A bill to provide for additional emergency unemployment compensation, to amend the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 to authorize loans to automobile manufacturers and component suppliers, and for other purposes.

Mr. President, it is a real pleasure to join and partner with my good friend, Senator Mikulski, on this initiative to save American jobs, help American families, support the auto industry, as she has just said, and put America back on wheels.

During those tough economic times, we believe this proposal will help American families afford the cars, small trucks, and SUVs they need to get to work, to take their kids to school, and encourage investment needed to boost auto sales which will help save American jobs, help middle-class families, and support the auto industry.

Selling cars, again, is one of the most important things we can do for the entire auto industry, by encouraging now tentative buyers who are worried about making the payments to go ahead and purchase. This is the best way to get our auto industry back to work and provide the jobs people need.

In my home State of Missouri and throughout the Nation car sales have declined sharply in recent months, and there will likely be a further decline as the economy struggles. Cars and trucks are one of the largest purchases for households. Most rely on some kind of financing to acquire the vehicles.

By making interest payments and sales and excise taxes deductible, this program will help middle-class families afford the cars, SUVs, and light trucks they need to get to work and take their kids to school. This should mean real savings to middle-class families who are struggling to pay a mortgage or rent, buy groceries, and afford health care.

This proposal also helps the struggling auto industry and millions of jobs that are dependent on them: auto suppliers, steel and glass manufacturers, and the car dealers.

There are closing car dealerships in Missouri. They are shutting their doors, laying off workers, cutting jobs. Others are facing real squeezes. They, too, may be facing this same crisis if they do not get people purchasing cars.

With our economy shedding hundreds of thousands of jobs over the past several months, it is critical that we act now to prevent further losses to an industry that touches the entire Nation.

Now, in addition to this tax proposal, I think we must take action to provide bridge loan financing to Detroit's big three auto companies. The idea of getting Government involved in the free market is troublesome and potentially dangerous to the health of our system, but I strongly believe we have to act in unique times of crisis when millions of workers are in danger of losing their jobs. We are clearly in this unique crisis. We are experiencing a crisis unparalleled since the Great Depression.

It is for that reason that I will not turn my back on hundreds of thousands of Missouri jobs. Now is the time to act. Unlike many other industries, the auto industry touches, as I said, millions of manufacturing and servicing jobs across the Nation.

Over 100,000 auto workers are in assembly plants, more than 1 million workers are at auto dealerships in every State, over 300,000 workers are in the wholesale end of the auto industry,

over 800,000 workers work in auto repair, and over 500,000 workers are in auto parts plants.

These autoworkers are not just in big cities such as Detroit. Autoworkers are found supporting families in small- and medium-sized communities across rural America.

In my home State of Missouri, small towns such as Maryville in northwest Missouri have 10,000 people, and 1,800 families depend upon the 200 workers at the Federal-Mogul plant. They are making steering systems. Closing that plant will be a tough blow to the Maryville community dependent upon it.

We have 500 jobs at the Dura plant in Moberly, 400 at the Gates plant in Versailles, 170 at the Modine plant in Joplin. On and on it goes, like a long list of just about every Missouri small- and medium-sized town. We cannot afford to pull the plug on the manufacturing backbone of rural America.

These auto-dependent jobs, whether they are union or not--and many are not--provide very good wages. They are manufacturing jobs that support middle-class families. They provide health care benefits for families, retirement for the elderly, and a couple weeks of paid vacation. Without these blue-collar jobs, many of these middle-class families would slip back into lower incomes with no health care, little hope for college, and an uncertain future. We have to fight for working people and their jobs and not allow their employers to go under.

Despite the real need for temporary emergency assistance to save jobs in Missouri and across the country, I do not support a blank check from the Government. I want to make sure we are not simply throwing good money after bad. It is critical that any rescue include three basic principles: First, the bill must have strong taxpayer protection. This means any bill must ensure that taxpayers are repaid for their emergency assistance and that taxpayers share in the turnaround profits of participating automakers.

Second, the bill must include executive accountability so that failed executives are not rewarded for poor management. I do not know about you, but I am offended when I read in the paper that companies getting Federal bailout money are using it to pay bonuses. Some of them said they have already set the bonuses aside. Well, if they set the bonuses aside, they set them aside as their company was going down. Getting money from the Federal Government should not enable them to make those bonus payments.

I have seen one major Wall Street firm saying it is going to stop bonuses until this crisis is over. I think that is something we should commend. I think that is a practice that ought to be followed.

Third, and most important--and this is key--the bill must include significant financial reform so that recipients of taxpayer funds demonstrate that they have a plan to ensure long-term competitiveness, health, and profitability by bringing their costs under control.

Funds should be conditioned on a strong restructuring plan for the industry and for each recipient to have funds so that this aid is a bridge to somewhere, not a bridge to nowhere. That is why I need to emphasize the need for a real financial strategy that will put the Detroit big three on the road to competitiveness, health, and profitability.

I believe we ought to set up a system where a responsible Government agency, a Secretary-level official, has to approve the continuing plans, the goals, the definable standards that must be met, and that official ought to hold them accountable for accomplishing the purposes, cutting the costs, and making the tough business decisions that are necessary to assure profitability.

Well, these are things I believe most of my colleagues want to see. I do not believe anybody wants to see the auto industry go down. But there is real concern that if we put in some money now, we may be back seeing them in the same condition several months down the road.

Well, the time has come for the auto industry to lay out for Government officials in their ability to approve the release of these funds if they have a plan. And as they go forward, they ought to be required to show the approving official that they are taking those steps that are necessary to make their plants and their companies profitable.

Some ask: Why don't we just allow the automakers to fall into bankruptcy like some in the airline industry? We all know bankruptcy has successfully allowed many airlines to get back in the air. I am afraid it would be a disaster for the thousands of parts and service businesses dependent on major automakers. How would they get credit to run their operations to supply a company in bankruptcy? How would the bankrupt company in the current crisis get the credit it needs to emerge from bankruptcy? Who is going to buy a car from a bankrupt company? What protections would they have for their warranties and other requirements they have for servicing?

Others say a financial rescue has no place in the free market. I agree that generally that is a good question. But even free markets need oversight and a safety net. That is why we have the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Each of these agencies is designed to take emergency actions in times of emergency. Clearly, that is what we have. That is why we should respond now.

There have been a lot of discussions on the source of funding for the auto industry, whether it should come out of the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, or the Department of Energy's Section 136 program. I am pleased to see that there seems to be broad support for assisting the auto industry despite the differences in funding. I support either or both of these measures of support, provided we meet the conditions I laid out which include significantly laying out a plan to profitability, cost cutting that will be approved and then will be monitored by the appropriate Government official who has the power to continue to release the funds.

I will discuss in other remarks how the TARP has changed in purpose from what we were told it would be. It has continued to change. I am afraid it has caused a great deal of uncertainty, which, obviously, markets do not like. But before closing, I wish to suggest an area where there is great need and where I believe the funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program can and should be used to give the economy a major boost, creating the jobs we badly need, and that is in State and local government infrastructure.

Despite the Government's efforts to thaw the credit crunch, State and local governments continue to face hardships in municipal bond financing. People were telling me, once we got the money into the banks, credit would loosen up and municipal bonds could be sold. So far, we are not seeing that. State and local bond and debt financing is still a problem. In Missouri and throughout the Nation, many infrastructure projects are being delayed or scaled back due to credit problems, the inability to get credit, and they have not faced it in many years.

Even State and local governments with high credit ratings are struggling to obtain affordable financing. In Missouri, for example, we have some $800 million approved in debt to rebuild our bridges. The city of Kansas City, MO, has $200 million it is ready to spend on its water and sewer infrastructure. The St. Louis Airport is badly in need of funding for $100 million in upgrades to facilitate commerce and continue to provide jobs. I believe the funds should be used to purchase those portions of those debts that can be used to put people to work in 2009. Not all of the $800 million on fixing bridges is going to be spent in 1 year, but there should be a reasonable judgment as to how much work can be started when construction season begins in the spring.

We ought to be willing to have the Federal Government provide the funding and get the debt issuance in return, which, if they fund it at the current going rate for debt with the Federal Government, should be a no-cost ultimate cost to the taxpayer or an addition to the debt. But what these infrastructure jobs will do right now is provide work so that working men and women will be able to do things such as buy cars, provide for their families, spend the money to get the economy growing again.

I urge Treasury to consider assisting the municipal bond market through the TARP program. It will not only

boost infrastructure investments, build the critical infrastructure we need to make our economy go forward, but it will create jobs. As has been said many times before by people a lot smarter than I, a good job is the best social policy we have. A good job is the basis of the economy.

What we are advocating today in the bill I cosponsored with Senator Mikulski is a way to get cars sold so they will create jobs all up and down the chain in the auto industry and provide a bridge to somewhere for the future of the auto industry so they will get their costs under control, keep them out of bankruptcy, and make the changes that are needed to be competitive in the national and the world market.

I urge my colleagues to join with us in the legislation by Senator Mikulski and also in pushing to use the TARP funds for investment in municipal bonds that will put people to work on infrastructure.

Mr. President, our economy is in shambles. People are losing their jobs, they are losing their life savings, and they are losing their homes. Congress must act and we must act now.

I agree with the Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Specter, that this session of the Congress and this session of the Senate should not be called a lameduck. We should neither be lame nor should we duck the big issue facing our country. We have helped out. If you look at what we have done already--well, we have already done a bailout. We helped the sharks and we helped the whales. Now it is time to help the minnows, the little guy and gal, the American consumer.

I have that solution. Today, I introduce legislation, cosponsored by my colleague from Missouri, to save jobs in the American automobile industry, to help consumers, and get our economy back on track. It is simple, it is straightforward, and it is bipartisan. It is also timely and temporary.

My bill would save jobs. What is it that I want to do? I want to stimulate demand in the automobile industry so people actually come into showrooms and buy cars, minivans, or light trucks. Why is this a good idea? Actually, if you buy a car, someone has to make it, someone has to sell it, someone has to service it, and someone has to provide administrative services. This is good for manufacturers, the dealers, and the suppliers. It could save considerable jobs in the auto industry.

My bill is not about bailouts. It is about jobs, jobs, jobs. Six million jobs are at stake in the American car industry. One out of ten jobs in America relies on the auto industry. Right now, the facts are gloomy. Sales are down. The auto industry has already cut over 100,000 jobs. The 30,000 American dealerships in this country are at risk of losing 37,000 jobs. We cannot let this happen. We cannot let the American automobile industry implode.

I believe we can help by getting the consumers into the showroom, have them feel that Government is on their side in helping them with one of the biggest purchases during this tough time.

What does this amendment do? My bill is simple. If you buy a passenger car, minivan, or light truck between November 12 of this year and December 31 of 2009, you will get a tax deduction for your sales or excise tax and the interest on your loan. Families can save anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 by the Mikulski-Bond bill.

This is a big deal because, next to the purchase of your home, the purchase of your automobile is your next big ticket.

It is targeted. I cap it at families with an income of over $250,000 a year. It focuses on the middle-income and the middle-class family cars. It is also timely because we need to know that the biggest 6-week period for automobile sales is between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. They sell other cars during 6-week periods, but between Thanksgiving and New Year's

Eve is the biggest 6-week sale. This bill also helps the environment because it gets more people in more fuel-efficient cars.

This bill is not limited to only American cars. It focuses on any car, recognizing that many automobiles are now made in southern States, as Texas does Toyotas; Kentucky does Toyotas; Tennessee does Nissans. Any way we look at it, even though it might have a foreign logo, it is American jobs doing the manufacturing.

What would this mean? I have here a chart--it is bigger than me--for a Dodge minivan. The average minivans cost about $25,500.

On a 4-year loan at an 8 percent excise tax, it would result in a savings of anywhere, depending on the State, from $1,500 to $2,000.

I have already heard from people all over this country how that, plus the deals being offered by manufacturers and dealers, could result in being able to buy a minivan for under $20,000 a year.

This would be fantastic. I could put up chart after chart for the Malibu, for the Ford pickup 150, for the Toyota Camry. This would stimulate demand. Just think what it means. People could come into a showroom of their choice, and if we passed this bill--it would be retroactive to the day I announced they could actually buy something that would put them on the road with a car that is more fuel efficient with lower carbon emissions.

At the same time, jobs, jobs, jobs. As I said, there are 30,000 new car dealerships nationwide. They employ close to 1 million people. In my own home State there are 300 dealerships. People do not realize that dealers in many rural parts of my State usually employ over 50 people in sales, the auto mechanics, as well as the administrative positions. This legislation would help them because they would actually be working. It would help the people who are actually making those.

Senator Specter said he has been traveling the State. I have been traveling mine too. I went to the General Motors plant in Maryland at White Marsh where they make the new power transmission. Right now they can make a Tahoe hybrid, a Tahoe, a big muscle car, that with the hybrid technology they have now, can get the same mileage as a Toyota Camry.

If you also talk to the people who worked there, they could employ 1,000; they now employ 250 people. If you were with me in the car dealership and would talk to people such as the mechanic--I talked to a mechanic who works for a Chevy dealer in Bethesda. He has worked there for 23 years.

He said to me: Senator Barb, all my life I have loved to work on cars. I just love it. I love to fix them; I love to repair them. If they are new, I want to make sure they are fit for duty. I have earned a good living. I have been happy. I think I have helped make a lot of other people happy. But the only way I can stay happy is if I continue to work. I have a mortgage. I have two kids in college. Maybe they are going to go into engineering, I do not know, but I know if we do not get more people into this dealership my job could be gone.

Talk to the dealer. The dealer's name is Sam. The first thing you know about him is he wears the little Rotary pin on his lapel because he is the guy who not only provides jobs, tries to provide good deals to customers, but also is the one who is part of the Chamber of Commerce, part of the United Way.

We are talking about people who are part of the fabric of our society. We are not talking about an abstraction. We are not talking about a single ZIP code like Wall Street. We are talking about the automobile industry in every State and every community. So when we help them, we are helping ourselves.

People say: what is the cost of this, Senator Barb? Well, I will tell you. It is about $8 billion. They go: Oh, well, we just spent $350 billion and threw it down the rat hole. We do not have anything to show for this $350 billion but more arrogance and more greed. While they want Americans to dine on Lean Cuisine, they are dining on spa cuisine.

So I think it is time we help people in our own community, help the consumers who want to participate in the economy. Clunkers get traded in, and we also help them. Maybe you know somebody who works for a hedge fund, I do not. But I do know the people who work for the automobile industry--whether it is the dealers or the receptionist who came to work 43 years ago right out of high school who said: Senator Barb, we could not sell cars in those days, but I have been here in and out of this same dealer for 43 years, raised my kids, earned a good living, did the back office work. I want to keep on doing it. I am not ready for Social Security, and, for God's sake, do not put it in Wall Street.

Well, I say do not put Social Security on Wall Street and do not put another nickel on Wall Street. If we are going to help with our economy, let's do it where it creates jobs.

I wanted to explain the bill I have introduced today that I am going to bring up as part of our economic recovery plan on Wednesday. But most of all, what I wanted to say is, the Congress should not go home until we see how we are going to help this economy get rolling.

I think my bill which has been cosponsored by Senator Bond puts wheels on the American economy, and I hope I have victory on it later this week.

I yield the floor.

Just before the Congress paused for the elections, we passed one of the most historic--and contentious--pieces of legislation in my 26 years in Washington. We gave the Treasury Department the authority to spend $700 billion in taxpayer funds to prevent the complete meltdown of the financial system, which in turn would hopefully prevent the overall economy from descending into a deep and painful recession.

I didn't like voting for that bill, but I joined the majority of my colleagues in doing so because not voting for it was even worse. I hope in the end that we were right.

However, there are two areas that I do not believe were adequately addressed in that legislation: helping families save their homes from foreclosure and protecting taxpayers from the misuse of their dollars by the bankers that receive them. Today I am introducing legislation-- the Homeowner Assistance and Taxpayer Protection Act--to address both concerns.

For far too long the Bush administration has relied on the voluntary efforts of the mortgage servicers to rework millions of troubled mortgages on a case by case basis. These voluntary efforts have been and still are insufficient. There aren't strong enough incentives for the servicers to pursue work-outs. Servicers aren't equipped to handle the huge volume of mortgages at risk. Far-flung investors who own pieces of many mortgages, and who often refuse to let servicers rework mortgages even in the cases where the servicers would like to help, present legal obstacles. And the mortgage industry has failed to take strong action against foreclosures, even if it is in their own best interests. The $700 billion rescue bill encouraged the administration to take stronger steps to help homeowners, but did not require the Government to do so.

My bill would bring real hope to families who fear that they will lose their

homes, by doing three things. First, it would require Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the FDIC, and FHFA to restructure all loans that meet the criteria established in the Hope for Homeowners program to make the mortgages affordable. That means mortgages these regulators own or in which they have a controlling interest must be restructured if a reworked mortgage can be paid by the homeowner and is viable economically for the creditors. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act as it is currently written only encourages the regulators to restructure those loans, rather than requiring them to do so.

Second, it would require servicers to restructure all loans that qualify for the Hope for Homeowners program, rather than simply encouraging them to do so as the Housing and Economic Recovery Act is currently written.

And, finally, it would allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages on primary residences. As I have argued for months now, this is the single most important thing we can do to spur nationwide systematic mortgage restructurings.

The financial crisis will not ease, and the economy will not begin to recover, until we address the root cause of the crisis: the failed mortgage market. My bill would do just that.

The rescue bill also failed to put in place enough taxpayer protections. Congress meant for banks to use the money provided by the Treasury to lend to qualified borrowers, rather than enriching their shareholders and executives. Recent reports indicating that AIG will lavish more than a half billion dollars on its employees at the same time that it receives an even larger $152 billion taxpayer bailout than originally announced speaks loudly to this problem.

My bill would try to address this concern. The bill would bar banks participating in the Capital Purchase Program authorized by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act from increasing common share dividends as long as the Government owns preferred shares. It also would require participating banks to reduce the next year's dividends in an amount equal to the compensation paid to the top five executives in excess of $500,000.

The bill would not bar companies receiving assistance from the Treasury from paying their executives, nor would it bar them from paying dividends. But it would ensure that financial institutions think carefully before redirecting taxpayer-injected dollars away from lending for the good of the economy towards compensation for the good of its own executives and shareholders.

The debate on how to help stabilize the financial sector will certainly continue into the 111th Congress, and I intend to continue to fight for homeowners and for the taxpayers so that we get our economy moving again as quickly as we can, and as prudently as we can.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I come to the floor as chairman of the Rules Committee and as chairman of the Joint House-Senate Inaugural Committee. I come to introduce legislation to prohibit the selling and counterfeiting of tickets to the President's inauguration ceremony.

The inauguration of the President of the United States is one of the most important rituals of our democracy, and the chance to witness this solemn event should not be bought and sold similar to tickets to a football game. This is not a football game. This is a dignified and critical moment of transition in Government, a moment of which Americans have always been proud because it is, in fact, the strength of our democracy--the fact that all across this great land people go to the polls and elect the next President of the United States, they don't take to the streets, they don't take to weapons. They elect the next President of the United States.

We have all read the news reports: Tickets bid on the Internet for $5,000 apiece, some going as high as $40,000 each. Internet sites today are selling tickets they do not have and will not have unless somehow, some way they obtain them. I find it unconscionable.

These tickets are supposed to be free for people, for the volunteers who gave up their weekends, walking miles door to door to encourage voters to turn out at the polls on election day, for Members of the African-American community to see one of their own take the oath of office, the highest office in the land, for schoolchildren to witness history, and for the American public to watch this affirmation of our Constitution, this peaceful transition from one administration to another.

This is going to be a major civic event of our time. Excitement is at an all time high, and every one of us has received more phone calls for tickets than we could possibly ever meet. People are desperate to become part of it, to touch it, to be around, to feel it, to listen to it, and they are coming from all over the country. We could have more than 1.5 million people descend on the Nation's Capital for this inauguration.

Congress has the responsibility of overseeing this historic event. So we must ensure that the inauguration has all the respect and dignity it deserves.

These tickets are supposed to be free for the people. No one should have to pay for them. Once more, these tickets are not yet even available. They will not be distributed to congressional offices until the end of the week before the inauguration. And then the offices will require in-person pickup, with secure identification. But they will be free and they should stay that way.

I can tell you what I am going to do. We will ask people to pick up their tickets the day before the inauguration in my office. Everyone will submit their name, their address, and their driver's license. They must be who they are if there are tickets waiting for them. I believe this kind of procedure essentially deters unscrupulous people from selling these tickets on the Internet. No Web sites or other ticket outlets have inaugural swearing-in tickets to sell, despite what some of them claim.

This legislation is aimed at stopping those who seek to profit by selling these tickets. It would also target those who seek to dupe the public with fraudulent tickets or those who merely promise but can't deliver on tickets that they do not actually have.

I want to say one thing. We are working now to see if there is any creative way we might be able to secure more tickets for the House and the Senate. We have followed protocol with exactly the same distribution system that existed in prior inaugurals, but it is clear that there are not as many tickets as there are requests.

Those who violate the law under this legislation, if in fact it passes, would face a class A misdemeanor with a substantial fine, imprisonment up to 1 year, or both. I am also very pleased to tell you, Mr. President, that eBay and StubHub announced last week that they will not allow the sale of inaugural swearing-in tickets on any of their Web sites. I want to take this opportunity to thank them and to commend them for leading the way.

It is my hope that Congress will pass this legislation this week. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting it on a hotline. I think it is very important to establish once and for all that tickets to the inauguration of the next President of the United States are not issues of commerce, they are free tickets to be given to the people.

So I hope that this week this legislation can pass unanimously by this body. I send it to the desk and thank the Chair.

I am now introducing legislation captioned ``The Foreclosure Diversion and Mortgage Loan Modification Act of 2008.'' It would create an Office of Foreclosure Evaluation inside the Treasury Department, to coordinate a great many efforts. The core purpose of this legislation is to provide Federal endorsement and financial assistance for setting up programs such as those now in existence in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and similar programs which exist in New York, New Jersey, Ohio, and Connecticut, that suspend foreclosure until there has been an opportunity, under court supervision, to have the borrower and the lender sit down to try to work out a plan to avoid foreclosure. My full statement, which I will ask consent to place in the Record, goes into some great detail about the problems that exist at the present time regarding foreclosures.

In addition to the legislation I am proposing, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has proposed a program aimed at preventing an estimated 1.5 million foreclosures in the next year. I have talked to the FDIC Chairwoman Sheila Bair, and think her proposal is a good one. The legislation I am proposing and the program Chairwoman Bair has proposed would supplement legislation which is now pending in the Congress. Last October, Senator Durbin and I separately introduced bills that would permit mortgages to be modified by the bankruptcy courts. However, Senator Durbin's legislation would permit the court to modify the principal sum. I think that goes too far and would have the undesirable consequence of making it more difficult to obtain a mortgage in the future. My legislation authorizes the bankruptcy courts to modify interest rates on variable interest rate mortgages. In many cases, there was not full disclosure to borrowers who took out these loans. Then they found that their mortgage went from $1,200 a month, for illustrative purposes, to $2,000.

It is my hope that Congress would stay in session beyond just this week. It seems to me the economic problems

we faced last July, before we adjourned for the month of August, required our remaining in session; I urged the leaders of the Senate to keep the body in session during August. And, I urged the President to call the Congress back into session. It seems to me the problem of delinquent mortgages and foreclosures is critical at the moment. I noticed Senator Dodd was quoted in the Washington Post last Friday as saying he plans to introduce legislation and that he thought the FDIC proposal was a good one.

We are finding so many people are facing the threat of foreclosure. This is an issue which ought to be considered further. Congress ought to stay in session, ought to work these issues through, and ought to remain in session long enough to consider the details necessary to make a rational judgment on the proposal of economic aid to General Motors and the other companies.

I ask unanimous consent that the full text of my floor statement on the mortgage issue and the full text of the legislation be printed in the Record as if set forth in full on the Senate floor.