Congressman Chaka Fattah, D-PA said Democrats will attempt to fashion another plan, but that plan must be solid before it goes up for a vote. “The last thing we need to do is have another vote that fails,” said Fattah, who voted along with U.S. Rep. Bob Brady and Rep. Allyson Schwartz, the other two members of Philadelphia ’s House delegation, for the plan.

With Congress off for the Jewish holidays Tuesday and Wednesday, Fattah predicted “there’s going to be dominoes that will continue to fall,” and worried about the financial markets during that time.

“The real challenge is what’s going to happen in the credit markets over the next few days,” Fattah said. Fattah blamed the defeat of the bill on a fight for Republican House leadership and with a “lame-duck” president in office and administration officials asking Congress to act fast. “This was almost an attempt to embarrass the Republican leadership,” Fattah said.

Before the vote, Fattah addressed the House, urging the bill’s passage. “Now I know that we are tempted to see this as just another train wreck of the Bush administration. But we have to look past that to protecting the jobs of our constituents, their 401s, their pension funds, their ability to own and run and borrow to establish small businesses. We have to see this as a responsibility to protect our community banking institutions,” said Fattah.
Acknowledging the “varying positions” on the plan, Fattah said Congress has a responsibility to “defend this country and to stand on behalf of our constituents” in the face of economic calamity.

“And I do that reluctantly in some respects,” Fattah said. “But on this day I think all of us should rise to the occasion and support this bill, and for those who can’t, we understand that you think there should be a better way -- there is a bill in front of us today to stand in the breach and I stand in favor of it.”
US Rep. Robert A. Brady, D-NJ issued this statement this afternoon:

“Eight years of Republican failure to oversee financial markets have now caused what Secretary Paulson and Fed Chair Bernanke called the worse potential crisis since the Great Depression. Just today, we saw Wachovia bank sold in a fire sale. Also, the Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded its biggest closing point drop in history after the GOP killed this bill.

The Bush administration proposed a plan to satisfy the markets. Democrats wanted a plan to help the homeowners. I voted for the legislation because, after reaching across the aisle we were able to draft a bill that included protections for taxpayers and homeowners as well as stepping up to avoid a meltdown of our economy. We were able to fix the worse problems in the Bush plan and to provide important protections for taxpayers and homeowners. We were able to work with Republicans to cap executive pay and to end golden parachutes for executives who retire from failing companies.

We were also able to drop the price tag of the rescue plan from $700 billion to a phased in cash infusion; to add tough independent oversight and transparency; and to prevent home foreclosures crippling the American economy by allowing the government to work with loan servicers on new mortgage terms. If the experts are correct, the nation is facing a major financial crisis that may include the shut down of our credit system. It is regrettable that a Republican president and GOP Congressional leadership were not able to bring their Members along for this vital vote.”

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