The Senate is convened.

• Moved to lay before the Senate the House Message with respect to H.R. 3221.

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "there are obviously private interests around the country from consumer groups and lending institutions, all that have a deep interest in what we're trying to put together here."
  • SUMMARY "we are living through the worst housing market since the great depression of 1920's and 1930's. here are the facts. residential construction in the united states fell by over 30% in the first quarter of this year. sales of existing homes fell by 13% over the past year. and while the new data for april indicates that sales may have finally picked up slightly, most analysts believe that that pick up in home sales occurred only because home prices have continued to fall"
  • SUMMARY "this sharp loss in wealth for the average american homeowner comes at a time when there are record high prices for the essentials of american life much. food, gas, health care, higher education; the list goes on and on and on. so the so-called foreclosure crisis is affecting more than those facing foreclosure. it is affecting nearly all of us"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "this legislation creates a new regulator that has the authority and the flexibility to regulate the g.s.e.'s appropriately. i'm also pleased that the hope for homeowners proposal is paid for, not by taxpayers' money either. i believe we should do what we can to help struggling homeowners. short of asking the taxpayers to foot the bill. mr. president, the legislation also provides immediate help to the marketplace by reforming the federal housing administration, allowing it to provide greater liquidity and thereby enhancing the options available to am america's homeowners."

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "they have taken this work that senator shelby and the other members of our committee have done, having gone through all the hearings, 50 of them over the last year, listening to all sorts of people talk about what needs to be do done. it is now the bipartisan, overwhelming majority opinion of us on that committee that this package we offer is our best step forward"

• Propounded a UC that the only amendments in order today be those relating to the subject of housing, except the amendment I will offer in my motion to concur with the House. (without objection)

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "we all know that the housing crisis is an issue in this country, and we do need to look at what we can do as a senate to relieve the foreclosures and to help americans stay in their homes. but we need to do it in a way that the american people trust"
• Asked the UC be amendmended to allow for an opportunity to offer an amendment that would refer the bill to committee with instructions to report what direct benefits Countrywide or other financial institutions would receive from this legislation. (Reid objected)

• Spoke on the Housing bill.
  • SUMMARY "the majority leader has outlined a way to go forward today that allows you to do what we used to do in the senate which is to offer amendments related to the subtle and vote on them. so i think this is a good way to proceed today"

• Moved to concur with House Amendments to H.R. 3221, as per the Dodd-Shelby amendment (Dodd Amdt. #4983).

• Spoke on legislation to protect old growth forests.
  • SUMMARY "i am hopeful that my proposal, driven by science and the will of the people of oregon end to the destruction of old growth and restore our at-risk forests through sustainable thinning, can help begin a new dialogue that leads to change that is so desperately needed"

• Spoke on an amendment he will propose to the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "in order to promote people to be able to stay in their homes by withdrawing from their 401 (k) savings plan without paying the 10% penalty. i will be offering that"
• Spoke on offshore drilling.
  • SUMMARY "that is listed as an asset on the books of the oil company, and the greater amount of lands that they can have that has some proven oil and gas deposits, the greater their asset value, even though it's not being drilled and not produced. which is the very reason they say that we ought to drill. but, of course, that's belied by the fact that they've already got 65 million acres that they haven't drilled. and, by the, 31 million acres of that is in the gulf of mexico that they have not drilled"
  • SUMMARY "we have a letter from the secretary of defense that says drilling for oil and gas would be incompatible with the use of the united states military. and that is the main testing and training area for the u.s. military in the world. as a matter of fact, it was that very excuse that i used back in 1982 when, as a young congressman facing down the secretary of the interior james watt"

• Spoke on gas prices.
  • SUMMARY "it makes sense, is let's look for other places where we can produce oil, american oil off our shore if states agree to it. that's the caveat -- if a state agrees to it. if florida doesn't want to do it, that's their choice"
• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "what is the role of the federal government? well, i'm hesitant to have the federal government step into this beyond what it's already done, but i think that setting up a backstop is appropriate. and that is essentially what the bill that is brought to us by senator dodd and senator shelby does today"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "while i would like to keep as many home owns in their homes as possible, this strategy to more likely to result in a large bailout for lenders while protecting a very limited number of borrowers."
• Called up an amendments on striking F.H.A. Hope (Bond Amdt. 4985) , on teaser rate disclosure (Bond Amdt. 4987) and on Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac tax protections (Bond Amdt. 4986).
  • SUMMARY "when taking into account the longstanding management and financial challenges of f.h.a., the expectationings being created by the new fmplet h.a. hope program are unrealistic. for these reasons i filed an amendment 4985 to strike title 4 of division a that establishes the hope program"
  • SUMMARY "this amendment would protect consumers considering complicated and potentially unaffordable mortgage loan terms by requiring a clear and simple disclosure of payments and interest rates for adjustable rate loans with so-called teaser rates"
  • SUMMARY "my concern is that regardless of what you think about the g.s.e.'s, it is, i believe, unprecedented for congress to step in and say, you are a partially privately owned, shareholder-owned entity and you shall be paying a tax that we determine to a group of other entities, over which you have no control"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "taxpayers bear the burden of a bailout of these risky mortgages that went south, so it's very important that we have a compassionate view that recognizes taxpayers paying the ultimate tax. as we proceed to this bill, we need to mind that very worthwhile principle. we need to address the housing downturn, but we need to show restraint and we need to limit the relief so that it eases the problem and doesn't simply create new problems."
  • SUMMARY "it's been a long time said that the american dream is to own your own home. unfortunately, the subprime mortgage crisis has turned that dream into a nightmare for many americans. the bipartisan tax relief provisions from the senate finance committee that have been worked out in a bipartisan way, and i believe in a bicameral way through senator baucus, are in this bill"

• Called up an amendment on appraisal regulation (Dole Amdt. 4984).

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "we're here to protect the strength of our nation, and we're here to help keep families in their homes. the tax provisions are meant to stabilize the housing market and boost our economy and designed to provide temporary, targeted and family tax relief for the housing market"
• Spoke on an amendment he will file on non-itemized property tax deductions.
  • SUMMARY "more than 20 million americans pay property taxes but do not itemize. this proposal allows those taxpayers to deduct the amount of their property taxes up to $500 for individuals and $1,000 for married filers. they can take the deduction even if they do not itemize their deductions. this change would benefit low-income individuals, benefit those who have paid off their mortgages and don't have a reason to itemize"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "it creates new equity for homeowners, we have to do that. number two, there is no bailout for investors or lenders. we've heard a lot of that talk here. just isn't true. that isn't a bailout. this is a way to dig our economy out of a huge hole. number three, borrowers don't receive a windfall. they've got got a stake in this and they have to sacrifice as well"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "this is a very important piece of legislation. america has a serious problem. this doesn't bail anybody out but incentivizes buyers to come back to the marketplace. it provides liquidity refinance loans. failure of congress to act, in my judgment, is going to cause us to have a protracted and devastating economic decline resting sole the on the fact of the decline in the values of homes in america"

• Spoke on a "windfall profits tax".
  • SUMMARY "how do we make sure that the cost of energy is affordable. these are the issues that the united states congress has got to address. but let us be very clear, madam president. these issues will not be debated in a intellectual realm where we're just trading ideas. this debate is going to be clouded by the enormous power and money of special interests. madam president, since 1998, the oil and gas industry have spent over $600 million on lobbying"

• Spoke on awarding fuel tanker contracts to Airbus.

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "my patience is thin on this matter because we've worked too hard on it. and for those who suggest it is a bailout for a lender, i mean, i've heard a lot of arguments against this bill. that's a new one that i've heard. when you've got people losing their homes every day, neighborhoods being destroyed because of it, financial aid for students, municipal finance, commercial lending, global implications of trying to put a bill together here that will bring some confidence back to the marketplace and suggest somehow this is a bailout for some bank, it's anything but that"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "i hope that we'll be able today or tomorrow to pass this legislation if we're -- if the senate is willing and go to the next step because there are a lot of people that will save their homes possibly because of this. will this save everything in america? no. but it will be a good first step"

• Spoke on oil drilling.
  • SUMMARY "we can bring on our known reserves. we can open them up to the market. we can let the bidding process go forward and we can tell the world market that america is going to be producing again in a time frame of three to five years. and, as a result of that, the speculation will begin to move out of the market because there will be a sense of reality returning to what has been there through the 1970's and 1980's and the 1990's, and that is additional supply to offset the depletion in the oil field itself and the demand for about a 1% or a 1.5% growth in the market as these new technologies begin to take hold"

• Spoke on energy prices.
  • SUMMARY "the apologists for the oil industry ascribe no blame to wall street speculators. they say the oil industry itself is blameless. they say that it's all about the environment. it's all about something that most people really don't understand. and what they say specifically, they ask a few questions. they say wouldn't increasing offshore drilling lower gas price? they say why can't we build more refineries in the united states? and let's just for a moment talk about some of those questions that they raise"

• Propounded a UC that the Senate read a third time and pass an 18 month extension of the December Medicare Bill. (Durbin objected)

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "77 filibusters, one after another, and this one is to stop a rule from this administration, which would cut reimbursement for doctors providing help through medicare. these doctors need that help. that's why we wanted to bring it to the floor. i beg the republican side, for goodness sake, let's act like a senate, let's debate, let's deliberate, let's vote on amendments"

• Spoke on awarding fuel tanker contracts to Airbus.
  • SUMMARY "i confess to be disappointed by the decision, but i think it is important to continue to follow this process and to recognize the appropriate roles of the different government actors involved. it is, of course, not the g.a.o., government accountability office's job to pick aircraft for the air force"

• Spoke on gas prices.
  • SUMMARY "that's why on this side of the aisle we had a very good package of bills to go after the speculators, to go after the manipulators of gas prices. and we will keep on coming back until our colleagues recognize they can talk about drilling off the coast in pristine areas all they want."
• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "loan limits for fanny, freddie and f.h.a., but they are not as high as what was in the stimulus package. although it's $625,000, it's a step in the right direction. we really should go back to the $729,000 that we had under the economic stimulus package. the loan limit for participation in the hope for homeowners program is set at $550,000. given the concentration of foreclosures in high-cost areas, a higher loan limit for this program is essential. now, i know this was an issue for senator shelby, but i want to point out that, you know, in his state, i think the average of a home is about $130,000. the average mortgage or average home? the median home price, $130,000. that is way under other areas"
  • SUMMARY "this is about people being thrown out of their castles, their home, thrown into the moat and about communities that wither and about local governments that struggle. it's about crime rates that begin to go up. it's about dreams that are dashed and consumer confidence that goes down the tubes at a time when we're fighting off a broad recession"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "a strengthened regulator is in everyone's best interest: the administration, the congress, wall street, investors world wide and, most importantly, the american home buyer. i believe by strengthening this regulator, that we will create a greater level of confidence in investors at a time when more capital and more liquidity is needed in the troubled financial times. the importance of fannie mae and freddie mac in the housing financial substantially is undeniable."

• Called up an amendment on affordable housing. (Sununu Amdt. 4999)
  • SUMMARY "this amendment does is says to the smallest housing authorities in the country, those with 700 or 50 fewer housing units that they manage. if you do a good job, if you're among the highest performing, not trouble, get the job done, perform well and pass all of the h.u.d. audits, you won't have to be required to submit a formal plan every single year. you still have to provide a five-year plan, still have to meet all of the civil rights law and compliance under h.u.d. but we take away that burden, the administrative burden, of having to put together a plan every single year"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "a housing bubble when the cost of housing was run up in ways that are hard to explain. and that bubble, like most bubbles, have collapsed and we're now looking for the bottom to stabilize property values and for us here in the senate to try to make sure that we get to that bottom fairly quickly, that we maintain and restore liquidity in the banking system and we help neighborhoods where there are foreclosed homes"
  • SUMMARY "in terms of regulation of the fannie mae and freddie mac and federal home loan banks, they are involved in raising trillions of dollars to finance home mortgages. trillions of dollars. we have the strong independent regulators of financial institutions, thrifts, credit unions, large bank holding companies, they're not, for the most part, nearly as large as fannie mae and freddie mac and fannie mae and freddie mac don't have a strong regulator. they need one. with this legislation they're going to get one."

• Called up an amendment to address scams on distressed homeowners. (Kohl Amdt. 4988)

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "when you have so many different concerns and considerations and i know how hard the chairman worked on this. i know how hard senator shelby did. they were wide apart on what they did and came together with a compromise that is a very, very good step forward. there are parts of this bill that are extremely important, madam president. the foreclosure counseling, this is something that i have been compeaning for a long, long time"
  • SUMMARY "when you have someone who would be in charge here, who at least does not share my views on how fannie and freddie ought to function is a bad idea. and i hope when we meet with the house, and i have spoken to chairman frank, and he agrees with our side, i hope that he, senator shelby will realize how strongly some of us feel. and, secondly, is the idea of fannie being able to securitize. this is language in the portfolio regulation that could unnecessarily restrict the portfolio business of the g.s.e.'s by creating a bias toward securitization"

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "i think a lot of people in the country have to be scratching their heads and wondering where the congress has been on this, where washington has been on this, and where the administration has been, and i know it's been particularly frustrating to the chairman and to many of us"
  • SUMMARY "i think the bond amendment, to make these contributions voluntary is the wrong amendment wand would have a very, very damaging impact in our ability to be able to deal with rental housing and the re rental housing crisis. let me just explain why. fannie mae and freddie mac already have requirements to assist low- and moderate-income families to obtain critical housing. and what we do in this bill is take excess funding that is produced in housing"

• Propounded a UC that at 4:30 the senate proceed to vote on the following amendments in the order listed: Bond Amdt. 4986, Bond Amdt. 4985. (without objection).

• Spoke on her pending amendment to the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "my amendment, number 4984, would require the director to issue a regulation establishing appraisal standards for mortgages purchased or guaranteed by fannie mae and freddie mac. it would ensure that mortgages purchased or secured by fannie mae and freddie mac are collateralized by properties subject to fair and accurate appraisals which is necessary to maintain the integrity of the mortgage process, improve the safety and soundness of the enterprises and reduce the potential for mortgage fraud"

• Spoke on his amendment regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Tax Protections (Bond Amdt. 4986)
  • SUMMARY "the point is to remove what the banking committee has provided here which is a tax without -- on g.s.e.'s which, without any input or other involvement would pay support for a whole range of groups."
  • SUMMARY "fannie mae and freddie mac should be able to continue to use their existing affordable housing program that they administered, that they were set up to do, and not have their funds taken away to fund another program over which they have no control, no responsibility. there is absolutely no reason to tax these entities to support housing groups which may or may not be responsible or capable of administering good housing programs"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "the heart of our economic crisis is the housing crisis and the heart of the housing crisis is the foreclosure crisis. were the bond amendment to be adopted, the very bipartisan effort that we've spent months working on to achieve here would be lost"
  • SUMMARY "in our moment here of difficulty, if we can't do something to provide affordable shelter to make it possible for working families in this country to have a decent place to live, i don't think that's too much to ask."

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "i, too, must oppose the senator's amendment. senator bond's amendment would specifically underline the goal of protecting the american taxpayer from the costs of the whole program. i've often said that we should do whatever we can to help people to stay in their homes short of sticking taxpayers with the tab"
• Spoke on Bond's amendment regarding the F.H.A HOPE program (Bond Amdt. 4985)
  • SUMMARY "while i'm sympathetic to and share many of senator bond's concerns regarding f.h.a.'s longtime management problems and resource constraints, i cannot support this amendment. the proposed hope for homeowners program establishes a new board to oversee the implementation of the program"

• Spoke on an amendement he will propose on lie oil funding.

• Spoke on his amendment regarding the F.H.A HOPE program (Bond Amdt. 4985)
  • SUMMARY "i fear that taxing g.s.e.'s or taking money, expropriating money from g.s.e.'s and setting up this hope now program is a false hope, because f.h.a. can't manage it, and they are likely to have a tremendous impact on, number one, a potentially on the housing budget coming out of the taxpayers' pockets. we don't have enough money to pay for all the things we need to do for public and assisted housing"
  • SUMMARY "the hope is that f.h.a. will somehow be able to dispose properly of those 130,000 homes while they are trying to manage their portfolio. experience shows that will not work. no matter what kind of board you set up, f.h.a. cannot take on all those additional responsibilities. this program is far more likely to result in a huge bailout for lend erstwhile protecting a very limited number of homeowners. the congressional budget office -- hear this -- the congressional budget office estimates under this program mortgage holders would have an incentive to direct their highest-risk loans to the program. they estimate the cumulative default rate of the hope program would be 35% -- one out of three -- worst of the worst loans. f.h.a. would get them. where would they get them? from companies that have been the heart of the problem. according to "the wall street journal," country wide financial, t! hey had $168 billion, they had 11% of the subprime problem."

• Spoke on the Isakson amendment (Isakson Amdt. 4983)
  • SUMMARY "one of the flaws in the bill today as it sits is the fact that this credit begins on april 1. so people who have already bought homes would be participating. and i think the purpose of this amendment that he so wisely crafted and has brought forward would actually stimulate new home buyer housing, not to reward people who have already taken action"

• Spoke on the Bond's amendment regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Tax Protections (Bond Amdt. 4986)
  • SUMMARY "this is not something that is a temporary fix to the mortgage crisis. this is a long-term, addressing a problem of affordable housing in this country. it's absolutely necessary. the bond amendment would essentially say, you can have it but we're not going to fund it, because the funding mechanism comes from fannie mae and freddie mac"

The vote was 11-77,

Bond Amendment #4986 fails.

(Vote results will be posted here within an hour.)

 
Senator Dodd: (4:57 PM)

• Raised a point of order that Bond Amdt. 4985 violates the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2008, the Pay-Go Point of Order.

The vote was 21-69, the motion to waive the Budget Act with respect to

Bond Amendment # 4985 is not agreed to, the motion is sustained and the amendment falls.

(Vote results will be posted here within an hour.)

• Spoke on the President's visit to Iowa.

• Spoke on the President's agreement on the G.I. Bill.

• Spoke on the President's agreement on the G.I. Bill.

• Propounded a UC that the Bunning motion to refer now be in order with respect to the House Message regarding H.R. 3221; with no amendments be in order and be subject to 60-vote threshhold and if it is not achieved it be withdrawn and there be no further motions during the  pendency of this House Message.

• Moved to refer the Message from the House on 3221, to the Committee on Banking Committee of the Senate with instructions to assess the potential financial benefits the legislation can provide to Countrywide financial corporation and other lenders as well as mortgages originated by Countrywide Financial Corporation and other lenders that are held by third parties.
  • SUMMARY "is that the lenders and others who hold mortgages are going to dump their worst $300 billion of mortgages on the f.h.a. without requiring so much as a thank you to the taxpayers. if we are going to give such a large gift to the big banks and the investment houses, we should at least know who we are sending it to"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "we've seen in the media all over the country questioning the amount of money we spend, who benefits from it, and the fact that we are potentially unloading hundreds of billions of dollars of bad loans on to the american taxpayers' shoulders. so, i appreciate senator shelby and his work, but i have to object to this bill. and the purpose of referring it back to the committee is not to stop the bill indefinitely, but to get a careful review of really who benefits from this bill"

• Spoke on the Bunning motion to refer with instructions.
  • SUMMARY "lenders and borrowers would give up something in order to take advantage of this program. the current mortgage holder, whoever it is, must agree to a loan refinancing arrangement that brings the loan to value ratio on the new f.h.a.-insured loan to no greater than 90% of the property's current appraised value"

• Spoke on the Bunning motion to refer with instructions.
  • SUMMARY "i don't like countrywide. i think many of us may not in this chamber given that we know what they have done. but i don't know of a single special interest provision as my good friend from alabama has stated in this bill that applies to countrywide. it is a general proposal, supported by wide numbers of people on all sides"

• Responded.
  • SUMMARY "my good friend from new york has made many good points about the bill that we did discuss in the banking committee. and you know about it. but this is a brand-new substitute that has new provisions and no one has had a chance to go through them. i'm saying that this bill ought to be sent back to the banking committee and examined to make sure all of those wonderful things that the senator from new york has said are true"

• Spoke on the Bunning motion to refer with instructions.
  • SUMMARY "this legislation is about helping homeowners, regulating fannie and it has nothing to do about bailing out companies. countrywide is mentioned in this resolution. countrywide was trading a year ago $38.89. it closed today at $4.83. it is subject to an acquisition by bank of america. the market has penalized countrywide. bank of america will acquire it. by the time this legislation is effective, countrywide very well might not exist as an entity in the country"

• Spoke on the Bunning motion to refer with instructions.
  • SUMMARY "i want my colleagues to understand that everything in this bill is transparent. there is nothing that isn't transparent in nature"

The vote was 11-70, the motion to refer the Message from the House

on HR 3221 to the Committee on Banking of the Senate with instructions, is withdrawn.

(Vote results will be posted here within an hour.)

• Tomorrow --
  • We will continue debate on the Housing Bill.
  • Votes are not likely tomorrow.
  • We will conduct business on Monday.
  • There will be votes on Tuesday morning.

• Spoke on the Housing Bill.
  • SUMMARY "it strengthens and protects the regulation of the housing government enterprises: fannie mae and freddie mac and the federal home loan banks. it modernizes the federal housing administration and creates the hope for homeowners program which will prevent over 400,000 foreclosures. the bill also contains language that i championed to improve financial education in housing counseling. i believe this is an important step forward for improving financial education and arming homeowners with the tools to protect themselves. and because of senator jack reed, this bill includes an affordable housing fund to create affordable housing for millions of american families"

• Tomorrow --
  • We will continue to debate the House Message to accompany HR 3221.
  • We will stand in recess until 9:30 AM tomorrow.
  • There will be no votes tomorrow or Monday.

The Senate stands in until 9:30 AM tomorrow.