Chuck Schumer: “over the past few months, as the subprime crisis has deepened, I have said time and time again we need to act to help…”

“over the past few months, as the subprime crisis has deepened, I have said time and time again we need to act to help millions of American families at the risk of foreclosure to save their homes. Until now, we have been blocked in those efforts, which is unfortunate. But I do wish to thank my colleague from Oklahoma who, as always, has agreed to this debate, to a discussion of the issue on the merits. He wanted a careful look, wanted his voice heard but did not want to be dilatory for its own sake, and I very much appreciate that. Now I believe we can move this important legislation forward. The word ``crisis'' gets tossed around a lot in Washington. But make no mistake about it, we are in one. Almost a million Americans have lost their homes due to foreclosure this year alone. It seems each week foreclosures reach a new alltime high. Some people stand by and say: Do nothing. The administration has said: Well, let the market take care of this by itself. They have come up with various plans where they sort of tie themselves in a pretzel to avoid any Government involvement.…”