IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. RES. 1452 
Establishing the Select Committee on Financial Bailouts. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 17, 2008 
Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey (for himself and Ms. KAPTUR) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules 
RESOLUTION 
Establishing the Select Committee on Financial Bailouts. 
Whereas for the first time since the Great Depression, the 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System voted 
to open the Discount Window to investment banks; 
Whereas the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem guaranteed $29,000,000,000 of security liabilities of 
investment bank Bear Stearns; 
Whereas on July 30, 2008, the Housing and Economic Re-
covery Act of 2008 was signed into law and gave the 
Federal Government the authority to take over the Fed-
eral National Mortgage Association and the Federal 
Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; 
Whereas Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson testified before 
the Senate Banking Committee: ‘‘If you’ve got a squirt 
gun in your pocket, you may have to take it out. If 
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•HRES 1452 IH 
you’ve got a bazooka, and people know you’ve got it, you 
may not have to take it out.’’; 
Whereas on September 6, 2008, Secretary Paulson an-
nounced that the Secretary would use the new powers 
under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 
to purchase up to $100,000,000,000 of preferred stock in 
each Government-sponsored enterprise as needed to en-
sure that each Government-sponsored enterprise main-
tains a positive net worth; 
Whereas on September 7, 2008, Federal Housing Finance 
Agency Director, James Lockhart, established a con-
servatorship for the Federal National Mortgage Associa-
tion and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation 
putting the Government in control of the companies; 
Whereas on September 18, 2008, the Washington Post re-
ported ‘‘Fannie Mae, and to a lesser extent Freddie Mac, 
became enmeshed in the fabric of political Washington. 
They were places former government officials went to get 
wealthy—and to wait for new federal appointments. At 
Fannie Mae, chief executives had clauses written into 
their contracts spelling out the severance benefits they 
would receive if they left for a government post. The 
companies also donated generously to the campaigns of 
favored politicians. The companies’ political action com-
mittees and employees have donated $4.8 million to mem-
bers of Congress since 1989, according to the Center for 
Responsive Politics.’’; 
Whereas the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Sys-
tem announced on Sunday, September 14, 2008, that it 
expanded the criteria of eligible collateral to be pledged 
at the Primary Dealer Credit Facility to securities below 
investment grade; 
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Whereas on September 17, 2008, Bloomberg News reported 
that Allianz SE, Europe’s largest insurer, made an offer 
to invest in American International Group Inc. that was 
rejected by the United States insurer 2 days before it ac-
cepted a Government takeover; 
Whereas on September 16, 2008, the Board of Governors of 
the Federal Reserve System authorized the Federal Re-
serve Bank of New York to lend up to $85,000,000,000 
to the American International Group (AIG); and 
Whereas on September 17, 2008, the Secretary of the Treas-
ury announced the Treasury was going to lend money to 
the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 
to help it meet its obligations: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, 
SECTION 1. SELECT COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL BAILOUTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is hereby established the 
Select Committee on Financial Bailouts (hereinafter in 
this resolution referred to as the ‘‘select committee’’) to 
investigate the extraordinary actions taken by the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Sec-
retary of the Treasury in 2008. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The select committee shall be 
comprised of 10 members appointed by the Speaker, of 
whom 5 shall be appointed on the recommendation of the 
minority leader, as follows: one member of the majority 
party and one member of the minority party from the 
Committees on Financial Services, Ways and Means, En-
ergy and Commerce, and Oversight and Government Re-
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form, and one member of each party from the leadership 
of the House of Representatives. 
(c) DUTIES.—The select committee shall— 
(1) investigate the actions taken by the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System with the 
support of the Secretary of the Treasury related to 
the March 16, 2008, sale of The Bear Stearns Com-
panies Inc., to JPMorgan Chase & Company; 
(2) investigate the actions taken by the Sec-
retary of the Treasury, with support from the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on Sep-
tember 7, 2008, to place the Federal National Mort-
gage Association and the Federal Home Loan Mort-
gage Corporation, both Government-sponsored enter-
prises, into conservatorship; 
(3) investigate the actions taken by the Sec-
retary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System related to the pur-
chase of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. by the Bank of 
America Corporation on September 15, 2008; 
(4) investigate the actions taken by the Sec-
retary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System related to the bank-
ruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. on 
September 15, 2008; 
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(5) investigate the actions taken by the Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, with 
the support of the Secretary of the Treasury, related 
to the authorization of an emergency loan to the 
American International Group on September 16, 
2008; 
(6) investigate the oversight role of the Board 
of Directors of the Federal National Mortgage Asso-
ciation and of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage 
Corporation and their efforts to protect the interests 
of taxpayers and the appropriateness of their com-
pensation; and 
(7) investigate the role that political influence 
may have had on the oversight of the financial mar-
kets by both the Congress and the Federal regu-
latory agencies. 
(d) PROCEDURE.—Clauses 1, 2 (including paragraph 
(m) granting subpoena authority), 4, and 5 of rule XI of 
the Rules of the House of Representatives shall apply to 
the select committee. 
SEC. 2. REPORT. 
The select committee shall submit to the House, no 
later than December 31, 2008, a report— 
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(1) detailing the extraordinary actions taken by 
the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Gov-
ernors of the Federal Reserve System in 2008; 
(2) outlining the role that political activities 
and influence had in affecting the market conditions 
that led to the extraordinary actions taken by the 
Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Gov-
ernors of the Federal Reserve System; and 
(3) recommending congressional action that 
would prevent the need for the Secretary of the 
Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System to intervene in the capital markets 
in the future. 
Æ 
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