President Bush has signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA). The EESA aims to restore liquidity and balance to credit markets by creating a mechanism for the Treasury Department to purchase mortgage-backed securities from troubled financial institutions.

Earlier today, the House of Representatives passed the bill by a vote of 263 to 171. Wednesday evening, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 75 to 24.

After failing to pass the House earlier in the week, the legislation was enhanced in the Senate with an increase in Federal Deposit Insurance levels, an extension of expiring tax provisions, and language to provide an alternative minimum tax patch for middle-income taxpayers.

Recognizing the risk posed to the equipment industry by a credit freeze-up, AED has been working over the past two weeks with the White House and other leading business groups to educate lawmakers about the need to enact financial rescue legislation. In recent days we have heard from distributors who have told us that customers who were ready to buy machines decided against doing so because of credit concerns, that customers who wanted to buy could not get financed, and that financing terms have gotten tougher, reducing customers' ability to purchase equipment.

In a letter to House leaders this morning, AED President Toby Mack called on representatives to vote in favor of the EESA, saying that the unprecedented scale of the financial crisis demanded unprecedented action.