[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 13 (Thursday, January 22, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E127-E128]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TARP DISAPPROVAL VOTE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 22, 2009

  Ms. HARMAN. Madam Speaker, today I voted to disapprove the release of 
the second half of the so-called TARP funds. The Senate has already 
approved the release, so mine is essentially a protest vote. But it is 
a protest that should be heard.
  The Bush Administration presented the $700 billion Troubled Asset 
Relief Program to Congress as an asset purchase program. We were told 
that the Treasury Department would use the funds primarily to purchase 
mortgage-backed securities and other toxic assets, and then banks and 
credit unions would use their cleaned-up balance sheets to free up 
credit while the government helped renegotiate home mortgages. The 
focus was supposed to be about keeping people in their homes.
  But looking back, it feels more like a classic bait and switch. 
Rather than spend the money as promised, the Bush Administration took 
advantage of loopholes in the law to funnel money directly to banks, 
who have been loathe to part with it. And the Bush Administration did 
this with scant oversight or accountability. We still have little idea 
how the first $350 billion was spent, or whether much of it made any 
difference.
  What is clear is that little of the funds went to the small banks and 
credit unions that actually keep our communities growing. I understand 
that only one bank holding company in my district, out of dozens of 
struggling community banks and credit unions, has received any help 
under the TARP.
  The TARP has essentially become a $350 billion bank consolidation 
fund. And in the meantime, the key driver behind this crisis--home 
foreclosures--has been all but ignored.
  My constituents have noticed, and they continue to express 
overwhelming disapproval of the way the program has been run thus far.
  Yesterday, I voted for H.R. 384, Chairman Frank's TARP Reform and 
Accountability Act, which I believe would have made vital changes to 
the TARP--including the adoption of a home foreclosure program modeled 
after the one proposed by FDIC Chair Sheila Bair.
  But I understand that the Senate has no plans to take up the Frank 
Bill, and instead will rely on assurances from NEC Chairman Larry 
Summers that the Obama Administration will use the second $350 billion 
responsibly.

[[Page E128]]

  Larry Summers is a friend and an enormous talent, and I have great 
respect for President Obama and his team. But Congress is the 
constitutionally designated steward of taxpayer dollars. We should 
insist on the limitations in the Frank bill before releasing another 
$350 billion.
  I expect to support a robust and effective stimulus bill. I wish the 
second tranche of TARP had been totally revamped and added to the 
stimulus proposal.

                          ____________________