A Weekly e-Newsletter from
Senator Johnny Isakson (R-GA)

March 6, 2009

Dear Friends,

This week, the Senate debated the $410 billion fiscal year 2009 appropriations omnibus bill, which comprises the nine fiscal 2009 spending bills that were not enacted last year. The House passed the omnibus on February 25 by a vote of 245 to 178. The fiscal year began on October 1, 2008, and the federal agencies funded under the bills have been operating under a continuing resolution that expires today. The Senate adopted a measure to continue funding government agencies through March 11. The omnibus funds virtually all domestic agencies and programs, as well as the State Department and foreign aid programs.

Demanding Answers from Federal Regulators on Behalf of Georgia Banks
On Thursday, Senator Chambliss and I met with federal bank regulators to demand answers for Georgia banks on the delays in processing applications for funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program authorized by the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

Georgia banks are being left in the dark by the federal government concerning the TARP funds and regulators are aggravating an already complex situation. There must be more transparency in this process and I wanted to make sure the federal government understands the difficulty Georgia’s banks are facing.

During the meeting with officials from the Department of Treasury, Federal Reserve, FDIC, Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision, Senator Chambliss and I addressed the lack of transparency in the application process for the Troubled Asset Relief Program as well as the lack of information available regarding the status of an individual bank’s application. We also discussed the significant stress Georgia banks will face under the FDIC’s plan to impose a one-time $15 billion increase in insurance fees collected from the nation’s banks.

We also expressed our concern that mark-to-market accounting rules are disproportionately penalizing the people we serve. This is devastating to our bankers as real estate is absorbed over time and not in one fell swoop. Mark-to-market should not be an arbitrary write-down to zero, it should be a recognition of the transition of values in a down market or in an up market. This issue hits at the heart of residential real estate construction lending thereby further crippling our economy from returning to a prosperous nation.

Health Center Grants for Georgia
Georgia received good news this week when it was announced that four new health centers will receive $4.9 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration. The new health centers will help Georgians obtain access to comprehensive primary and preventive health care services. Diversity Health Center, Inc. in Hinesville will receive $1,267,594 to establish a new health center in Liberty County; Palmetto Health Council, Inc. in Atlanta will receive $1,069,096 to establish a new health center in Palmetto, Ga.; Community Healthcare Systems in Wrightsville will receive $1,300,000 to establish a new health center to serve Laurens County; and Southwest Georgia Healthcare, Inc. in Richland will receive $1,300,000 to establish a new health center in Crisp County.

Health centers funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration deliver preventive and primary care services to patients regardless of their ability to pay; charges for health care services are set according to income. These funds will allow many Georgians who are without adequate health insurance to receive essential preventive care that will help keep them healthy.

Financial Markets Commission
This week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown spoke to a joint session of Congress about the important ‘partnership of purpose’ that the United States shares with Great Britain. I was privileged to attend the speech and felt that he shares in the knowledge that our economic crisis is a global issue. While the United States must work to identify and remedy the root causes of the problem, we must all work together to remedy it on a global scale.

While I do not agree with all of his plans, here at home, I will work to help remedy the problem by continuing to push my Financial Markets Commission legislation that I introduced on January 22 with Senator Kent Conrad, D-N.D. The commission will be charged with fully investigating the near collapse of the banking system and the loss of tens of trillions of dollars. We must not rush to legislate and regulate without all the facts. This legislation will help Congress understand exactly what happened to our financial system and why.

The seven-member, bipartisan Financial Markets Commission will be modeled after the 9-11 Commission, which thoroughly and independently investigated the failures leading up to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and made sound recommendations on where we needed to improve to prevent another attack in the future.

Likewise, the Financial Markets Commission will have one year to investigate all the circumstances that led to this financial crisis. The panel will have the authority to refer to the U.S. Attorney General and state attorneys general any evidence that institutions or individuals may have violated existing laws. At the end of its investigation, the Commission will report to the President and to the Congress its recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes necessary to protect our country from a repeat of this financial collapse.

I believe this bipartisan and independent commission is best way to investigate what led to the failures in our banking system.

What’s on Tap?

Next week the Senate must decide whether to continue work on the $410 billion omnibus appropriations spending measure or to vote to continue funding at current fiscal year 2008 levels. The Senate might also begin consideration of the mortgage loan legislation, HR 1106, passed by the House this week, that would allow bankruptcy judges to change the mortgage terms of homeowners who risk foreclosure on their primary residences. It also would require homeowners to prove that they had made adequate efforts to modify their loans through the Obama administration’s voluntary refinancing program.

Sincerely,
Johnny Isakson