Urges President Obama to Adopt New Accountability Measures for Funds
January 22, 2009—Washington, DC—Breaking from Democratic leadership, Congressman Tom Perriello today voted against releasing the second $350 billion of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) that was approved by Congress last fall. In addition, he sent a letter to President Obama reiterating his opposition to the fall bailout and requesting that the President approve new accountability measures for the TARP funds.
“Citizens of the 5th District elected me to help replace the era of blank-check bailouts with a new era of accountability in our government, in our corporations, and in our personal lives. We must move from quick-fixes to solutions based on investment and recovery in order to turn our economy around,” said Perriello. “If the TARP funds are released over my objections, I am urging President Obama to adopt these new, stringent accountability measures to make sure our taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely, effectively, and transparently to create jobs. Compared to last year’s bailout, these common-sense accountability measures represent the change that voters demanded and that Virginia’s working families deserve.”
Yesterday, Perriello voted for the TARP Reform and Accountability Act (H.R. 384), which adds strict new accountability measures, closes loopholes, and requires transparency for the remaining funds. The legislation also requires at least $40 billion to help homeowners and address the mortgage crisis at the root of the recession, forces banks to report how government funds are being spent, and limits executive bonuses for firms participating in TARP.
The full text of the letter to President Obama signed by fellow freshmen Members of Congress is below:
Dear President Obama:
Congratulations on your historic inauguration, and thank you for stating your commitment to addressing our nation’s deteriorating economic situation. We stand ready to work with you to deliver relief to working families and prosperity to our nation. Today, we write to respectfully express our opposition to the release and concern over the utilization of the final portion of funding authorized under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
The Bush Administration’s Treasury Department spent $350 billion from the TARP, a taxpayer funded bailout of the financial industry, and could not explain to the American people how its actions addressed the economic crisis or even how the beneficiaries of the bailout used the funds they were allocated. Recently, the Senate defeated the resolution of disapproval on the funds’ allocation, without taking any action to institute additional accountability protections on the use of the funds. As a result, the House will not be able to prevent the release of an additional $350 billion in TARP funds to Treasury through the disapproval mechanism.
While we do not support continuing the TARP by releasing the additional $350 billion authorized under TARP, we acknowledge that there is little the House can do to affect this. Therefore, in advance of your Administration receiving the funds, we ask you to consider adopting the restrictions outlined in H.R. 384, the TARP Reform and Accountability Act. The accountability measures outlined in H.R. 384 are intended to ensure that taxpayers' money used for this bailout is at least better protected and accounted for than it was under the administration of your predecessor.
The TARP Reform and Accountability Act applies stringent executive compensation restrictions including the prohibition of all golden parachute payments. It requires reporting on financial institutions' use of funds, and establishes accountability measures for participating companies. Additionally, H.R. 384 directs Treasury to attack the source of our economic downturn -- the housing sector. Under the bill, use of the second $350 billion is conditioned on allocating a minimum of $40 billion and a maximum of $100 billion to implement critical foreclosure prevention programs.
These limitations, and others included in the bill, provide a necessary framework of transparency and effectiveness for any use of the TARP funds. It is important that these guidelines are implemented and followed in the disbursement of the remaining TARP funds. Taxpayers are investing generations of debt in an effort to stabilize our financial markets, and we must protect their investment by making sure it is used wisely and with the best interest of the economy, not investors, in mind.
We support you in your efforts to uplift our economy and lead this country into prosperity. Towards that end, before moving forward with implementation of the last TARP monies, we urge you to call upon the Senate to favorably act upon H.R. 384, allowing you to sign it into law, or sign an executive order that impose the bill’s provisions on all further TARP actions.
Sincerely,
Harry Teague
John Boccieri
Gerald Connolly
Debbie Halvorson
Frank M. Kratovil
Eric Massa
Tom Perriello
Chellie Pingree
Kurt Schrader
