[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 12, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H5410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               TARP FRAUD

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Madam Speaker, with $590 billion or 84 percent of the 
authorized troubled asset relief funds having already been handed out 
to Wall Street, the TARP Inspector General, Neil Barofsky, issued a 
250-page report that recommended transparency and that all TARP 
recipients be made to detail how they will use bailout dollars and 
safeguard a new mortgage rescue effort against scams.
  But 84 percent of the funds have already been given away. To call for 
greater transparency at this stage in the game is well beyond a day 
late and a dollar short.
  However, what is encouraging is that the Inspector General, amid 
reports of rampant fraud, has realized and embraced his legal power and 
has instituted 20 criminal investigations and six audits.
  In addition, he has begun to ask tough questions and look into who, 
quote, sought to influence decision-making by Treasury or bank 
regulators. Bold and encouraging words as The New York Times reported 
that Secretary Geithner has more than cordial relationships with many 
of the TARP recipient CEOs.

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