THE PRESIDENT:
I want to thank the job creators who have joined me here today to talk about the
state of the economy and the need for the House of Representatives to pass the
bill that passed the Senate last night with an overwhelming bipartisan majority.
Our
discussion today centered around credit. I know there's a lot of discussions in
the newspapers and on TV about the credit freeze. Well, let me tell you what this
means. It means that if you're running a small company and you need to make payroll,
or you need to make sure you got inventory to be able to sell a product, or you
want to expand so you can hire somebody, you need to have credit. You need to
be able to have money on a regular basis from your local banker.
And
the problem is, because people are worried about their future, they're worried
the government won't act, credit is frozen. People aren't lending money from bank
to bank or they're not lending money to our medium- and small-sized businesses.
And
that means people's jobs are in jeopardy. And the bill that's before the House
of Representatives tomorrow is a bill that has got the best chance of providing
liquidity, providing credit, providing money so small businesses and medium-sized
businesses can function.
A lot of people are watching the
House of Representatives now to determine whether or not they will be able to
act positively on a bill that has been improved. People say, what do you mean
by that? Well, the insurance for the FDIC goes up to $250,000. That's an improvement
to the legislation -- not only for banks but for credit unions, as well.
And
so I'm talking to people who are, you know, who come from the heartland, that
understand what's taking place in our economy today; people who understand that
the House of Representatives needs to pass this piece of legislation.
And
I want to thank you all for going up and telling these members of Congress what's
on your mind and how this affects your businesses at home, and how it affects
the communities in which you live. This thing -- this issue has gone way beyond
New York and Wall Street. This is an issue that's affecting hardworking people.
They're worried about their savings, they're worried about their jobs, they're
worried about their houses, they're worried about their small businesses. And
the House of Representatives must listen to these voices and get this bill passed
so we can get about the business of restoring confidence.
Thank
you very much.
Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act as passed by the Senate
October 01, 2008
Document
Information
H.R.1424
- http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.01424:
