LoBiondo Reiterates Opposition to Wall Street Bailout Legislation Considered by House Today

Press Release

U.S. Congressman Frank A. LoBiondo (NJ-02) voted against the expanded $700 billion Wall Street bailout package today on the House Floor. LoBiondo had voted against the original proposal on Monday. After passing the Senate on Wednesday evening, the House's final vote was 263 to 171.

"I voted against the original proposal presented to the House on Monday because I - and hundreds of South Jersey residents as well as several independent experts - felt there was little justification to support the bill with its $700 billion price-tag when a return on the taxpayer's investment was far from certain. The original proposal lacked necessary reforms and needed regulations to ensure we are not again facing this crisis, or one even greater, in the near future. Today's bill continues those failures.

"Everyone acknowledges our nation faces a financial crisis - a crisis created by corporate fraud and mismanagement. I am more convinced today that forcing each taxpayer to pony up $2,300 of their hard-earned money to bail out Wall Street's misconduct will not fix the underlying problems. I believe the FDIC should have insured deposits up to $1 million, rather than the $250,000 approved in this legislation, which would reassure small businesses that their deposits are safe. These are significant short-comings in this legislation.

"Congress could have and should have addressed this financial crisis with greater resolve, deeper examination, and more long-lasting results with bipartisanship. In my assessment, we failed to protect the taxpayer in our hastily efforts to find a silver bullet to remedy an issue that has no single solution. Congress must enact significant reforms to the operations of Wall Street which undeniably affect Main Street. Our financial stability and long-term economic prosperity cannot and shouldn't wait until a new Administration is sworn into office."

This week, LoBiondo joined with Representative Jon Porter (NV-03) in introducing H.R. 7104, the "National Commission on Financial Collapse and Recovery Act of 2008." This legislation would create a bipartisan "September 11th"- type commission that would fully examine why the financial crisis occurred and recommend steps to be enacted to prevent this from occurring again.

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