[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Page 10245]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             TARP OVERSIGHT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, last fall, many of us in Congress 
weren't all that excited about rescuing financial firms from problems 
that many of them had brought about themselves, but we decided swift 
action was needed precisely to protect ordinary Americans from the 
mistakes these firms had made. At the time, Republicans insisted on 
strong taxpayer protections. None of us had any doubt that once these 
banks were healthy again, they would pay the money back to the 
taxpayers who gave it to them.
  Let me say that again. None of us had any doubt that once the banks 
were healthy again, they would pay the money back to the taxpayers. In 
fact, many of my colleagues on this side of the aisle only supported 
the bill because of the representations that were made that we would 
recoup--the Government would recoup--the money. Now we are hearing a 
different story.
  A number of the firms that taxpayers helped out last fall are now on 
the road to recovery and want to pay back their loans. Unfortunately, 
Treasury doesn't seem to want to take the money. Let me say that again. 
These firms are getting healthy, they want to pay back the money, and 
Treasury doesn't seem to want to take the money. This wasn't the 
original plan, and it doesn't seem right to most people. If a bank 
wants to pay the taxpayers back--if a bank wants to pay the taxpayers 
back--the Government shouldn't block the door.
  Just as troubling is a new report by the special inspector general 
who is overseeing all the financial rescue programs. It alleges the 
same kind of fraud we warned about back in October, including about 20 
preliminary and full criminal investigations for everything ranging 
from securities fraud to mortgage fraud, to insider trading, to public 
corruption related to the $700 billion in rescue funds.
  All of this is a major wakeup call. The Treasury needs to root out 
the fraud now, particularly at a time when the new administration is 
vastly expanding the size and the scope of these programs. As these 
programs expand, so will the potential for abuse. The Treasury 
Department also needs to let these banks extract themselves from 
Government control as soon as they want to. That was the original plan 
the American people signed onto, and they have a right to expect that 
the original plan will be carried out free from fraud and abuse.
  I yield the floor.

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