Bush Urges Congress to Act Quickly on Relief Legislation, Dems Look to Add Measures
President George W. Bush in an effort to pressure Congress to quickly agree on plan to stop a financial meltdown said that the "whole world" is watching to see if lawmakers can come together without adding extra elements to the legislation.
Bush's move Monday came as some leading congressional Democrats called for a cautious, deliberative approach to stabilizing troubled financial markets. Senate Democrats want to add tough new measures to the Treasury Department's proposal to bail out financial firms, including strict limits on executive compensation and a provision that would allow the government to take shares of any financial institution that participates in the program.
The president said such efforts would "undermine the effectiveness of the plan." He also added "Indeed, the whole world is watching to see if we can act quickly to shore up our markets."
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd of Connecticut began circulating his 44-page draft Sunday night. The draft is likely to prove problematic for the Bush administration, which has tried to prevent lawmakers from making big changes to a much simpler proposal it unveiled over the weekend. Treasury's plan would allow the government to buy up to $700 billion in mortgage-related assets from banks and others to prevent a worsening of the financial market turmoil.
Lawmakers hope to finalize a plan by the end of the week, but multiple obstacles remain.
Published on September 22, 2008
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