The U.S. House has passed the $700 billion "Wall Street bailout," bill formally known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, by a vote of 263 to 171 today. When the bill was first introduced in the House on Sept. 29, only two of Georgia's 13 members of Congress supported it, Rep. Sanford Bishop of Columbus and Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon, both Democrats. It was defeated. Today when it returned to the House laden with incentives for passage after its approval by the Senate on Oct. 1, two more Georgians, also Democrats, voted yes, Congressman John Lewis and Congressman David Scott, both of Atlanta. Lewis sent out a press statment quoting the speech he made explaining his vote switch:
“Madame Speaker, I have decided that cost of doing nothing is greater than the cost of doing something. The fear that is gripping Wall Street has the power to shut down Main Street. We cannot and we must not allow that to happen. The people are afraid. Their retirement savings are slipping away. Small businesses have no sales, no credit, and are closing their doors. People cannot get loans. They are losing their lines of credit.
“We must act. We must do something. But I do not see this as a blank check. In a few months, we will have a new President and a new Congress. We must hold the feet of these financial institutions to the fire. It is only with that assurance that I will vote yes on this legislation. Thank you Madame Speaker.”
To see the roll call of the vote, visit http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2008/roll681.xml