[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 47 (Wednesday, March 18, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H3610-H3611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              AIG BONUSES

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Kansas (Mr. Moran) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MORAN of Kansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening in the House in 
strong opposition to AIG's recent payments to employees in the form of 
bonuses. I can't believe that this conversation is even necessary. The 
handling of these bonus payments by AIG's management is an insult to 
the people who are ultimately paying for them, the American taxpayer.
  I believe that good business behavior and superior professional 
performance should be rewarded. That's the way the market system works 
and should work. People that are good at their jobs should be 
recognized. Compensation bonuses awarded to certain AIG employees do 
not fall into this category of recognition. The American people own 80 
percent of this company, yet 73 individuals employed by AIG received a 
bonus of at least $1 million each.
  The CEO of AIG today here on Capitol Hill called the bonuses 
``distasteful.'' I can tell you that Kansans have a much more colorful 
description when they are telling the story about these bonuses. Their 
outrage stems from a series of corporate actions, actions that have 
steadily eroded our Nation's confidence in the competency of Wall 
Street and the business community, and the Federal Government's 
response

[[Page H3611]]

to these business conditions. And the mortgaging of our children's 
future is especially damning when news of the bonuses arrives like it 
has this week.
  When the Troubled Asset Relief Program was first laid out, Members of 
Congress were assured that this would be a benefit to the public and 
would make a difference not only in the short term, but especially in 
the long term.
  For many reasons, I did not support the initial bailout, including my 
belief that there were few taxpayer safeguards within this legislation. 
Recent actions on the part of AIG only confirmed what I feared. 
Troubled businesses--and I think this is what is happening here--
troubled businesses were not forced to change their failed practices. 
Instead, they were given a lifeline, and they are beginning to pull us 
under with them.
  Kansans ask only to have an opportunity to earn a paycheck and make a 
living. Most Americans realize that bonuses are awarded if and when 
their employer is profitable and successful. AIG is neither. It is not 
fair, it is not right, and it ought not happen.
  I ask my colleagues in the House and the Senate to pursue all methods 
of recourse against companies that flaunt the will of the American 
taxpayer. But it is not just AIG we should blame. Congress passed this 
legislation without timely consideration. We rushed to judgment. In 
many instance, we violated principles that we know work, principles of 
an economy. And our actions as a Congress that passed this legislation 
allowed AIG to pay these bonuses. Shame on AIG and shame on Congress.
  By demanding accountability and some commonsense from those 
businesses that are being assisted, Congress may finally begin to get 
it right, and the taxpayer may finally be protected.

                          ____________________