WASHINTON - 10th District Congressman Patrick McHenry again today voted against a complex and highly criticized legislation authorizing $700 billion in government money to shore up the nation's stressed financial industry.
The 263-171 vote by the House sends the Senate-passed version to the White House for President Bush's signature. Among many features, the measure would allow the Treasury Department to buy up bad debt from various lending institutions.
Many members of the House voted for the bill though some said it was not attractive to them and to their constituents back home. The measure had been defeated in the same chamber on Monday, sending stocks on Wall Street into a record slide.
"I continue to believe that action is needed to stabilize our financial markets, but this is not the right approach," McHenry said in a statement from his Washington office. "For American taxpayers, $700 billion is an enormous price to pay for an experimental plan that cannot promise market stability or fundamental reforms to avoid future turmoil."
McHenry also voted against the bailout plan Monday.
"The U.S. Treasury has bailed out a number of financial institutions and yet the problem persists," he said. "I believe this is evidence that the strategy of taxpayer-funded bailouts is not the most effective course of action. I will continue to encourage the Securities and Exchange Commission to address the root causes of the liquidity problems that have stopped our credit markets from working. I will support initiatives that will allow for a capital infusion into our markets to help create jobs and grow our economy. And perhaps the most important move to restore long-term stability."
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