Congressman Mike Conaway - 11th District of Texas

Washington, Sep 29 - Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which is designed to provide the Treasury Department with the authority to purchase troubled assets on the books of private financial institutions in an effort to resolve the current financial crisis. The bill failed by a vote of 205 to 228. After the vote, Congressman Mike Conaway (R-TX) made the following statement:

“While I know that something must be done to get our economy back on solid ground, I could not support the proposal that was brought to the floor today. Such massive government intervention is not the answer to working out the problems on Wall Street. We cannot make it habit to bail out companies when they make bad decisions, instead of allowing them to learn from their mistakes the same way that everyone else does – the hard way. We have the ability to help Wall Street sort out this crisis, without forcing taxpayers into a ‘bailout’. I understand the severity of the current situation, and Congress must stay in Washington as long as it takes to develop an alternative plan that everyone, including the American taxpayer, can agree on is best for our country.”