WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Representative Mike Michaud has issued the following statement in reference to his vote against the bailout bill.

"I voted against the Wall Street bailout bill because it provided largely unchecked authority to the Treasury Department to spend $700 billion of taxpayers' money without adequate safeguards. The legislation the House voted on today retained the basic form of the original Bush Administration plan.

"There were other proposals that would have ensured protections for taxpayers. There were also credible plans proposed that were completely different than the bailout proposal that some financial experts believed could work better – some requiring little, if any, taxpayer exposure. And some economists suggested that directly aiding homeowners would be the best way forward, arguing that such an approach would directly help Main Street while having the additional benefit of adding value to troubled Wall Street assets. Unfortunately, we were not provided an opportunity to seriously consider these other options. Instead we kept the original White House framework and leaders attempted to add sweeteners to the bill in order to gain votes.

"In the end, after a very careful review and meetings with top economists and financial experts, I concluded that the package as presented to the House for a vote did not adequately protect the taxpayer."

In a bipartisan vote in Congress today, President Bush's bailout of selected mortgage companies and financial institutions failed in the Congress.