[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 151 (Tuesday, September 23, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H8586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  DEMOCRATS WILL WORK WITH ADMINISTRATION, BUT CEO ACCOUNTABILITY IS 
                                 NEEDED

  (Mr. ARCURI asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ARCURI. Mr. Speaker, as Congress and the Bush administration 
continue to discuss a proposal to help turn Wall Street around, it is 
important that the administration know that this Congress is not going 
to just hand over $700 billion without any accountability or oversight.
  The administration's proposal is a nonstarter, because it does not 
hold Wall Street executives accountable for their bad decisions. The 
crisis on Wall Street did not just happen. CEOs and other executives at 
the financial institutions made bad decisions, and we need to ensure 
their bad decisions are not rewarded.
  For years, CEOs have been walking away from faltering companies with 
millions of dollars in compensation. Last year, the CEO of Merrill 
Lynch resigned after the company lost $10 billion, and its stock lost 
45 percent of its value. Despite these failures, the CEO walked away 
with $161 million retirement package.
  In any Wall Street recovery package, we need to ensure that the CEOs 
are not rewarded for their poor decisions with bonuses and other large 
compensation packages. They need to be held accountable. This is the 
taxpayers' money.

                          ____________________