Date: 2009-03-18
Speaker: LINCOLN DIAZ-BALART (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Florida

Mr. Speaker. the rule before us brings to the floor the GIVE Act. which is a bill to reauthorize the National Service programs. And the majority on our side supports that. I support that legislation. It is a good piece of legislation. It has the support of the ranking member of the Education and Labor Committee. and we are in support of the underlying legislation. What we are saying. though. is thatand by the way. I reiterate that Im pleased that we have caught the attention of the majority leadership and that they have convened a rules meeting for 3 p.m. to deal with the issue of AIG. the outrage of the AIG bonuses. At a time when the Federal Government is propping up AIG with over $170 billion in taxpayer funds. it is unconscionable that AIG is giving its executives bonuses. some of them which are over $1 million. That is why today I will be asking for a "no" vote on the previous question. We dont have to wait until a rules meeting and then who knows when they will bring to the floorif they dolegislation. We dont know what it will say. What Im saying is that right now we can amend this rule and allow the House to consider H.R. 1577. a bill by my colleagues. Representatives PAULSEN and LANCE. that will require that the Treasury Department implement a plan within the next 2 weeks to recoup the AIG bonuses. And in order to prevent another bonus controversy. the bill will require that any future bonus payments from TARP funds be approved by the Treasury Department in writing. including any contractual bonus obligations. Now. Mr. Speaker. Americans are rightfully upset over the use of taxpayer funds to -give executives milliondollar bonuses. They expect the administration will keep a watchful eye on the proper use of bailout funds. Just 2 weeks ago. the Presidents spokesman said that they were confident that they knew how every dime was being spent at AIG. Well. obviously. Mr. Speaker. that doesnt seem to be the case. That is the reason that I am calling for Members of this House to vote "no" on the previous question. The PaulsenLance legislation is just another example of how the responsible and vigilant opposition. the Republicans. we are working to provide transparency and oversight of taxpayer funds in the TARP program. We must demand that the administration provide proper accounting of TARP funds. Americans deserve to knQw how their tax dollars are being utilized. Now. if Members support transparency and oversight of taxpayer funds in the TARP program. then they should vote "no" on the previous question. Now. our friends on the other side of the aisle said they have discovered the issue. and they are calling a rules meeting at 3 p.m. to deal with it. We dont know what they are going to be bringing forward. But we have brought forward legislation. Our colleagues have filed legislation. Representatives Paulsen and Lance. to deal with this issue today and to require the Treasury Department to recoup those unconscionable bonuses within 2 weeks. And we should vote on it today. So I urge my colleagues to vote "no" on the previous question and to make a statement: Enough is enough. Enough of these bailouts so that millionaires can become billionaires and billionaires can give their cronies bonuses with taxpayer dollars. Enough is enough. And we can vote on it right now. Mr. Speaker. By the. way. we will vote on the amendment on the legislation with regard to volunteerism. This does not negate that. But before. we must and we should address the issue of the unconscionable bonuses by defeating the previous question. I ask unanimous consent to insert the text of the amendment and extraneous materials immediately prior to the vote on the previous question.