[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 45]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   REPORTED WALL STREET BANK BONUSES

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. IKE SKELTON

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 12, 2010

  Mr. SKELTON. Madam Speaker, I come from Missouri--the Show-Me State--
where people conduct their lives with a sensible skepticism and a great 
devotion to common sense and patriotism.
  Missourians pride themselves in being straight shooters. They work 
hard and play by the rules. They look at issues with a pragmatism that 
more Americans should possess. They, like I, have been angered by the 
greedy behavior of Wall Street tycoons who helped get our country into 
its current economic mess.
  Their anger is amplified when they hear news stories, as all 
Americans have in the past few days, about how some of Wall Street's 
biggest banks are planning to give millions of dollars in bonuses. I am 
outraged by this. I have to ask myself, ``Where is the common sense of 
these Wall Street bankers? Where is their patriotism? Where is their 
shared sense of sacrifice?''
  I grew up during World War II. When this Nation was in trouble then, 
all Americans stood together; all Americans made sacrifices--the 
working men and women of this country and the barons of industry. This 
current crowd on Wall Street just doesn't seem to get that. And that is 
a shame.
  It was important for the government to help save the American 
financial system from ruin. It was close to going off a desperately 
high cliff in the autumn of 2008. That would have been devastating for 
the Missouri families I represent. Was I angered that the government 
had to take emergency action? You bet I was--as were the folks in whose 
shoes I stand each day in Washington.
  Action was needed in large part because Wall Street tycoons had 
gambled with risky mortgage backed securities and because the 
government was not shining its regulatory light fully on these risky 
investments. And, many Wall Street firms rewarded employees with 
exuberant pay packages based on get-rich-quick financial transactions.
  In February 2009, Congress directed Treasury to review and set strict 
guidelines on executive compensation at financial institutions 
receiving assistance under the 2008 Emergency Economic Stabilization 
Act. Treasury has been doing that under the direction of Kenneth 
Feinberg, who runs the Office of the Special Master on executive 
compensation at the department.
  I am saddened that Congress would have to create a special office to 
help this greedy bunch find their moral compass. And, I am even more 
saddened that Wall Street banks would continue to think it appropriate 
to cut enormous bonus checks when so many American families are out of 
work and many others are very deeply concerned about their economic 
future. Can't the Wall Street crowd see how their pay schemes are 
interpreted in middle America? Can't they understand that their profits 
are occurring because the American people made serious sacrifices to 
right the Nation's economic ship?
  I am not yet convinced that the Treasury Secretary, the Federal 
Reserve Chairman, or the President have worked hard enough to press 
this compensation issue with the Wall Street community. That is why 
Congress has been working on several bills to establish more sensible 
policies in this area and in financial regulation more broadly.
  I fully realize that American companies must retain good workers to 
be competitive in the global marketplace and it takes pay to do that, 
but I am angered that executives at firms that received federal 
taxpayer assistance do not possess the common sense to share in the 
sacrifices being made by the American people during this tough economic 
climate. I urge them to take a step back and to reconsider their 
actions.

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