U.S. Chamber Lauds Today’s Passage of Bill

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is expressing its support for the passage of today’s "financial rescue" bill, claiming it had to be passed in order to keep the American economy — and its businesses — afloat.

With the American economy on life support, Congress took the necessary step to stop the bleeding.  Today’s bipartisan vote in the House is a major step toward stabilizing the credit markets and supporting Main Street businesses.

Every day there was a delay in shoring up our financial markets, Americans saw their investments plummet. Over the past few days, uncertainty and turmoil have dramatically affected markets and lowered equity prices, eroded individual savings, and destroyed household wealth. 

Economic Stabilization Bill Passes House, Bush to Sign

The U.S. House of Representatives just passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 by a tally of 263 to 171.

Republicans who said they would switch their votes from "no" to "yes" included Rep. Howard Cobble, R-N.C., and Rep. Sue Myrick, R-N.C. In a statement, Myrick said, "We’re on the cusp of a complete catastrophic credit meltdown. There is no liquidity in the market. We are out of time. Either you believe that fact, or you don’t. I do."

Indiana’s Congressmen voted as follows:

Yay
Andre Carson (D)
Joe Donnelly (D)
Brad Ellsworth (D)
Mark Souder (R)

Nay
Dan Burton (R)
Steve Buyer (R)
Mike Pence (R)
Baron Hill (D)
Pete Visclosky (D)

Both Indiana Senators Richard Lugar (R) and Evan Bayh (D) voted for the bill in the Senate, where it passed 74-25.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., cast a reluctant “yes” vote.

“As distasteful as it is for Congress to take this action, doing nothing would likely make things much worse,” he said in a statement. “Once we have dealt with the present crisis, we must channel our anger into making sure this never, ever happens again.”

Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., also voted for the bill.

“Failure to pass (this) legislation would lead to massive unemployment and failure of small business and farming operations in Indiana,” he said in a statement. “That is unacceptable.”