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2005 Ron Paul Chapter 110
Not linked on Ron Paul’s Congressional website.
Congressional Record [.PDF]
Amendment No. 6 Offered By Mr. Paul — Part 2
26 October 2005
2005 Ron Paul 110:1
Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
2005 Ron Paul 110:2
If we had a bill that was a little cleaner, we probably would be dealing
with the problems we face with the
GSEs and we would be dealing with a
housing program, a new housing program,
probably with a different bill.
2005 Ron Paul 110:3
I see one attempt is to deal with this problem that we face. Another attempt
is we are deciding that we need more
money directed into the housing industry,
and of course your building friends
like this, too. And those are Republican
allies as well. The builders love
this because we will pump more money
into the market so they can make
more profits. So it is another government
housing project. From a market
viewpoint, this is not good because we
want the money in the market to be allocated
purely by the market and not
by government direction.
2005 Ron Paul 110:4
It is the government direction first from the inflation, the artificial interest
rates, and then from the allocation
of funds that cause distortion. That is
what we are dealing with here, the distortion
that people are literally frightened
about because nobody can even
measure the amount of derivatives
that are involved with Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac. People are holding their
breath for an accident to happen.
2005 Ron Paul 110:5
I see this as an opportunity to talk about the marketplace, why we should
move Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into
the market.
2005 Ron Paul 110:6
A lot of people complained about the problems we had with Enron, and we
needed that as an excuse to pass a lot
more regulation. The truth is the market
dealt with Enron. Enron was dealt
with rather cruelly by the marketplace
before the regulators got there. What
we need to do is not, and especially as
Republicans and conservatives, talk
about a world-class regulator and that
it is going to solve all of these problems.
2005 Ron Paul 110:7
My argument is if we do not solve the problem of basic underlying inflation
distortion of interest rates, allocation
of funds through housing programs, as
well as this line of credit, believe me,
we are not going to solve this problem.
Please vote to strike this line of credit
to the Treasury.
2005 Ron Paul 110:8
As it was stated earlier on this floor, we may have some regulations built
into this that may even precipitate the
puncturing of the housing bubble. That
nobody can predict. But without addressing
the basic flaw in the system
that has created this $5 trillion worth
of debt, believe me, we will not have an
answer. I urge a “yes” vote on this
amendment.
The Acting CHAIRMAN (Mr. BISHOP
of Utah). The time of the gentleman
from Texas has expired.
Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr.
Chairman, I yield myself 30 seconds.
The gentleman’s amendment actually
does not go quite far enough, but
he has a germaneness problem. What
he really wants to do is abolish HUD,
given his philosophy. He does not think
there should be a Federal housing program.
Since he cannot get at HUD, he
goes after Fannie and Freddie in ways
that would reduce substantially what
we do in housing.
And, by the way, the administration’s
objection to this bill is not, as
says the gentleman, that it is too much
regulation. It is that we do not give the
regulator enough powers. So the administration’s
position is somewhat
opposite to the gentleman from Texas’,
not for the first time, to his credit.
Mr. Chairman, I yield 11/2 minutes to
the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms.
WASSERMAN SCHULTZ).
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