January 13, 2009 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — HOUSE H169 

Chairman FRANK’s bill won’t be law 

next week, that the President-elect’s 

letter will address those issues explicitly and unequivocally. Chairman 

FRANK’s bill calls for us to get 15 percent warrants when we make investments in banks. I am pleased to report 

that after discussions with the Chairman and his staff, he is going to make 

it clear in his bill, and I hope it is clear 

in any letter we get from the Obama 

administration, that 15 percent is a 

floor, not a ceiling, and that the Treasury should be obligated to work to get 

us all the warrants that we deserve as 

taxpayers for the risks that we are taking. The taxpayers should be fully compensated for the enormous risks we 

take when we invest in troubled Wall 

Street firms. 

Now I am going to offer an amendment to Chairman FRANK’s bill to state 

that while a company is holding our 

TARP money, they should not pay a 

penny in dividends and they should not 

purchase any of their own stock back 

from their existing shareholders. If the 

company has extra money, give the 

taxpayers our money back. Don’t give 

it to your shareholders. 

We do have a letter from Larry Summers, who will be playing a key role in 

the White House, saying, and I don’t 

know if this is intended to be binding 

on the incoming administration, that 

they would favor strict limits on dividends and modest limits on stock repurchases, but we need stronger protections for the taxpayers. 

I hope very much that we are able to 

work on this issue and other taxpayer 

protections. 

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RECESS 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 12(a) of rule I, the Chair 

declares the House in recess until 2 

p.m. today. 

Accordingly (at 12 o’clock and 55 

minutes p.m.), the House stood in recess until 2 p.m. 

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b 1400 

AFTER RECESS 

The recess having expired, the House 

was called to order by the Speaker pro 

tempore (Mr. LARSEN of Washington) 

at 2 p.m. 

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PRAYER 

The Chaplain, the Reverend Daniel P. 

Coughlin, offered the following prayer: 

The Earth may seem hardened, but 

this is the time for Congress to be 

planting. Lord, is it too early? Too cold 

with indifference? Still too dark due to 

the lack of sunlight? 

Though ‘‘a term’’ speaks of ending, 

now we are just beginning. Lord, help 

Congress determine what is in most 

need of attention, the crusted Earth 

held by winter or the seedlings of 

promise? 

Guide us and protect us, Lord, that 

the timing may be right and we know 

how to foster the new growth. 

As the world looks on, more hungry 

than envious, the Nation needs a rich 

harvest. So, Lord, let Congress be 

about planting with crafty hands and 

heartfelt trust. You will give the increase. 

Amen. 

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THE JOURNAL 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The 

Chair has examined the Journal of the 

last day’s proceedings and announces 

to the House his approval thereof. 

Pursuant to clause 1, rule I, the Journal stands approved. 

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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Will the 

gentleman from Virginia (Mr. 

CONNOLLY) come forward and lead the 

House in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia led the 

Pledge of Allegiance as follows: 

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the 

United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, 

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 

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HUMANITARIAN CRISIS AT GAZA 

(Mr. KUCINICH asked and was given 

permission to address the House for 1 

minute.) 

Mr. KUCINICH. Most Americans are 

unaware that 50 percent of the population of Gaza is under 14 years of age. 

According to the U.N., 292 Gazan children have been killed in the war, and 

1,497 children have been injured. 

In the past few days, many Gazan 

children’s hospitals and clinics have 

been attacked, damaged by artillery 

fire from the Israeli defense forces. 

Fifty thousand children are expected to 

be displaced from their homes. According to the U.N., food for infants and 

malnourished children is not available, 

one-third of Gaza has no water, and 

most of Gaza has no electricity. 

This is a humanitarian crisis of the 

highest magnitude. We cannot avert 

our eyes without staining our souls. It 

is time for Congress to recognize the 

humanitarian crisis at Gaza. Hamas’ 

rocket fire is wrong. Israel’s response 

has created a humanitarian disaster. 

Israel is using U.S.-provided F–16 

jets, Apache helicopters and white 

phosphorous against the people of 

Gaza. This imposes upon this Congress 

a moral obligation to speak out. We 

cannot be effective in promoting peace 

unless we recognize the scale of the 

suffering of the children of Gaza and 

take nonviolent steps to remedy the 

situation. 

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LONE STAR VOICE—DANIEL WOLF 

(Mr. POE of Texas asked and was 

given permission to address the House 

for 1 minute.) 

Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I 

bring you news from the people. Boy 

Scout Daniel Wolf of Spring, Texas, 

wrote me the following about our economic crisis. 

‘‘I am concerned about my generation paying for the mistakes that the 

government is making. It’s just not 

fair. It’s kind of like you and a friend 

are doing a project together and he 

doesn’t want to do his part, so you end 

up doing all the work. The government 

is bailing out Wall Street, banks, mortgages, the car industry, and also increasing spending and putting our 

country into more debt and the next 

generation is going to have to pay for 

it. 

‘‘The government needs to lower 

taxes and quit spending so much. I 

think that people should spend the 

money they earn the way they want to 

and not have the government do it for 

them.’’ 

Mr. Speaker, those who say the government needs to take money from 

some citizens and give it to certain 

special interest groups to stimulate the 

economy are wrong. 

As Boy Scout Daniel says, ‘‘that’s 

not fair,’’ and I agree. This massive 

government money grab and redistribution of somebody else’s income is 

going to cause more problems during 

this economic crisis. But as it has been 

said, ‘‘if you think the problems government creates are bad, just wait 

until you see the government’s solutions.’’ 

And that’s just the way it is. 

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NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH 

(Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana asked 

and was given permission to address 

the House for 1 minute.) 

Mr. DONNELLY of Indiana. Mr. 

Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues in honoring the contributions 

of mentors as we celebrate National 

Mentoring Month. 

I want to recognize mentoring programs across America that are dedicated to encouraging all aspects of student development. I believe mentoring 

is an essential tool in cultivating a 

child’s emotional and behavior development, and I strongly support these 

programs. 

I would also like to congratulate an 

exemplary program in my district that 

is celebrating its 10th anniversary, the 

Joy Elementary School in Michigan 

City, Indiana. This program is a 

school-based mentoring program, 

partnering Michigan City area schools 

with the Michigan City business community. It is with great pleasure that I 

stand before the House and the American people today and commend the 

work of mentors and programs like 

Safe Harbor. 

Mr. Speaker, I urge all my colleagues 

to vote for the resolution honoring 

mentors. 

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HARVEST HOPE FOOD BANK 

(Mr. WILSON of South Carolina 

asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) 


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