[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 71 (Wednesday, May 12, 2010)]
[House]
[Page H3316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        WE'RE BAILING OUT GREECE

  (Mr. PENCE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PENCE. Our country is weary of borrowing and spending and 
bailouts from Washington, D.C. So the American people deserve to know 
we're bailing out Greece, and future Americans may be picking up the 
tab for as much as $50 billion in additional loan guarantees for the 
rest of Europe in the form of a bailout.
  Here's how it works: the European Union's members and the IMF 
recently pledged $145 billion in a Greek bailout; $40 billion of that 
came from the International Monetary Fund. Since the United States pays 
17 percent--we're the largest contributor to the IMF--American 
taxpayers are on the hook for $6.8 billion in loan guarantees from the 
IMF, and it may just be a down payment. The EU this last weekend talked 
about a $1 trillion bailout plan that could put U.S. taxpayers on the 
hook for $50 billion in additional loan guarantees to bail out Europe.
  Look, the EU was formed to compete with the US of A economically, and 
it is simply not right to ask the people of the United States of 
America to provide loan guarantees to bail out an economic competitor 
in Europe. Nobody wants to see the EU fail, but we're not asking for 
their help in New Jersey or California. They shouldn't be asking our 
help for Portugal, Spain, or Greece.

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