April 8, 2008

 Washington, DC—Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to President Bush this evening, urging him to work with Democrats to strengthen the economy for struggling families on Main Street. Reid and Pelosi will meet Wednesday with the President and other bipartisan congressional leaders.

The full text of the letter is below: 

April 8, 2008

The Honorable George W. Bush

The President of the United States

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing in anticipation of tomorrow’s meeting of the bicameral, bipartisan congressional leadership with you and other Administration leaders.  There can be little doubt that the current economic slowdown combined with the rising costs of everything from gas to health care are putting tremendous pressure on America’s working families. Last week’s disturbing unemployment numbers and Chairman Bernanke’s recession warning are further evidence of the need for swift and decisive bipartisan action.

While your Administration actively supported the Federal Reserve’s swift responses to address Wall Street’s problems during the ongoing economic crisis, millions of families across America continue to face the prospect of losing their homes and their jobs. We believe that Congress and your Administration must now turn their attention to Main Street and help families in crisis. We can do this by developing a financially prudent package of housing policy reforms that can avert a wider foreclosure crisis, expanding unemployment insurance at a time of significant job losses, helping ensure that critical government services are available for struggling families, and making investments in infrastructure and alternative energy to serve our national interests and create good paying jobs. We can do this by once again making American veterans a part of an American economic recovery, with a guaranteed college education.

We hope tomorrow’s meeting will launch a bipartisan process to address the short-term housing crisis and bring relief to families struggling to make ends meet, including creating high-paying jobs here at home.

Thank you, Mr. President, for scheduling this meeting at such a critical time for our economy and the American people. We look forward to working with you

Respectfully,

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid