(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Today, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, and the President quickly signed it into law following the vote. Congressman Dennis Moore (Third District – Kansas) released the following statement after voting for the bill:

“Our nation is facing a crisis that we've not seen since the early 1930s. If we do nothing, our small businesses will continue to suffer with limited access to credit, families will struggle to pay for college for their children and too many people will have to delay their retirement. Retirees with pension plans invested in the market will find they are not as secure as they hoped.

“Just today, the government announced that 159,000 jobs were lost in September, the sharpest drop in jobs in over five years. This is the ninth straight month of job losses. Two weeks ago, with the economy on the verge of disaster, and the choking off of access to credit, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke urged congressional leaders to act on this emergency economic rescue package by saying, ‘If we don’t do this, we may not have an economy on Monday.’ These are words no Member of Congress wants to hear, but it is a call to action, now.

“I voted for the original bipartisan compromise the House considered Monday because it took necessary steps to protect American taxpayers, including a recoupment provision to ensure that every dime of taxpayer money is paid back in full. Republican and Democratic leaders supported the original compromise to get our economy back on track. The bill was far from perfect, but it also included provisions to ensure aggressive congressional and judicial oversight of the rescue programs, as well as no taxpayer-funded ‘golden parachutes’ for careless Wall Street CEOs. The bill would have spread out the expenditures to make sure they are really needed, and mandated: 48-hour posting of all transactions on the Internet; warrants so taxpayers share profits; aggressive foreclosure mitigation activities, tax provisions helping community banks; and independent Inspector General oversight.

“But when the House failed to pass the bill on Monday, the Dow dropped 777 points, the largest single-day point drop in history. It cost the American economy more than $1.2 trillion as Americans saw their 401Ks, college accounts, and pension plans lose value.

“As a co-chair of the fiscally responsible Blue Dog Coalition, I have grave concerns about any legislation that passes off the costs to our children and grandchildren, adding to our $9.6 trillion debt. I would have strongly preferred that the Senate version of the bill had been written differently without all of their unrelated tax policy additions, but this is not about me. This is about preserving our way of life as a nation and restoring our economic strength. This is about protecting our families, seniors and small businesses from the devastating effects of doing nothing.

“Make no mistake: this crisis should not be about political opportunism. This is a time for Republicans and Democrats who are willing to put country before party, and our economic security before ideology, to come together and do what is in the best interest of our people and our country.

“I am just as upset as many of my constituents that our country is faced with this economic crisis. Government intervention should always be an option of last resort, but we are left with very few choices and even less time to preserve our economic stability. Inaction is simply not an option.

“In this difficult time, Congress must act. The Senate has spoken in a strong, bipartisan way, voting for this revised legislation by a vote of 74-25. The leadership of both parties and our two presidential candidates support this effort to rescue our faltering economy. In the short term, this relief package is an emergency line of credit, a lifeline for our drowning financial industry. In the long term, it’s also an investment in bringing back a strong economy. If our economy does not recover, if we slide toward recession or worse, we will all suffer. I support this bill because I believe it's the right thing to do for our country.

“But enacting this emergency legislation is only the beginning. While we had to act today to preserve our economy, I will continue fighting for fiscal responsibility, putting an end to runaway deficits and our mounting $9.6 trillion debt. I will work with my Republican and Democratic colleagues on the House Financial Services Committee to aggressively investigate what went wrong in the credit markets, and work in a bipartisan way to improve the regulatory structure so we can have a modern oversight structure that will make sure firms act in a responsible way. We must continue to do all we can to protect the future economic health of the country."