Political Quotes

“Reclaiming my time, in scouring the financial reform package and the Barney Frank bill or the Chris Dodd bill and setting up the word search and chasing it through there, Mr. Speaker, I don't find anything in either one of those bills that addresses the necessary reform for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They are completely insulated. I recall a debate here on the floor of the House on October 26, 2005, that the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, Mr. Frank, was very much engaged in. He came to the floor to vigorously oppose an amendment that was offered by Mr. Leach of Iowa that would have established higher levels of collateralization for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, higher standards for underwriting in the secondary market, and higher standards for capitalization for Fannie and Freddie. The vigorous opposition of Mr. Frank flowed out that day. And the gentleman from Texas remembers the exchange that took place on the Thursday before Easter in 2009 here on this floor. The gentleman from Texas was there, the gentleman from Massachusetts was there, and I think me up there somewhere. Because we talked about what had happened with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In that debate on October 26, 2005, the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. Frank said, If you are going to invest in shares of Fannie and Freddie, don't do so believing that he would ever vote to bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, because he would never do that. He would let them go down instead.…”