughly and act upon. It is a fundamental principle that the Congress does not create programs that perpetuate or reward the behavior that led to the housing crisis or damage the key agencies that play a key role in stabilizing the housing market. Unfortunately, this legislation before us today goes against that principle.”