Keith Ellison

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Let's now introduce our freshman colleague from the great State of Maine, Representative Pingree, who comes here with a long-term service of the people of the State of Maine, but who is going to focus on another aspect of what it means to be a Progressive. There's the peace aspect, there's the question of domestic economic progressivity, but there's also this element of Progressive politics, which says individual liberty is very important. Let me yield to the gentlelady because she made a very important 5- minute speech today, which we would ask her to elaborate on just a little bit. Let me yield to the gentlelady from Maine.

Mr. ELLISON. The gentleman has yielded to me. The attack on Iraq is the single worst decision any President of the United States has ever made. And I'm proud to say the Progressives stood up and voiced opposition to it. But not only that--Vietnam. Not only that, members of the Progressive community have stood up and questioned the very military buildup itself and the United States posture in the world. You know, I'd like to share with the gentleman, if I may, and the gentlelady from Maine, that if you took every military budget in the entire world--I'm talking about Palau, Timor-Leste; I'm talking about places like Indonesia, Kenya, wherever--and you added them all up and you compared them to the United States military budget, ours would still be bigger. We spend more money on military armaments than every other country in the world--and many of our military expenditures go to things that have absolutely positively nothing whatsoever to do with fighting terrorism. They're for fighting Russians--states that are confined within nonporous borders, state actors, not nonstate actors who are fluidly moving throughout the world. So I toss it back to the gentleman from Colorado and yield to the gentleman from Colorado. Have Progressives stood up for peace? What do you think?

Mr. ELLISON. We have been here on the House floor together before, and at that time in the past you shared one of your own personal stories about what motivated you toward Progressive politics. But leave it to say that the gentlelady from California, our co- Chair, Lynn Woolsey, came to Progressive politics not just because of something she read in the book, but because of the life that she lived that helped her understand what the importance of Progressive politics are all about. I yield back to the gentlelady. Is that right?

Mr. ELLISON. The fact is that many of us come to our own conclusions about the need for shared prosperity, and some of us find that that helping hand that we would give others, sometimes we need it ourselves. But, you know what? It's okay, because Progressive politics has a long, strong, proud history in the United States. Part of that history has been fighting for peace. And that fight goes on today. I want to yield to the gentleman from Colorado, Representative Polis, who has some views on that. How does Progressive politics inform you as you search for America as a more peaceful partner in the world? I yield to the gentleman from Colorado.

Mr. ELLISON. Would the gentlelady talk for a moment about the corollary of rural electrification and extending broadband access to all of America?

Mr. ELLISON. If the gentleman would yield, when it comes to this issue of marriage equality, I always say to people that it's not mandatory. It's up to the individual. What about individual liberty? I just want to ask the two Members with me today, the gentleman from Colorado, the gentlelady from Maine, to just review with me, if you would, some of these things that I believe were Progressive in nature. When it comes to this issue of the American Revolution, I think it was progressive. Yes, America was a slave-holding country. Yes, women didn't have equal rights. And, yes, there were a lot of problems. But if you look in that day and in that time for the American colonialists to say we are not going to ruled by a king and we are going to choose our leaders, that was a progressive step forward. We may look at that time and say there were problems, people didn't overcome a lot of social injustices. But if we look at it for what it was, individual citizens saying I don't want a king making up my mind for me, I want to cast a vote and select my own leaders, that, I believe, was a progressive step forward. The Bill of Rights I think was progressive. Think about the first one: No government religious institution, everyone practices their own religion as they choose; the establishment clause; right to freedom of the press; right to assembly; right to redress grievances. It was a progressive step forward. Universal white male suffrage. Of course, not all Americans got the right to vote at the same time, but there was a time when being a white male was not good enough to get you a ballot. You had to have some property. You could not be Catholic, you had to be a white male Protestant property owner. So when America said the property thing and the religious thing, those don't apply any more. Of course we would have liked to have more people get the franchise, but a lot of people got it. Public education; emancipation of the slaves; national park system; food safety; break up of monopolies; antitrust legislation-- progressive. The Homestead Act. Land grant universities so that all Americans could really enjoy a university education. What about this one, I would like to ask the gentlelady from Maine, what about rural electrification, was that a progressive step forward for America?

Mr. ELLISON. If I can turn to the gentleman from Colorado. The gentlelady from Maine makes an interesting point. Part of the Progressive vision is doing things together which we should and could do together, and doing things separately, then maybe we get to make that call on our own. Maybe we should make sure that all Americans have health care, that everyone is safe, that women don't have to live in a home where they fear battering, and that we have a criminal justice system that protects them from that. But maybe on certain other decisions like marriage or other things, that's just your business and we let people make decisions for themselves on that. How does the gentleman feel about this issue?

Mr. ELLISON. Do you think that perhaps part of the Progressive tradition is this idea of individual liberty? There are certain things that we as Americans may not agree on, but we will agree that the decision rests with the individual. I can't tell you, from Maine, how many children you should have, or whether you should have any. I can't tell you who to marry or who not to marry. I can't tell you about these essential decisions that are like your business. This is a very Progressive idea. Sometimes when you hear about the government getting off people's backs, you associate it with people who are on the ``right'' end of the political spectrum. But when it comes to many other decisions that are essential and private, these are Progressive values. How does the gentlelady from Maine feel about this idea?

Mr. ELLISON. Will the gentlelady yield?

Mr. ELLISON. From the great State of Maine.

Mr. ELLISON. I think it is a Progressive value because it says, look, we know Americans who live in rural America like living there. They grow the crops and they enjoy that life. But if there is no economy out there, then it is difficult to live out there and you see young people moving into the city, not necessarily because they want to but because they feel that they have to. This rural electrification in one generation, broadband access in another, represents our shared commitment to each other to live our lives as we would choose.

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, let me welcome America and the rest of the world to the Progressive Caucus Special Order hour. We would like to call it ``The Progressive Message.'' And the Progressive message is something that the Progressive Caucus does every week to project a Progressive vision for America; not a reactionary vision, not a status quo vision, but a vision of America as we believe that it could be, can be, that all men and women are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Progressive Caucus and the Progressive message, tonight, are here to come to bring a message to the people about where we are going, where we have been. And tonight's topic is ``Why I'm a Progressive.'' Why I'm a Progressive; here's why. We are going to talk about it tonight, and it's going to be good. And to help us get kicked off on this subject of why I am a Progressive, I want to yield to the gentlelady from the great State of California, who is also one of our co-Chairs, Lynn Woolsey.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. Madam Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the Metropolitan Airports Commission's board members and staff for Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport's recent recognition as the Best Airport in North America and Third Best in the World in its size category. The Airports Council International granted this award to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport based on feedback from air travelers during the 2008 Airport Quality Survey. The 2008 airport rankings reflect the responses of more than 200,000 passengers who filled out questionnaires at 108 airports. Minnesota is well known for the strong work ethic of its residents, and their commitment to ensuring Minnesota continues to be one of the best places to live, work and visit. Those characteristics form the foundation for the Metropolitan Airports Commission's latest outstanding accomplishment. Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport serves as Minnesota's front door for those who come to the state for business or pleasure. I invite you and all the members of this esteemed Congress to come experience the hospitality Minnesota is famous for from the moment their plane touches down on the runways of Minneapolis-St. Paul. In closing Madam Speaker, I would like to once again extend my deepest congratulations to the Minneapolis Airports Commission hard work and great accomplishment.

Mr. ELLISON

Mr. ELLISON. If the gentleman would yield back. So they do more transactions in a week than you have done in a lifetime?

Mr. ELLISON. Ridiculous.

Mr. ELLISON. Well, let me say, I'm proud to be on that bill with you. I think that Elizabeth Warren, Professor Stiglitz and Professor Shiller are all brilliant for coming up with the idea. The fact is, if you look at many of these mortgages, they were not safe at any speed, to borrow a phrase from Ralph Nader. The fact is, if the only way that this mortgage, quote-unquote, works is if you can refinance it in 3 or 2 years, then that is a mortgage that doesn't work. It's designed to end up in foreclosure but for a very shaky assumption. If the gentleman would allow me to mention in our waning time, I would also like to say this about the bill we just passed through the House. And that is that many of the properties that have ended up in foreclosure are not homeowner-occupied. In other words, they're multifamily dwellings. They're investor-owned. And in many States across our country, you can be a tenant who has paid every, every rental payment on time, never missed one. And yet if your landlord didn't use that money you gave him to pay that mortgage on that building, you could find yourself kicked out without any notice at all. Some States have regulations, many don't. This bill gives people 90 days from the date of foreclosure in order to stay and make new plans for their lives. I think this is a critically important piece of legislation, very important provision in the bill, and I'm glad it is a part of it. I know you're going to have to wrap up pretty soon, Congressman Miller, so I just want to yield back to you now.

Mr. ELLISON. Elizabeth Warren.

Mr. ELLISON. Would the gentleman yield? Is there a commonly referred to name for the kind of loans you are referring to?

Mr. ELLISON. So if the gentleman would yield back. The bottom line is, you are a lawyer, you are a Member of Congress, you have served in the North Carolina State Legislature, you're a man, clearly, of ability and all these things--I'm not just praising you gratuitously, I'm just identifying the facts--and here you walk into a transaction to buy a home, and quite literally you are at a disadvantage because the person on the other end of the transaction has done more transactions in a week than you have in a lifetime. Now, imagine a person who is a first-time homebuyer, a person who has not finished law school and college and maybe even high school, a person who maybe works hard every day, and the idea of buying a home for them is a dream come true, maybe nobody in their family has ever owned the place where they lived. And so they're juiced up, they're excited, and they really don't understand the documents that they're signing. The fact is, I think that this legislation that you have helped shepherd through Congress is a long time coming. And we need people to really register their support for a piece of legislation like this. I just want to ask you a question, Congressman, because I think it's an important one. Now, someone might make the case that, okay, Congressman, you're talking about predatory lending a lot. What about predatory borrowing; isn't it true that some of these people bought loans that they knew they could not afford? Well, what are your views on that, given the fact that people were in fact steered to more expensive loans, that mortgage brokers--some of them, not all, some of them--did get paid to get you to pay a higher cost loan, that there were these things like information asymmetries; what does the reality of predatory borrowing really mean? I yield back.

Mr. ELLISON. If the gentleman would yield one more time. So what you're saying is it was telling you without telling you anything; is that right? I yield back.

Mr. ELLISON. Will the gentleman yield? Was there an obligation to disclose that I'm getting paid more money for selling you this loan, and it's costing you more but it's making me more? Was that part of the disclosure requirement?

Mr. ELLISON. How many mortgage transactions does a mortgage broker do in a given week?

Mr. ELLISON. Let me say, I do thank the gentleman, but I do it in all sincerity. Congressman Miller, you and Congressman Frank and Congressman Watt and Congresswoman Waters and Congressman Gutierrez and Congresswoman Maloney have really been offering the kind of leadership on the Financial Services Committee that any freshman or sophomore Member could only dream of. Any freshman or sophomore Member joining our committee could easily wonder where do I fit in and all this stuff, but you all have carved away so that those of us who have a compassion for consumer justice and for an America where we have shared prosperity, not just for some of us but where all of us have an opportunity to do well and take care of our families, you all have cut a wide berth for us, and so I thank you for that. Let me say about the foreclosure crisis, in many ways I come here somewhat embarrassed because we could have had a bill like this years ago. It is not as if you and Congressman Watt didn't think of it. It is not as if the Miller-Watt bill wasn't on your mind back in the 109th Congress and 108th Congress. It was there, but it took this propitious moment to get as close as we are. And yet, we still don't have a signed bill. We have a bill that has passed through the House, and we have great hopes for it getting through the Senate, and we have even greater hopes to get it on the President's desk for signature. But the moment that the American people are waiting for, which is to end predatory mortgage lending, that moment has yet to come. And we have seen foreclosures that have rivaled the Great Depression. That is very disturbing to me. I want the American people to look at this chart that we have here tonight. The number of new foreclosures increased dramatically between 2005 and 2008. That is precipitous growth in foreclosures. As foreclosures were going up, we also see human beings attached to each one of those foreclosures. Congressman, you know what I am talking about. The stories can be told. Let me tell a story. I was knocking on doors one day and I saw a gentleman hobble to the front door to answer the door to talk to me. This particular gentleman lived on the south side of Minneapolis. I heard a voice come from deep within the house say, Be careful, Honey, and it clearly was his partner. And he hobbled up to the front door anyway on a cane. I said, How are you doing? He said, Fine. I said, I'm running for Congress. I want to go there and I am going to work on consumer justice. I am real concerned about credit cards and real concerned about predatory lending. He said, I hope you are, because let me tell you, I was on my roof trying to fix it. It is because I didn't have the money to fix it to hire a guy who really knew what he was doing. My wife told me not to do it, but I did it anyway. As usual, she is right. I fell. I hurt my back, which I hurt years before, and we didn't really have the money. It cost us $1,800 for an emergency vehicle to come get me. They got me there. I had a big bill. I didn't know what hurt more, the back or the bill. I didn't have the money, so I put it on a credit card. I ended up getting another credit card, and I started juggling these cards. And then when the mortgage payments came and I wasn't working, I just couldn't keep up. Well, a few years ago we bought this house and we had a huge balloon payment after 3 years. We thought we would be able to do it because when we talked to the guy, he said, You know what? The value of your house is going up and you will be able to do a refinance and you won't have any problem. That man told me, Look, I have big credit card debt and medical debt, and I am starting to get notices that they are going to foreclosure if I don't make some payments to the bank. Unfortunately, time went by, November came, I ended up being a Congressman, and this man ended up being in foreclosure. The sad fact is the people who are in foreclosure, there are a lot of ingredients to this very sad cake; but one is hard times and economic difficulty, and two, bad loan products. The combination of the two makes for foreclosures. As we open up tonight, Congressman Miller, I am grateful to you and Congressman Frank, Congressman Watt, Congresswoman Waters, Congresswoman Maloney, and all of the people who have been leading the charge on this issue. I want to keep it in mind that we are not talking about just statistics. We can tick off, in 2008, there were 2,417,000 foreclosures, but there was a life and a family connected to each one of those. As we do this Special Order tonight, we need to keep that in mind.

Mr. ELLISON. Could you count them all on one hand?

Mr. ELLISON. How many homes have you ever purchased in your life?