G.O.P. Resistance May Delay Housing Legislation
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
WASHINGTON — Democratic Congressional leaders on Tuesday pushed back their timetable for approving emergency housing legislation after Republicans voiced growing skepticism and, in some cases, angry opposition to the Bush administration’s proposal to rescue Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-chartered mortgage finance companies.
Republican lawmakers — including the House minority leader, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio; the party whip, Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri; and the senior Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, Spencer Bachus of Alabama — all urged Democrats to take more time to go over the administration’s proposal, including committee hearings and a chance for lawmakers to offer amendments to any legislation.
“The sweeping changes contemplated in the proposal made by the Treasury Department over the weekend represent a far-reaching overhaul of the financial regulatory structure of our housing market,” Mr. Bachus wrote in a letter to Representative Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who is the chairman of the Financial Services Committee and is a main author of the housing legislation.
“Making such broad changes in a precipitous manner without adequate study and analysis is unprecedented and, perhaps, unnecessary,” Mr. Bachus wrote.
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