Senate Proceeding 10-01-08 on Oct 1st, 2008 :: 2:25:58 to 2:32:55
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2:25:45 to 2:25:58( Edit History Discussion )

diversity, shall i say, of the organization s who support this rescue package. i would like to ask unanimous consent that that be made a part of the record at the end of my remarks. the presiding officer:

2:25:58 to 2:26:15( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: without objection. mr. mcconnell: and also, madam president, i would say to my conservative friends who've had reservations about this, the "national review" supports this package -- i mentioned the heritage

2:25:58 to 2:32:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Robert P. Casey, Jr.

2:26:15 to 2:26:28( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: foundation supports the package. with mixed levels enthusiasm, the columnist charles krauthammer and george will would support the package. larry kudlow supports the package, of course "the wall

2:26:28 to 2:26:36( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: street journal" supports the package and even newt beginning rinks an early critic, said when pressed a couple of days ago if he were here, he would vote for the fadge. so, madam president, with --

2:26:36 to 2:26:46( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: he would vote for the package. so, madam president, with that, i yield the floor. mr. casey: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. casey: madam president, thank

2:26:46 to 2:26:58( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: you very much. i rise today to speak about the emergency economic stablization bill and i first of all want to commend the work of a number of people here but in particular chairman dodd who did

2:26:58 to 2:27:10( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: not want this assignment, had a tough assignment to work with people on both parties in both houses to get this done. and we have a lot more work to do after this, but i want to commend him for his work

2:27:10 to 2:27:23( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: and for his leadership under very difficult circumstances. there are a lot of ways to describe the challenge that we face in america today economically and in many ways to describe what we have to

2:27:23 to 2:27:35( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: get done, what we're going to vote on tonight. i think if you could boil it down to one word or a couple of words it would be -- one word would be "credit" or "lack of credit." and i think that's the

2:27:35 to 2:27:44( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: basic problem here. by the freezing or seeings up of credit markets, that isn't some far economic concept. that means that small businesses across pennsylvania and across the country can't have access to

2:27:44 to 2:27:56( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: credit to meet payroll and to hire people and to grow the economy and that's probably half of our economy- half of our economy is small business, if not more. it means that families when they go

2:27:56 to 2:28:08( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: to finance an education, higher education, or when they go to purchase an automobile for something for their home, they can't get access to credit. we live on credit. and thank god we have it. but that

2:28:08 to 2:28:22( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: system that we rely upon, that families rely upon, is put at risk now because of what's happened lately. we can spend a lost time figuring out why this happened, and we should after this debate

2:28:22 to 2:28:37( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: is over. but right now we have to act. i thought that one headline doesn't tell the whole story but i think it gave knee a sense of what's going on. this is from "usa today" on monday, september 29.

2:28:37 to 2:28:48( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: the headline reads "tight credit cost costs small business owners." in one headline, i think it encapsulated the challenge that this problem is for our economy. and i think i'm seeing it not just in

2:28:48 to 2:28:58( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: headlines and anecdotes about what's happening to people that own small businesses across the country. we're all seeing it as well in the unemployment rate, in the job loss across america. which

2:28:58 to 2:29:09( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: i would argue is, as bad as it is now and a lot of families have been living in this recession -- i don't care what the economists say; when you're paying higher prices for gasoline and food and

2:29:09 to 2:29:21( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: education and health care, everything in the life of a family goes up, you're in a recession. and i think in the last couple of weeks we've seen a terrible downturn in the job market. in pennsylvania,

2:29:21 to 2:29:40( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: for example, between july and august of this year, and this doesn't even include september where the numbers will be a lot worse -- just in one month we've lost 31,000 jobs in pennsylvania. and this

2:29:40 to 2:29:54( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: isn't just in fiflt, a little more than 21,000 jobs, or in pittsburgh, 7,700; i'm talking about smaller communities as well. johnstown, pennsylvania, a small labor market. they lost 500 jobs in one month.

2:29:54 to 2:30:08( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: altoona, pennsylvania, right next door to johnstown, small market. 500 jobs in onene month. and again none of this includes the month of september. so we're seeing it everywhere in our state. if small

2:30:08 to 2:30:20( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: businesses can't grow and can't have access to credit, they're not going to create the jobs that we need. and one more statistic understand anne i'll wrap up. the pennsylvania foreclosure rate, august 2007

2:30:20 to 2:30:30( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: versus august 2008, up 60%. so even in a state that has been relatively free of some of the trauma that nevada and california and some other states have been hit with, even in pennsylvania that foreclosure

2:30:30 to 2:30:41( Edit History Discussion )

rate is going up at rate much higher than the national average. so what's this bill about? it is about a couple of things. we've heard a lot about the description of it. i don't believe it's a

2:30:41 to 2:30:52( Edit History Discussion )

bailout. we can debate twha means. i don't believe it is. i think it is a stablization bill to stablize our commands our businesses and our -- and our economies and our businesses and our families.

2:30:52 to 2:31:04( Edit History Discussion )

but there are a lot of taxpayer protections built in this that were not there when we started this. taxpayer warrants, as senator jack reed talked about today; reimbursements so at the end of the road

2:31:04 to 2:31:16( Edit History Discussion )

fiveees years from now if taxpayers haven't gotten what new england need from this, these companies will have to reimburse; very tough oversight, several levels of oversight. we don't have time to go

2:31:16 to 2:31:32( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: into all of them but a special inspector general to crack down on what's happening when this program is implemented. limits on c.e.o. and executive pay. first time in american history that we've limited

2:31:32 to 2:31:45( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: or put some restrictions on that pay. foreclosure protections -- treftion strategies, an expansion of the hope for homeowners, good legislation which we're making stronger. and finally, finally, what

2:31:45 to 2:31:57( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: we have to do after this is over, as important as this legislation is, we've got to get to work on regulation. and we have to not just implement the right policies to regulate in ways that we didn't

2:31:57 to 2:32:08( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: regulate before in america, but also once those regulations are in place, we need to have people in washington who are willing to crack heads, figuratively, of course, on those who abuse the public

2:32:08 to 2:32:20( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: trust, those who abuse the rules and get people into mortgages, for example, that they can't pay for. and finally, we have to make sure that in the months ahead, in the years ahead, we invest in

2:32:20 to 2:32:29( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: the long-term economy, invest in health care and education, the skills of our worker to build a strong comirks not just for this year and next year but for the next generation. in the end, this

2:32:29 to 2:32:42( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: legislation that we're voting on tonight is about credit. we're either going to do something about and it allow people to have access to crerksd or we're not. i think we have to act, and we have to

2:32:42 to 2:32:55( Edit History Discussion )

Robert P. Casey, Jr.: act promptly. madam president, i yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from lewis. mr. vitter: mr. president, ask unanimous consent with senator demint's permission

2:32:55 to 2:33:08( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: that he and i be switched in the unanimous consent roster. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. vitter: thank you, madam president. madam president, 12 days ago we were struck by two bolts almost

2:32:55 to 2:38:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David Vitter