December 8, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10793 

taking a look at the drastic reduction 

of automobile sales. But one factor 

came through loudly and clearly, and 

that was the potential consequences if 

the automotive industry—the Big 

Three—collapse, that we would be 

without the major portion of the industrial base in the United States, which 

as we all know in time of national 

emergency, in time of war, is indispensable for the defense of our country. 

So my staff and I and my colleagues 

are all taking a very close look at the 

proposals which the Big Three have 

made. I had a request to meet with 

General Motors and we will be doing 

that tomorrow. We are talking to a lot 

of people who were totally opposed to 

economic aid from the Federal Government. So we have to weigh the consequences as to what happens if economic aid is not given. It is hard to 

calculate what the consequences will 

be on the economy, but some of the 

predictions are virtually catastrophic. 

We must weigh that against the likelihood of the success of the plans, and it 

all depends on the quality of those 

plans. 

I thank the Chair. I know Senator 

DORGAN is close at hand, but in the absence of any other Senator seeking recognition, I suggest the absence of a 

quorum. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the role. 

The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. 

Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the order for 

the quorum call be rescinded. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that the Senator 

from New Mexico be recognized for 1 

minute, I believe, and following which 

I would be recognized. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

The Senator from New Mexico is recognized. 

Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I 

thank my colleague. 

f 

REMEMBERING ALICE MARTIN 

KING 

Mr. BINGAMAN. Last night, Alice 

King, one of New Mexico’s most respected and best loved citizens, died as 

a result of a stroke. This is a tremendous loss to our State, and certainly to 

her husband, former Governor Bruce 

King, and her sons Bill and Gary and 

all of the family. 

Anyone who has lived in New Mexico 

for any amount of time in recent decades has actually felt they were a part 

of the King family in a way. Republicans and Democrats alike, ranchers 

or lawyers or pipefitters or schoolchildren, the Kings knew virtually everyone in our State, and nearly everyone in the State felt they knew the 

Kings. Certainly our State has benefited from the decades of public service 

the many members of the family have 

given, led by Bruce and Alice. He was 

the Governor of our State three times 

in three different decades and by his 

side always was his partner Alice. He 

was at her side last night. 

She was always more than just the 

Governor’s wife. She was a leader in 

our State on children’s issues. She was 

the force behind the creation of a cabinet level department, the Department 

of Children, Youth and Families. A vigorous, tireless, undaunted advocate for 

children, she lifted them and their 

issues to the top of our State’s list of 

priorities, and she was their champion. 

New Mexico has lost an invaluable 

citizen, one whose accomplishments 

are part of our history and part of our 

future. She was a great person, a great 

friend to many people, including my 

wife Anne and me. We join the King 

family in grieving the loss of this wonderful woman and remembering her 

with appreciation and love. 

Mr. President, I yield the floor. 

f 

EXTENSION OF MORNING 

BUSINESS 

Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I ask 

unanimous consent that morning business be extended for 1 hour, with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 

minutes each. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

Mr. DORGAN. I ask unanimous consent to be recognized as in morning 

business for 20 minutes. 

The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. 

f 

AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY LOAN 

BAILOUT 

Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, this 

week there will be a lot of discussion 

on the floor of the Senate about a 

bridge loan to the automobile industry 

in this country. I wish to speak about 

a bit of it here. It is quite clear that 

this country faces very serious financial problems—perhaps the most serious in my lifetime. We know that 

thoughtful leadership can help move 

this country past these problems and 

to address these problems, but they indeed are very serious. 

Here is a description of the jobs that 

have been lost since the first of this 

year. Nearly 2 million private sector 

jobs have been lost this year. 

This is kind of sanitary and doesn’t 

mean so much in terms of numbers. 

But every one of those nearly 2 million 

people had to go home this year to tell 

a loved one or their family that they 

didn’t have a job any longer. A job is 

what makes much of the other things 

that are good in our life possible. Nearly 2 million have lost jobs. 

Most Americans who have some sort 

of retirement savings, whether it is a 

401(k) or an IRA, if they have looked— 

and some have not—they have discovered that 30 to 40 percent of that is now 

gone, washed away by a serious financial crisis. Millions of people have lost 

their homes and millions more will unless something is done. It is one thing 

to lose a home, it is another thing to 

lose a job; but to lose a job and a home 

is a devastating blow to the American 

family. This is more than some sort of 

normal contraction of the business 

cycle. 

I have said before that I taught economics in college. When you teach economics, you teach about the business 

cycle. There is a contraction phase and 

an expansion phase of the business 

cycle. 

This is not a recession that is a result of a contraction phase of the business cycle. This is something very different. This is a financial collapse, a financial crisis. This is manmade. This is 

not some force of nature that is visited 

upon a population. This is a result of 

reckless business practices by some of 

the largest financial firms in this country. 

Unfortunately, instead of dealing 

with the cause, there is much effort 

now to throw money at the biggest 

firms in the country that helped steer 

our economy into the ditch. I am not 

suggesting there is not a requirement 

to make a very significant investment 

in portions of the economy to try to 

provide buoyancy and some lift to steer 

this country out of the recession. But 

there is an old country saying that the 

water won’t clear up until you get the 

hogs out of the creek. What I see day 

after day is the movement of money to 

the very interests that steered this 

country into the ditch and caused the 

wreck in the first place. 

This morning, I read in the Wall 

Street Journal about the CEO of Merrill Lynch, who is suggesting to the directors that he get a 2008 bonus of as 

much as $10 million. Merrill Lynch is 

one of the companies that has been in 

some difficulty. In fact, Merrill Lynch 

has been purchased and, as you will 

note from this chart, the top five banks 

that received taxpayer funds—I have 

not only listed them, but I talked 

about the amount of derivatives holdings they have. A substantial part of 

this recklessness has been hedge fund 

and CDOs and credit default swaps. 

J.P. Morgan got $25 billion in bailout 

funds, with $91.3 trillion in notional 

value as their derivatives holdings. 

Citigroup got $45 billion in bailout 

funds, plus we have guaranteed $306 billion of their toxic assets as well; and 

they have $37 trillion in derivatives 

holdings. The list goes on. 

Bank of America got $15 billion, and 

they have $39 trillion in notional value 

of derivatives. This is what I call ‘‘dark 

money.’’ Nobody knows where it is; nobody knows who is liable for it; nobody 

knows what kind of exposure this rancid, reckless dark money imposes on 

the balance sheets of America’s financial institutions. 

We are discovering that some of the 

largest financial institutions in the 


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