BANKING COMMITTEE MEMBERS URGE PRESIDENT BUSH TO ADDRESS FORECLOSURE CRISIS

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, along with several other members of the Committee, today sent a letter to President Bush urging the Administration to address the root cause of our nation’s economic problems – the foreclosure crisis.  The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act gives the Administration considerable new authority to prevent foreclosures.  While recent news reports have indicated that the Administration plans to use this authority – which was granted nearly four weeks ago – the Treasury Department has yet to announce any efforts dedicated to helping people keep their homes.

“The fact remains that the Administration has not dedicated the time, attention or resources needed to address the cause of the crisis – the historic levels of foreclosure,” the letter states. “Rather, it has focused almost exclusively on the symptoms of the crisis – financial arteries clogged with bad mortgage-backed debt and housing-related losses undermining the capital positions of our financial institutions.  While we support the goals of restoring liquidity and bolstering bank capital, these efforts, by themselves, will not end the current turmoil.  For this reason, and to address the current policy imbalance, the Treasury Department must use its authority under EESA to act decisively, aggressively, and swiftly to reduce foreclosures.”

Senators Tim Johnson, Jack Reed, Charles Schumer, Thomas Carper, Robert Menendez, Daniel Akaka, Sherrod Brown, and Robert Casey joined Senator Dodd in sending the letter.

A copy of the letter is attached.

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