[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 17, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3473]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          AIG SHOULD PAY BACK EVERY CENT THEY SPENT ON BONUSES

  (Mr. HALL of New York asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. HALL of New York. Mr. Speaker, I was as shocked as all Americans 
were to learn about AIG, the recipient of more than $170 billion of 
taxpayer money, paying out more than $165 million in bonuses to its 
executives. Where I come from, when you run your company into the 
ground, you get fired, you do not get a bonus.
  Seventy-three people at AIG received bonuses of more than $1 million; 
that includes one bonus of $6.4 million, six more who received more 
than $4 million each. Eleven people received retention bonuses, that 
is, bonuses specifically designed to keep valuable employees from 
leaving the company. Well, you know what? They have already left the 
company--take the retention bonus and then leave; all this from a 
company that is 80 percent owned by the taxpayer. The people of the 
United States are not going to stand for this behavior from these 
people; neither would I, neither should this House.
  AIG should pay back every cent they spent on ``performance bonuses,'' 
and the only reward they should get for their performance is a pink 
slip.

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