Kent Conrad

I think it is very, very important what Senator Bunning was talking about.

I must say I was directly involved in the farm credit crisis, and one thing I would like is to have you go back and have your people take a look at that, because it worked and it did not cost taxpayers money.

Government can do a lot of things. It does not manage property well.

Inject money into the institutions, require them to rework the bad loans, and have them do the workouts.

Whatever you do, don't take these properties into Government hands.

Let us move on that issue right now while the iron is hot and while we can get things done.

We are in crisis. People are sober. There is a sense of community here that often does not exist in the Congress.

Now is a good time to address the entitlement issues, which is critical.

We have to get real estate prices and the real estate portfolios stabilized.

I believe the economic recovery package as it is now structured does not adequately address the underlying housing and financial market crises.

I think it is going to need more impetus to help us get the housing sector back on track and clear the inventory that is out there.

It is designed to jump-start the economy, create jobs, lay a foundation for long-term economic growth.

We are in the midst of the worst economic downturn our country has faced since the Great Depression.

Debt has to be paid back.

I am very concerned about debt. I am concerned about national debt, corporate debt, individual debt.

This credit crunch is real and it is having a ripple effect way beyond what we had seen in the 1982 downturn.

I believe strongly in an economic recovery package. I have got issues with this one.

I believe the models that we are using now cannot capture the difference in the threat that we face.

Whatever one calls it, it is not what Senator Gregg and I have tried to send as a message.

62 percent of the outlays is after 2 years.

I tend to have more confidence in the CBO estimate, to be honest with you.

We would rather set up a process to get to that policy, which requires decisions and then requires action that is the best approach.

I was extremely encouraged by the President's Inaugural Address yesterday and by his comments obviously prior to that.

Obviously, if you lived through the Great Depression you may have seen it, but nobody else has seen it.

Clearly, that is unsustainable.