Watson Coleman: “These are the stories my friend from Florida and I have been exchanging. We have personal accounts that do stretch from…”

“These are the stories my friend from Florida and I have been exchanging. We have personal accounts that do stretch from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. These are the reasons we were called to take up this commonsense cause. We want to work on this legislation that Senator Nelson and I believe is one more way we can responsibly help homeowners, to temporarily waive this 10-percent penalty for withdrawals up to $25,000. Our amendment would also waive ordinary income taxes, as the Senator from Florida indicated, if the homeowner pays back the withdrawal within 3 years of making it, so homeowners are provided with a strong incentive to make their retirement savings whole again. This is not a silver bullet--I don't know if there is a silver bullet in terms of the crisis we are dealing with--but it helps those whom we want to help, homeowners who are in big trouble. In doing so, this temporary relief can prevent an unnecessary foreclosure from happening, one which hurts not only the family but hurts the entire community. When houses are foreclosed and vacant, it affects everyone in the surrounding area. It affects the neighborhoods. As a former mayor, I looked at neighborhoods we built up in my time as mayor and I believe the same neighborhoods are being torn down by the crisis we are facing. This bill is about homeowners helping themselves.”