December 9, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10831 

When I look back at my parents’ lives, 

they have left a very tangible legacy. It is 

visible in the land—the trees and the flowers 

and the plants that they grew on their 24 

acres and the improvements they made to 

their farmland. 

But their more important legacy is their 

grandchildren. That is the lesson of my parents’ lives: There is no substitute for the 

time spent with family and with people. 

They were an integral part of our children’s lives. They worked with our kids, 

talked with our kids, listened to our kids. It 

was a wonderful relationship and a wonderful 

gift that dramatically influenced each of 

them—in ways obvious and not so obvious— 

and will, in turn, influence each of their children. 

The last thing my father did before he died 

was have our son, John, order several bushels 

of flower bulbs. Up until the very end, Dad 

was planning for the future. He wanted the 

bulbs to be planted in his yard and in Aunt 

Judy’s yard and in our yard. His great-grandchildren helped plant those bulbs just a week 

before his death. 

And when those flowers bloom next spring, 

we will think of Mama and Dick. 

For over 65 years, my parents loved each 

other and took care of each other. They had 

fun and loved their life together. They were 

quite a team. Mother always considered herself ‘‘Dick’s straight man.’’ And she was. 

They made us laugh. They made us smile. 

I would like to conclude by reading from 

one of Mother’s letters to Dad, as she waited 

for his return to Yellow Springs from World 

War II. This one was numbered 407. She 

wrote: 

I can have patience, though, in this matter 

[of your return], specially since, if the news 

is good, and I think it will be, I know what 

the outcome of it all will be—it’ll be exactly 

what I’ve been, and of course, my darling, 

you, too, [have been] waiting for, for so 

damned long—the perfect set-up of Jeanie 

and Dick, together for ever and ever. 

Remember that, ‘‘As long as you both shall 

live?’’ 

That’s right, honey, that’s us 100%—and if 

nothing else, I’m sure of that. 

f 

NOMINATION OF NEIL BAROFSKY 

Mr. BAUCUS. Mr. President, I am 

pleased to have supported the nomination of Neil M. Barofsky to be the Special Inspector General for the Troubled 

Asset Relief Program, or TARP, at the 

Treasury Department. 

I have a great interest in the Special 

IG for the TARP. I raised the idea in 

the first place, the first weekend that 

we were examining the Treasury financial bailout proposal. 

As many will remember, the Treasury’s original proposal for the TARP 

was three pages long. It gave the Secretary of the Treasury unlimited power 

over $700 billion. And it provided no 

oversight by anyone. 

The House and Senate spent 2 weeks 

hammering out a better bill. That better bill included strong oversight, and 

it included the office of a Special IG for 

the financial rescue program, as I proposed that first weekend. 

The size and complexity of this effort 

is unprecedented in recent memory. It 

is essential to have a team that focuses 

exclusively on the TARP program as 

managed by the Treasury Department, 

and it is essential for that team to report to Congress on the status of this 

new program. 

My proposal for a Special IG was 

based on the Iraqi Reconstruction Special Inspector General. That was another massive oversight challenge. As 

the Congress debated what to include 

in the rescue package, 33 Senators 

signed a letter to the congressional 

leadership endorsing the idea of a Special IG to oversee the troubled asset 

program. 

During the negotiations, the Treasury Department resisted. But then the 

administration and Congress agreed 

that the Special IG should be part of 

the final legislation. Congress passed 

it, and the President signed it into law. 

The law gives the Special IG a $50 

million budget. He will have the duties 

and responsibilities of inspectors general under the Inspector General Act of 

1978. He will have the power to supervise and coordinate audits and investigations of TARP activities. He will 

have the power to appoint staff to 

carry out the activities of the office. 

And he may enter into contracts for 

audits and studies. We expect a report 

to the Finance Committee every 120 

days on the activities of the TARP, and 

the law also directs the Special IG to 

report to Congress if information he requests is refused. 

I support the nomination of Mr. Neil 

Barofsky. I congratulate him for his 

willingness to serve his country. It is 

going to be a demanding job. For some 

time, he is going to be playing catchup. 

I believe Mr. Barofsky’s experience as a 

prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New 

York will serve him well in his new 

role as the Special IG. 

The financial rescue program is 

huge—$700 billion. The number and variety of financial institutions receiving 

money from Treasury is extensive. 

Tracking the path of the bailout dollars through these institutions is going 

to be a difficult task. 

The harsh reality is that almost half 

the $700 billion is already out the door 

of the TARP. The new Special IG will 

be looking back at Treasury’s use of 

about $290 billion dollars in 45 days. 

Anyone who has seen a number of the 

congressional hearings this week, including our Senate Finance Committee 

on November 17, knows there are a lot 

of questions about how the TARP is operating. 

We know that the Treasury Department has named Neel Kashkari, Assistant Secretary for International Economics, to head the financial rescue 

program. 

Treasury has decided to send $125 billion to nine major banks, including 

Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase. Another $125 billion will be allocated for 

thousands of small and midsized banks. 

The American International Group, or 

AIG, will receive around $40 billion of 

TARP funds in return for issuing preferred shares to the Treasury Department. 

Secretary Paulson has also announced a policy regarding preferred 

shares and warrants for common stock. 

Standards for restrictions on executive 

compensation are being developed. 

Those include a clawback provision and 

a ban on golden parachutes during the 

period that Treasury holds equity 

issued through this program. 

Several senior posts have been filled. 

And the law firm Simpson Thacher & 

Bartlett has been selected as a legal 

adviser. 

Treasury has announced that the 

Bank of New York Mellon will serve as 

its custodian for the implementation of 

the Troubled Asset Relief Program, 

and PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst 

& Young have been hired to help with 

accounting and internal controls services. 

These decisions made by the Treasury Department are critically important to the financial rescue program. 

Yet the Treasury has made them all 

without any oversight by a Special IG. 

As for the use of the funds, the bottom line, frankly, is that the Secretary 

of Treasury told Congress and the 

American people that the Bush administration needed $700 billion to purchase troubled assets. Yet last month, 

the Treasury Secretary announced 

that, in fact, there were no plans to 

purchase troubled assets. To say that 

this was a surprise is an understatement. Congress needs to find out why 

the first plan was rejected and a new 

plan was developed. What is the theory 

behind the new plan for providing equity to these financial establishments? 

What exactly are the agreements with 

the financial institutions who have received TARP funds? And what conflict 

of interest standards were followed? 

Once the Special IG is in place, we can 

start to answer some of these questions. 

Half the money is gone. And it is way 

past the time when we should have had 

a Special Inspector General on the job 

overseeing the program. 

I am pleased that the Senate has confirmed Mr. Barofsky, and I look forward to helping him conduct aggressive 

oversight of the TARP program. 

f 

IDAHOANS SPEAK OUT ON HIGH 

ENERGY PRICES 

Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, in midJune, I asked Idahoans to share with 

me how high energy prices are affecting their lives, and they responded by 

the hundreds. The stories, numbering 

well over 1,200, are heartbreaking and 

touching. While energy prices have 

dropped in recent weeks, the concerns 

expressed remain very relevant. To respect the efforts of those who took the 

opportunity to share their thoughts, I 

am submitting every e-mail sent to me 

through an address set up specifically 

for this purpose to the CONGRESSIONAL

RECORD. This is not an issue that will 

be easily resolved, but it is one that deserves immediate and serious attention, and Idahoans deserve to be heard. 

Their stories not only detail their 

struggles to meet everyday expenses, 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with SENATE
S10832 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE December 9, 2008 

but also have suggestions and recommendations as to what Congress can 

do now to tackle this problem and find 

solutions that last beyond today. I ask 

unanimous consent to have today’s letters printed in the RECORD. 

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the 

RECORD, as follows: 

I am one of the owners of Doug Andrus Distributing in Idaho Falls. We operate nearly 

270 trucks, hauling freight all over the 

United States. As you are probably aware, 

energy prices are taking quite a toll on 

trucking companies across the country. I 

have recently been made aware that nearly 

1,000 trucking companies have gone out of 

business in the 1st quarter of this year. The 

combination of high fuel prices and a slow 

economy has made the trucking business 

very difficult. Because of the slow economy 

there is too much supply in trucking making 

it difficult to pass on the increased costs primarily driven by fuel. 

In September of 2005, our company’s fuel 

costs reached $1 million. Today they exceed 

$2 million on nearly the same amount of 

business. We are looking for every way we 

can find to get better fuel economy. Most recently we have slowed our truck speeds to 62 

MPH. While this should result in great fuel 

savings for our company, it potentially will 

reduce the total income of our drivers as 

they will struggle to drive the same number 

of miles in the driving hours they are restricted to. Drivers are paid per mile. Therefore the paychecks for 270 Idaho drivers will 

likely decrease while at the same time their 

cost of living is increasing due to increasing 

costs for fuel and food. 

We have got to realize in this country the 

serious consequences of our energy policy. 

The highest priority must be to increase production of petroleum within our own borders. We must open more areas to drilling 

and we must build more refineries. We must 

also renew efforts to develop nuclear energy 

to take some of the demand away from oil. 

I appreciate your concern for this issue. I 

watch closely the way you handle these 

issues and am very supportive of the positions you have taken. I hope the high prices 

will encourage Americans to let their voices 

be heard so that Congress will make policy 

that will encourage activities to alleviate 

the pressures on energy prices. 

Respectfully, 

JASON, Idaho Falls. 

Keep up the great work, Senator, and let 

us decorate our beaches before the foreigners 

do. Besides, windmills and derricks are beautiful! 

MERLE. 

I am a single mother of two with one fulltime job and one part-time job. Between the 

two jobs, I work approximately 56 hours a 

week. Because of the high gas prices, I will 

work my part time job longer than I had 

originally planned. We have cut back on grocery shopping, going out to eat, entertainment. We have a large video library and use 

that for entertainment. It is just too expensive to drive anywhere. I am scared what will 

happen once the gas prices reach an amount 

that will not allow me to drive anywhere. I 

cannot afford the prices right now and keep 

cutting back on spending on other important 

things like food and utilities. I feel poor and 

I am not. I wish the government would do 

what is right and protect American consumers at the pumps. 

NIKCOLE. 

First of all, allow me to thank you for not 

only listening to your constituents when we 

have contacted you in the past, but also for 

soliciting our opinions now when energy crises face us. 

I have taught at a small school 38 miles 

south of where I live for the past seven 

years. I love where I teach and I love my students. However, this last month I have applied for a job in my home town due to the 

doubling of gas prices. I have tried to convince my district to go to a four-day school 

week, like some surrounding districts have 

done, but they are not interested. Thus, as a 

commuter, I have made the tough decision of 

leaving the job I love simply because I cannot afford the gas bill. 

Five Priorities for Congress: 

1. Free America from foreign oil dependency. 

2. Stop tying America’s hands: loosen EPA 

regulations and government restrictions for 

drilling, building refineries, and bringing existing refineries up to code. 

3. Allow responsible drilling for oil in 

ANWR and off the coast. Take advantage of 

the shale in the Rockies. 

4. Seek alternatives that do not harm 

Americans (i.e. corn for ethanol when we are 

facing food shortages across the globe). 

5. Explore nuclear and clean coal options. 

I personally believe the current energy crisis has been crafted and perpetrated by the 

far left Eco-jihadists. They will promote 

their ‘‘green earth’’ agenda to the detriment 

of American interests and our entire economy. When gas prices are high, people drive 

less, and thus Environmentalists are ecstatic. The clearly Marxist overtones in all 

of this carbon footprint mumbo jumbo (cap & 

trade = the redistribution of wealth) is 

frightening only because Congress has begun 

to listen to these anti-capitalists and sponsor/pass legislation reflecting their alliances. 

APRIL, Lewiston. 

In the past couple of months the gas prices 

have really affected me and everyone around 

me. My brothers took over my dad’s cabinet 

shop about a year ago and the economy has 

taken such a dive that they do not have any 

work and had to lay off my boyfriend. My 

boyfriend found another cabinet shop that 

was still busy, but within 2 months he was 

laid off again due to lack of work. We went 

another two months with only my part-time 

income before he was able to find work 

again. We cannot afford gas to get to work so 

we are riding our bikes to work. We have 

shut off our phones and are still struggling 

to pay for groceries, and are paying all of our 

bills late. We are racking up credit cards for 

groceries or gas when we have to. We used to 

be a very active couple that would go camping, back-packing or mountain biking all 

over the western region, and now we only 

ride our bikes to work and are too tired to go 

on the trails after work. We only walk the 

dogs through the neighborhood instead of 

going up to the hills and letting them run 

and play and we are not able to go on any 

trips this summer. I know that there are lots 

of other people suffering more than we are, 

but not being able to live our normal lives is 

extremely hard and frustrating when we 

watch the gas companies getting richer as 

we are all suffering. 

Gas companies are reporting their highest 

profits while the economy is nearing a dangerous low; someone needs to step in and 

stop the gas companies. If they were smart, 

they would lower gas prices again so that 

more gas would be bought. People are not 

going on vacations or buying anything that 

is not necessary. If gas was affordable, we 

would be traveling every weekend, buying 

more groceries, and splurging on date nights 

or clothes that I do not have to get but just 

want. The more the money is returned into 

the economy, the more jobs are provided 

which, in turn, is more people with money 

who are able to spend more. The gas companies may be too blinded by greed to realize 

that this all comes full circle to them because the more products that are bought the 

more products are needed to be shipped 

across the country which takes gas to get to 

us either in a truck or a plane. At the rate 

that we are going, the lower and middle 

classes will end up in depression status, unable to survive, and the rich will become the 

middle class and eventually end up with the 

rest of us because the economy depends on 

the lower and middle class to survive. The 

wealthy get their money from the spending 

habits of the lower classes and if there is no 

money, there is no spending and the economy crashes. 

BRANDI. 

I have a different angle than most who will 

likely write to you with concerns about rising gas prices. 

I work out of an office in my home, providing customized training to clients around 

the world. Since I do not commute to/from 

work, you might think that I am not concerned about higher prices. However, even 

though I do not drive my car much for work, 

the dramatic cost increase is affecting me 

and everybody else because virtually all of 

our day-to-day cost of living expenses are directly tied to the cost of petroleum—many of 

them in multiple ways causing the increases 

to be multiplied. 

Because of the work that I do, primarily 

coaching technology commercialization professional, I am aware of so many energy-related technologies that are being developed 

in the research laboratories across the U.S. 

and around the world. And many other countries are taking a much more proactive 

stand to assist in bringing these exciting 

new innovations a state where they can be 

highly beneficial to all of us, save us a lot of 

money, and be helpful to the environment, 

etc. 

Each and every U.S. citizen—democrat, republican, white, black, Jew, Christian, Muslim, male, female, young, old—stands to benefit greatly by our government taking appropriate measures to get the U.S. on a faster 

track to more effective energy production, 

distribution, and use. 

JOHN, Idaho Falls. 

I do not know that a single story can convey the frustration, anger, hardship and disappointment that I (and others) I talk to are 

experiencing as a result of the current state 

of the ‘‘energy economy’’. It affects my family, my business, my customers, my employees, my neighbors. Without being over melodramatic the effects are deadly. The most 

frustrating part is that many of us believe it 

is not only a self-inflicted wound, but that 

we continue to reload the weapon and offering handing it over to others to shoot us as 

well. 

Cap and trade, gas tax holidays and windfall profit taxes are some of the most asinine 

ideas to come around the pike since James 

Earl Carter introduced us to malaise. There 

has to be someone who understands that a 

centralized economy does not work to alleviate market problems, but only makes them 

worse in the long haul. 

Please do your part to pass some sensible 

rules to protect the natural environment, establish an economic environment that gives 

some certainty to the people and companies 

that will invest in identifying and producing 

market driven energy, and please, please do 

your part to get the Congress out of the way 

so Americans can do what Americans do 

best—solve the problem. 

Sending our capital to the Middle East to 

pay for energy that we have in abundance on 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with SENATE
December 9, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S10833 

the land and on the shelf does not speak well 

for our collective intelligence. 

Unleash the sleeping tiger of free-enterprise. 

RON. 

Drilling for oil now is our only hope. It is 

out there; it is what we need; go get it! I am 

encouraged this morning that John McCain 

wants to drill off shore again. All of the conserving, all of the money being invested in 

testing new technologies is not going to cut 

it and it is no substitution for what we really 

need: OIL! Wind and electricity are not going 

to power my car or the many other things 

that need it. Depending on oil from the Middle East is shameful. Please tell Congress to 

allow production in full force offshore California and in the Gulf, Alaska and in the 

mid-west now and start repairing the old refineries and building new ones. It needs to be 

on the fast track; in other words do not take 

years writing an environmental impact 

statement. It can be done safely and with 

minimum impact to the environment. 

It is very sad that I am no longer able to 

travel to visit my 78-year-old Mom in northern Arizona, a trip I/we used to make twice 

a year. This is distancing families more than 

ever. I may never see my other family members in California or Minnesota again unless 

gas prices drop. I am a 56-year-old widow 

struggling to make ends meet. I have had to 

give up driving any long distances. I only 

drive for local errands. It is a struggle now 

to pay heat, electric and food bills and it will 

only get worse. But heck, my family and 

friends are in the same boat; they cannot afford to visit me either. 

I am sadly watching the elderly and disabled attempting to walk or ride bicycles to 

the grocery store that should not. I am seeing empty shelves at the grocery stores and 

other merchants because the trucks have not 

come in or are not coming as often. This is 

nuts. 

My husband admired you; if he were here 

now, he would be the one who had a lot to 

say about the current situation America is 

in. You met him on a boat in Lake Coeur 

d’Alene quite awhile ago. He had much 

knowledge of our current situation as far 

back as the 1970s and predicted as did many 

others our current situation. He died of a 

brain tumor in 1999. His resume included 

work in Libya, Alaska, the Gulf, offshore 

Santa Barbara working for Baroid, and over 

30 years of government service with the U.S. 

Geological Survey and Bureau of Land Management. 

CAROL, Moscow. 

In response to your energy prices email— 

the increase for gasoline has been tremendous for my husband and me. We both are 

senior citizens, but still have jobs and go to 

work every day. Bob is a realtor and spends 

$100 minimum per week. My cost is $50 plus, 

even though I do not use my vehicle for 

work. We live about 14 miles from our offices, and we do not have economy vehicles. 

We probably could not even sell our cars 

right now. I work on commission and my 

paycheck for last month was $256; that barely covers the $200 plus for gasoline. Both of 

these businesses are down right now. 

We totally agree with your thinking on 

this—keep up the good work. Why cannot 

others get it?? 

CHERYL, Coeur d’Alene. 

Feeling the pinch is an understatement. I 

am very eco-friendly as much that can be afforded; however, when you weigh in the costs 

for the current prices, it makes it close to 

impossible to save to afford to be more ecofriendly. Thus creating a further pinch on 

my way of life. We are setting back those in 

our economy and simply making it more difficult to do business. From my aspect, I 

oversee four hotels in the area and not only 

is airline travel being down causing an issue 

to our hotels but the overall cost of operations has risen. These operational costs 

have been from the increase in food cost 

many sur-charge related to fuel, to a higher 

rate of pay to incentive employees to drive 

that car to work every day, the list can go 

on. 

Personally, I am a single mother and all 

the costs of my child are that for me to provide. The smallest incremental raise in cost 

creates stress in our way of life. We have to 

wage out some other wise ‘‘affordable’’ fun 

things to do if driving is (and as I love to see 

Idaho) involved. My gas costs have nearly 

doubled, food is costing more, and there are 

limited options other than facing these and 

dealing with them at face value. I would love 

to see there be more alternate fuel options so 

that we are using only what is necessary 

when it comes to oil. 

I support anything you are doing that will 

make the world a more friendly environment 

and reusable environment; my greatest hope 

would be for this evolution to also allow 

more of my money to stay in my home. 

Shawna. 

Thank you for the opp. Our small business 

is fairly new, started in 2005, when we 

changed venue from a motel. It has never 

been a million dollar enterprise, but we did 

not expect that and did not need that; just 

hoped it was something we could hand to our 

kids when we retire. Every time the gas 

prices went up, business went down. Then 

the foreclosures started. Now many of our 

customers are gone. Some are even going 

back to California! We are now contemplating bankruptcy. The energy costs are a 

large part of the reason why. We have a 

small second hand store where we also sell 

hand crafted furniture and our pottery. 

When someone comes into our store with a 

LIST! we know things are going down the 

tube. This is the kind of store people normally spend time browsing in. Very few customers can afford to just shop anymore. 

They are struggling to buy gas to even go to 

town, and to buy groceries. I suggest an investigation into hydrogen power. It was 

going well in 1978, then no more was heard 

about it. We are promoting it to anyone who 

will listen, and I am going to spend time investigating; not just the feasibility of it, but 

the how. It is now a definite option. 

Thank you for listening, 

NANCY, Priest River. 

I just want to say that as a Disabled American, I feel the pain!! My wife of many years 

works for the City of Boise while I am disabled and we are no longer moving forward. 

She works hard at the Water Treatment 

plant everyday and I battle my conditions 

equally hard and yet as I fight, the more it 

costs, electricity for my oxygen machine, copayments to doctors offices, procedures, 

medications . . . etc. Now with this INFLATION hitting, we are feeling the effects of 

$4.00 gas, higher utilities cost across the 

board, food prices and on and on. 

See the thing is, we have been preparing 

for this for awhile now. Back in 2004 we traded in our 1994 Ford Taurus SHO @ 16 MPG 

Premium Fuel for a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid 

that has gotten us to a real 40 MPG regular 

fuel. About the same time we moved closer 

to Sandra’s work to save on daily driving. 

We even went to riding trikes to the Pharmacy and the grocery store, and my wife additionally rides hers to work now a couple of 

times a week or so . . . and yet we are using 

savings and have even cut back on putting 

funds that is matched by the City of Boise. 

We will be in trouble in a few years unless 

something changes. I do not know what our 

government is going to do, but I believe that 

if they gave some sort of incentive to buyers 

to get into hybrids as well as the new clean 

burning diesel ala Europe. We could improve 

the oil situation, we have cut our usage by 

more than you would believe. Drilling up 

north is happening next door in Canada, 

what is up with us? We need to be making 

changes that the rest of the plant sees. We 

could help the USD to bounce back some and 

that would help reduce the cost of gas. 

f 

PETE. 

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS 

125TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 

FREDERICK NEWS-POST 

∑ Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, today 

I wish to honor and congratulate the 

Frederick News-Post on its 125th anniversary. On October 15, 1883, a printing 

company in Frederick, MD, published 

the first edition of The News, an 

evening newspaper that reported about 

local happenings. In 1916, this printing 

company purchased another local 

paper, the Frederick Post, which it 

continued to offer in the mornings. 

After almost a century of circulating 

these two editions, the company chose 

to merge the two papers in 2002 and 

offer just a morning paper that included not only great local news stories but also important national coverage. 

The Frederick News-Post circulates 

over 11 million papers a year and employs over 200 people. The company 

also includes FNP Printing & Publishing, a commercial printing venture 

as well as an Internet division called 

FNP Interactive. The Frederick NewsPost is a vital part of the Frederick 

community, and I am so proud that 

this Maryland newspaper has been successful for the past 125 years. I hope 

that it continues to bring the news to 

families around the State for 125 

more.∑ 

f 

MESSAGES FROM THE PRESIDENT 

Messages from the President of the 

United States were communicated to 

the Senate by Mr. Williams, one of his 

secretaries. 

f 

EXECUTIVE MESSAGES REFERRED 

As in executive session the Presiding 

Officer laid before the Senate messages 

from the President of the United 

States submitting sundry nominations 

which were referred to the appropriate 

committees. 

(The nominations received today are 

printed at the end of the Senate proceedings.) 

f 

MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE 

ENROLLED BILL SIGNED 

At 11:14 a.m., a message from the 

House of Representatives, delivered by 


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