[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 21 (Thursday, February 11, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S570-S571]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. BROWN, of Ohio:
  S. 3007. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to impose 
a 50 percent tax on bonuses paid by TARP recipients, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. President, in the years leading up to the 
financial crisis, risky and reckless bonus-laden pay packages ruled at 
Wall Street banks.
  After crashing our economy, these too-big-to-fail banks needed the 
Bush administration and the American taxpayer to bail them out.
  The Temporary Asset Relief Program, TARP, pumped billions and 
billions of taxpayer dollars into the financial system to stabilize our 
economy and prevent another Great Depression.
  The Obama administration continued the TARP program while also taking 
necessary and swift action passing the Recovery Act.
  But unemployment remains high even as our economy begins to recover, 
and Wall Street is back to its old ways.
  Insurance giant AIG got $182.3 billion in bailout money. Last 
Wednesday, AIG paid $100 million more in bonuses to its employees.
  Goldman Sachs got $10 billion directly from TARP and another $12.9 
billion in taxpayer aid through the AIG bailout. Goldman will pay its 
employees bonuses worth $16 billion.
  The average banker at Bank of America got a $400,000 bonus one year 
after the bank took $45 billion from TARP. The average worker in Ohio 
makes just over $41,000 a year.
  The Federal Reserve has taken extraordinary steps and made trillions 
of dollars available in low-interest loans to American banks. Fannie 
Mae and Freddie Mac are just about the only buyers today for mortgages 
in the secondary market.
  Big banks received hundreds of billions of dollars from U.S. 
taxpayers in half a dozen ways to stabilize their finances and increase 
financing to businesses and consumers.
  Our economy is reliant on small businesses, which account for more 
than 65 percent of jobs created in our Nation.
  But despite the banks' rapid recovery, their small business lending 
continues to decrease, month after month.
  In November 2009, the U.S. Treasury Department reported that the 22 
largest financial institutions receiving taxpayer assistance reduced 
lending by $10.5 billion over the previous six months.
  These same banks reduced small business loans by another $1 billion 
according to a report released in December 2009.
  I have heard from too many small business owners--from Youngstown to 
Mansfield, from Athens to Elyria--that they simply can't access the 
credit they need to hire workers or expand business.
  For 10 years wealthy bankers were partying like it was 1999. When the 
economy came crashing down the middle class was forced to sacrifice 
their money and their children's money to save the banks and unfreeze 
credit. They are still waiting for Wall Street to live up to their end 
of the bargain.
  That is why today I introduced The Wall Street Bonus Tax Act, which 
would use Wall Street's excess to fund small businesses.
  The Wall Street Bonus Tax Act imposes a 50 percent excise tax for 
2010 on bonuses awarded at financial institutions that received TARP 
assistance.
  The revenue generated by the tax would go to the Small Business 
Administration to implement a direct small business lending program to 
help small businesses in towns like Bucyrus and Dublin.
  Wall Street's lavish bonuses were made possible by the taxpayers' 
money--money that was supposed to be lent to businesses.
  Instead of patting themselves on the back, the banks should be making 
loans that help the middle class recover.
  This bill is a critical step in that direction.
                                 ______
                                 
      By Mr. SPECTER (for himself and Mr. Casey):
  S. 3009. A bill to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 
coins in recognition of and to commemorate the 1863 Invasion of 
Pennsylvania, the Battle of Gettysburg, and President Abraham Lincoln's 
Gettysburg Address; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs.
  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, today, I have sought recognition to offer 
legislation supporting the 150th anniversary of the Battle of 
Gettysburg. This legislation will serve to commemorate three historic 
events in our country: the 1863 Invasion of Pennsylvania, the decisive 
Battle of Gettysburg, and President Lincoln's famous Gettysburg 
Address.
  On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln chose Gettysburg for 
his most famous address because the battle was the turning point of the 
Civil War. The safety and security of Pennsylvania's capital, 
railroads, industries, and citizens were at stake. The resulting Battle 
of Gettysburg was the largest and costliest of the Civil War and of the 
country to date with 51,000 Union and Confederate casualties. Soldiers 
from the U.S. Regular Army and volunteer units from Pennsylvania, 
Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, 
Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, 
Minnesota, Mississippi, Ohio, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, 
North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, 
Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin served during this 
campaign and battle. Their sacrifices should not be forgotten.
  This legislation will authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to mint 
and issue commemorative Gettysburg coins in three denominations: $5 
gold, $1 silver, and half-dollar silver. These coins will only be 
distributed during the calendar year of 2013, the 150th anniversary of 
Gettysburg, and will have surcharges of $35, $10, and $5 respectively. 
The revenue generated from these surcharges will be divided between the 
Gettysburg Foundation and the Army Heritage Center Foundation to help 
finance their respective nonprofit programs dedicated to supporting the 
hundreds of thousands of visitors who walk the Gettysburg grounds each 
year and to preserve the memory of those who served and the history 
that they made.
  These two foundations are nongovernmental, member-based, and publicly 
supported nonprofit organizations that are dependent on funds from 
members, donations, and grants for support. The foundations use such 
support to help create and sustain the Gettysburg National Military 
Park and the Army Heritage and Education Center. The Gettysburg 
Foundation is recognized as the official partner of Gettysburg National 
Military Park and the Army Heritage Center Foundation is recognized by 
the Secretary of the Army as the lead agency supporting the development 
of the Army Heritage and Education Center.
  The Gettysburg Act will greatly benefit our nation by preserving this 
historic battle ground for countless visitors from across the nation 
and from around the world. It will help fund battlefield preservation 
and rehabilitation

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projects at Gettysburg National Military Park by restoring 
approximately 27 acres of battlefield to its 1863 appearance. This act 
will help preserve the hallowedness of the ground by relocating 12 
monuments to their original locations, where the veterans themselves 
placed these monuments several generations ago. Visitors to Gettysburg 
will benefit from increased educational programming at both the Army 
Heritage and Education Center and the Gettysburg Battle Visitor Center 
as the act helps facilitate the continued expansion of the Army 
Heritage and Education Center and construction of the Army Heritage 
Museum, both of which are dedicated ``to telling the Army story . . . 
one Soldier at a time.''
  The importance of the 1863 Campaign in Pennsylvania, the Battle of 
Gettysburg, and Lincoln's address stretch well beyond the Commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania and stand as an enduring reminder of how our nation was 
reborn out of the Civil War as a stronger Union more dedicated to its 
ideals of freedom and liberty. I urge each of my colleagues to join 
Senator Casey and myself in supporting this legislation.

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