House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) and Committee Vice Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) have joined Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) to discuss the introduction of the Government-Sponsored Enterprise Bailout Elimination and Taxpayer Protection Act in the Senate.
“As recent statistics show, our housing markets remain very fragile," said Rep. Bachus. "Housing is a tremendously important part of our economy and of consumer spending. We cannot revive the overall economy until we fix the housing market. Congress must take action—thoughtful and deliberative action which we are starting with the introduction of a number of measures to immediately address the failures of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."
The bill, which is the Senate companion version of HR 1182, the GSE Bailout Elimination and Taxpayer Protection Act, introduced by Reps. Hensarling and Bachus on March 17, would stop the taxpayer-funded bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and put the two companies on a path towards privatization. The bailout of these government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) has reportedly cost the taxpayers more than $150 billion.
“This bill that Vice Chairman Hensarling introduced, and now Senators McCain and Hatch have proposed in the Senate, is a fulfillment of the commitment Republicans made when we urged Democrats to include reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their bill to restructure financial services regulation," said Rep. Bachus. "Republicans will continue to offer solutions that wind down these operations in order to protect taxpayers from another bailout and to reform the entire housing finance system.”
