[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 26052]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       THE BRIDGE LOAN TO NOWHERE

  (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KIRK. Mr. Speaker, last December Treasury lent General Motors $13 
billion, another $6 billion last spring, and in June, just days before 
GM declared bankruptcy, the White House gave another $30 billion, just 
in time to convert taxpayer loans into government ownership.
  That's $49 billion given to GM, and taxpayers now own 61 percent of 
the company.
  Last Wednesday, ex-car czar Steve Rattner estimated that the 
taxpayers' stake in GM has lost $25 billion, a nearly 50 percent loss. 
While sales of the privately owned Ford Motors fell only 6 percent, the 
government-owned GM saw a 45 percent decline.
  How much should taxpayers expect to lose from the ``Bridge Loan to 
Nowhere''?
  Despite pledges of transparency, the ``Bridge Loan to Nowhere'' comes 
with none. American taxpayers are in the dark about the basic details 
of $49 billion given to GM.
  Congress, and the American people, should see the financial and 
operating information for GM. Taxpayers should be treated like 
shareholders of any other major company.

                          ____________________