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Union Calendar No. 20 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1575 

[Report No. 111–50] 

To authorize the Attorney General to limit or recover excessive compensation 

paid or payable by entities that have received Federal financial assistance 

on or after September 1, 2008. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2009 

Mr. CONYERS (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. NADLER of New York, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. PIERLUISI, Ms. FUDGE, and 

Mr. TONKO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

MARCH 24, 2009 

Additional sponsors: Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. BOSWELL, Mr. BACA, 

Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Ms. ESHOO, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. SHERMAN

MARCH 24, 2009 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union 

and ordered to be printed 

A BILL 

To authorize the Attorney General to limit or recover excessive compensation paid or payable by entities that have 

received Federal financial assistance on or after September 1, 2008. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘End Government Re5 imbursement of Excessive Executive Disbursements (End 

6 GREED) Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF AUTHORITY. 

8 Congress hereby elects to use its authority under arti9 cle I, section 8, clause 4, and article I, section 8, clause 

10 18, of the Constitution— 

11 (1) to establish a uniform law on bankruptcy 

12 that applies to entities that have received extraor13 dinary financial assistance from the United States 

14 on or after September 1, 2008, and 

15 (2) to authorize the Attorney General of the 

16 United States (hereinafter in this Act referred to as 

17 the Attorney General), after consultation with the 

18 Secretary of the Treasury (hereinafter in this Act 

19 referred to as the Secretary)— 

20 (A) to seek recovery of previous excessive 

21 payments of compensation made by such enti22 ties after receiving such assistance, and 

23 (B) to limit excessive payments of com24 pensation to be made by such entities. 


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1 SEC. 3. RECOVERY OF EXCESSIVE COMPENSATION. 

2 (a) REVIEW OF CONTRACTS AND PAYMENTS.—The 

3 Attorney General, after consultation with the Secretary, 

4 on behalf of the Government may review any employment 

5 contract made by a recipient entity, and any payment 

6 made on or after September 1, 2008, by a recipient entity 

7 to an employee. 

8 (b) CIVIL ACTION FOR FRAUDULENT TRANSFER.— 

9 The Attorney General may commence a civil action in an 

10 appropriate district court of the United States to avoid 

11 any payment made by a recipient entity to an employee 

12 (including a payment under an employment contract) that 

13 was made on or after September 1, 2008, if such entity 

14 received less than a reasonably equivalent value in ex15 change for such payment and such entity— 

16 (1) was insolvent on the date that such pay17 ment was made, not taking into account any— 

18 (A) line of credit, 

19 (B) loan, or 

20 (C) payment in exchange for stock of such 

21 entity, 

22 received by such entity from the United States on or 

23 after September 1, 2008, or 

24 (2) was engaged in business or a transaction, or 

25 was about to engage in business or a transaction, for 


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1 which property remaining in the recipient entity was 

2 an unreasonably small capital. 

3 For purposes of this subsection, the Attorney General may 

4 avoid any transfer of an interest of a recipient entity in 

5 property, or any obligation incurred by such entity, that 

6 is avoidable under applicable law by a creditor holding an 

7 unsecured claim against such entity. 

8 (c) CIVIL ACTION TO AVOID CONTRACTUAL OBLIGA9 TIONS TO PAY EXCESSIVE COMPENSATION.—The Attor10 ney General may commence a civil action in an appro11 priate district court of the United States to limit the 

12 amount of the compensation paid or payable on or after 

13 the date of the enactment of this Act by a recipient entity 

14 under an employment contract if such compensation is 

15 greater than an amount equal to 10 times the amount of 

16 the mean amount of compensation paid or payable to non17 management employees of such entity for any purpose 

18 during the calendar year in which compensation was paid 

19 or payable by such entity. 

20 SEC. 4. SUBPOENA AUTHORITY. 

21 The Attorney General is authorized to issue a sub22 poena requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses 

23 and the production of documentary evidence relating to 

24 any matter relevant to the implementation of this Act, in25 cluding the circumstances surrounding any employment 


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1 contract or payment of compensation, which subpoena, in 

2 the case of contumacy or refusal to obey, shall be enforce3 able by order of an appropriate district court of the United 

4 States. 

5 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

6 Other than limiting compensation paid or payable 

7 under employment contracts or providing for the recovery 

8 of previously paid compensation, nothing in this Act shall 

9 be construed to have any impact on a recipient entity, its 

10 financial status, or the financial status of its creditors. 

11 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

12 For purposes of this Act— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘employment contract’’ means an 

14 employment contract that provides for the payment 

15 of compensation (including performance or incentive 

16 compensation, a bonus of any kind, or any other fi17 nancial return designed to replace or enhance incen18 tive, stock, or other compensation), and 

19 (2) the term ‘‘recipient entity’’ means a person 

20 (including any subsidiary of such person) that re21 ceives, during any period beginning on or after Sep22 tember 1, 2008, from the United States— 

23 (A) a line of credit or a loan, 

24 (B) a payment in exchange for stock of 

25 such person (or such subsidiary), or 


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1 (C) any combination of credit, loans, or 

2 payments, 

3 that exceeds $10,000,000,000 in the aggregate. 


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Union Calendar No. 20 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1575 

[Report No. 111–50] 

A BILL 

To authorize the Attorney General to limit or resistance on or after September 1, 2008. entities that have received Federal financial as- cover excessive compensation paid or payable by 

MARCH 24, 2009 

Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 


PWALKER on PROD1PC71 with BILLS