U.S. Senator Jim Bunning today issued the following statement opposing the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008 that was approved in the Senate by a vote of 84-12.

"The bill approved by the Senate today does nothing to keep people in their homes and it will not solve the crisis at hand. In fact, the bill will encourage foreclosures.

"Instead of providing billions of dollars in bailout money to homebuilders and banks, we should be working to cut taxes and create opportunities for economic growth that will put more money back in the pockets of working families for them to spend on things like housing. One proposal I attempted to offer to the bill would have helped more people keep their homes by cutting taxes on home mortgage refinancing. Unfortunately the managers of the bill would not allow a vote on my amendment.

"This bill hurts responsible homeowners and rewards those who made bad decisions. The federal government should not be in the business of bailing out homeowners and banks who gambled on home prices and lost."