WASHINGTON – April 1, 2008 – U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Vice-Chair of the Senate Republican Conference, expressed optimism today that a bipartisan accord could be reached on a housing relief bill and pledged to work with Senators in both parties to help achieve that goal. Sen. Cornyn’s comments followed an announcement on Capitol Hill by Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell that they would work to bring a bipartisan bill to the Senate floor later this week instead of a Democratic plan that faced strong opposition and would have led to higher interest rates for homeowners.
“I welcome the bipartisan cooperation that has returned to the Senate this week. Every member of Congress recognizes that our country faces problems in the housing market. Many of us believe we need to pass legislation to stabilize and improve this situation. I am hopeful that bipartisan negotiations this week will yield a solid, well reasoned plan for combating the challenges in the housing market.
“I believe at the end of the day, the Senate needs to take steps to help families with distressed mortgages, but without providing taxpayer-funded bailouts to real estate speculators who took irresponsible risks. We also need to take steps to make sure these same problems are avoided in the future by focusing on increased transparency and information for prospective borrowers.
“Finally, the Senate should make sure that any proposal does not produce insurmountable challenges to prospective and current home owners. For that reason, I would be hesitant to support any proposal that increases the size of the government’s budget at the expense of the family budget. The Senate should also be careful not to make homeownership more expensive for working families or make it more difficult for small businesses to grow and create jobs here at home.
“This announcement today is a good first step though and I hope both parties can work together and pass a good bill that will help families who need help now.”
Sen. Cornyn serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees. In addition, he is Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Border Security and Refugees subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee’s Airland subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice, and Bexar County District Judge.
