[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[House]
[Pages 293-294]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          AMERICA NEEDS ACTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from Ohio (Ms. Kaptur) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, America is embarking upon a Presidential 
election year. And what are these candidates offering? Some say hope. 
Others say change. Others say tax cuts. My fellow citizens, what we 
need for someone to say is we need action.
  America is being bought out from under us. What do the candidates 
have to say about that? Nothing. Not yet. All the while, their campaign 
coffers are brimming with money, more and more, from Wall Street's 
hallowed givers and offshoring artists.
  America, meanwhile, is falling deeper and deeper into recession with 
inflation rates the steepest in 17 years. All Wall Street wants to do 
is make more money. But at whose expense? These big bankers and fund 
managers will stop at nothing for profit, even at the price of our 
national security. They are selling out America.
  Wall Street's thirst for profit drove the subprime lending crisis to 
suck the equity away from ordinary homebuyers. It has raided your 
pension funds. And the latest gimmick is grabbing for foreign money to 
bail themselves out from bad decisions that are covering staggering 
losses.
  Citigroup, the largest institution in the country, has made headlines 
with its $10 billion fourth quarter losses. As a result, the bank is 
cutting thousands of jobs and turning to investors from where? China, 
Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Kuwait, to bail the company out.
  An article I wish to place in the Record from the New York Times 
states, ``Other investors that are trying to pump money into Citigroup 
are Capital Research Global Investors.'' Well, who are they? Capital 
World Investors. I wonder who they are? It mentions the Kuwait 
Investment Authority, the New Jersey Division of Investment. New Jersey 
is going to bail out Citigroup? How can that be? Shareholder Prince 
Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia and former chief executive Sanford 
Weill and his family foundation.
  The article goes on to say, ``Citigroup said it raised $12.5 billion 
in new cash from outside investors, including $6.88 billion from the 
Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.''
  We're raising money from foreign governments to pump into U.S. 
banking institutions? Our entire financial sector is clawing at 
survival.
  J.P. Morgan Chase lost 34 percent in the fourth quarter, with $1.3 
billion in write-downs attributed to the subprime crisis. Will Tony 
Blair be able to bail them out in his new advisory position? To which 
foreign interest will he turn for cash?
  Foreign capital indebts us more than the face value of the 
transaction. I thought we were a nation founded in independence. This 
kind of borrowing means America is no longer free. We owe and our 
children will owe, so will our grandchildren and our great 
grandchildren. And they won't owe Uncle Sam; they'll owe the Premier of 
Communist China, the King of Saudi Arabia, the Emir of the United Arab 
Emirates, the Bank of Singapore.
  Wake up, America. George Washington said beware of entangling foreign 
alliances. He said, ``How many opportunities do such alliances afford 
to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to 
mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils.''
  Wake up, America.
  Well, these creditors won't forget what we owe. They like the 
influence they are wielding. They will call in their favors to Wall 
Street as they are calling in their favors as our troops are staged all 
over this globe. And to those candidates who were elected with Wall 
Street's help and their enormous financial support, they will call.
  The problem is, the American people and the very principles to which 
this Republic is dedicated are compromised and eroded in the process.
  Wake up, America. It's a time for action and for the people of this 
country to rise to preserve their diminishing independence.

                  Citigroup May Cut Thousands of Jobs

       New York.--Citigroup Inc. is expected to announce thousands 
     of job cuts after posting dismal results for the fourth 
     quarter, when the bank's mortgage-riddled portfolio lost 
     billions of dollars in value.
       Citigroup swung to a loss of nearly $10 billion in the 
     fourth quarter as it took a write down of $18.1 billion for 
     bad bets related to the mortgage industry, the bank said on 
     Tuesday.
       On the hunt for cash, the nation's largest bank said 
     Tuesday it also got a $12.5 billion investment from outside 
     investors, including $6.88 billion from the Government of 
     Singapore Investment Corp.
       Other investors were Capital Research Global Investors, 
     Capital World Investors, the Kuwait Investment Authority, the 
     New Jersey Division of Investment, shareholder Prince 
     Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia and former chief executive 
     Sanford Weill and his family foundation.
       Citigroup also took a net charge of $3.31 billion for loan-
     loss reserves in its U.S. consumer credit business--primarily 
     for delinquencies on mortgages, credit cards and auto loans. 
     A year earlier it reversed $127 million in loan-loss 
     reserves. Citi cited increasing signs of weakness among the 
     consumer--something many others have pointed to as a 
     potential indicator of a recession.
       Fourth-quarter losses totaled $9.83 billion, or $1.99 per 
     share, compared with earnings of $5.13 billion, or $1.03 per 
     share, during the same quarter in 2006. Citigroup's revenue 
     fell to $7.22 billion in the fourth quarter, down 70 percent 
     from $23.83 billion generated during the final quarter of 
     2006.
       Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, forecast 
     a loss of $1.03 per share for the quarter on revenue of 
     $10.64 billion. The biggest loss estimate for the quarter was 
     for a loss of $1.43 per share, while the lowest revenue 
     estimate was for $6.47 billion.
       Citigroup was hit hard for the second straight quarter by 
     rising delinquencies and defaults in the mortgage market--
     especially among subprime loans given to customers with poor 
     credit history. The New York-based bank cut the value of 
     bonds and debt backed by the troubled loans by $18.1 billion. 
     During the third quarter, Citigroup took about $6 billion in 
     write-downs.
       It was not all bad news for Citigroup, though, as the bank 
     recorded record results in its international consumer, 
     transaction services and wealth management segments.
       International consumer revenue increased 45 percent, due to 
     a 21 percent year-over-year increase in average deposits and 
     a 30 percent jump in loan volume. Citigroup's international 
     consumer unit also benefited from a $507 million pretax gain 
     on Visa Inc. shares and a $313 million gain on the sale of 
     Nikko Cordial's Simplex Investment Advisors.
       Transaction services revenue increased to a record $2.29 
     billion, driven by growing customer volume.
       For the full year, Citigroup posted net income of $3.62 
     billion, or 72 cents per share.
       As part of a plan to boost capital on its balance sheet 
     after the fourth-quarter losses, Citigroup said it raised 
     $12.5 billion in new cash from outside investors, including 
     $6.88 billion from the Government of Singapore Investment 
     Corp.
       Citigroup also cut its quarterly dividend to 32 cents per 
     share from 54 cents per share to save money.
       Shares of Citigroup fell 85 cents, or 2.9 percent, to 
     $28.21 in premarket trading from a $29.06 close Monday.

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