What’s at Issue Last week he U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives passed and the President signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, H.R. 1424 , which authorizes the federal government to spend $700 billion to rescue the financial markets by purchasing distressed assets from troubled financial institutions. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 74 to 25 , while the House approved the measure with a vote of 263 to 171 .
Why It’s Important The purpose of the bill is to provide the Secretary of the Treasury with the authority to restore liquidity and stability to the American financial system to help protect American families and the US economy. Without government intervention, President Bush and lawmakers warned that the outcome would have been massive job losses, devastated retirement accounts, eroded housing values, as well as the inability to obtain loans for new homes, cars and college tuition.
Tax extensions were included in the bill which includes:
NATA Position NATA believes that the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is an important step to restoring the financial markets so that individuals and businesses may continue to seek and grant loans which are vitally important to our economy.
Status Treasury Secretary Paulson has said that $250 billion will be used immediately to purchase mortgage debt to boost confidence in the credit markets.
Staff Contact: Kristen Moore Director, Legislative Affairs [email protected]
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