Senate Proceeding on Aug 6th, 2009 :: 7:26:25 to 7:36:05
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7:26:21 to 7:26:41( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: is: another $$1 billion auto bailout. the program, i believe, little more than a clunker itself. mr. vitter: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from louisiana. mr. vitter: madam president, i would ask to call amendment 2303 to the pending legislation. the presiding officer: without

7:26:25 to 7:36:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: David Vitter

7:26:42 to 7:27:03( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: objection, so ordered. the clerk will report. clerics. the clerk: mr. vitter proposes amendment numbered 2303. mr. vitter: madam preside, i would ask unanimous consent to waive reading of the whole. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. vitter: thank you, madam president. madam president, i urge

7:27:04 to 7:27:25( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: bipartisan support of the vitter amendment. it's very simple and straightforward but imptant. it erchedzs upon a date certain. the date certain originally set out, which is december 31 of this year. madam president, under the tarp ba

7:27:26 to 7:27:46( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: is supposed to end at that date. however, there was some fine print, and the fine print said that the treasury secretary unilaterally can say, no, we need to extend it. and on his own, with no additional vote of congress, he can extend it until october 3, 2010.

7:27:47 to 7:28:07( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: madam president, i think any such extension would be absolutely contrary to the best interests of the nation, and i believe we should act and simply take that extension authority back and wind down the program, end the program, the bailout, in

7:28:08 to 7:28:28( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: an orderly way on the original intended date of december 31 of this year. madam president, i think we should do this for three clear reasons. first of all, the biggest reason is simple: the tarp bailout program was rushed through congress in what was described as an intending

7:28:29 to 7:28:52( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: and indeed a cataclysmic crisis. we were told by several experts -- certainly including the treasury secretary and the chairman of the federal reserve -- that the financial system was in imminent danger of collapsing, and i'm not exaggerating. i'm simply repeating their statements from last fall.

7:28:53 to 7:29:13( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: and so cgress, certainly ove my objection, but congress passed the tarp bailout program in cris. well, madam president, we may disagree about where we are getting toward recovery, what we see for the next year, but i think we can all agree that that

7:29:14 to 7:29:34( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: imminent collapse, if it was ever before us, is not before us now. that that huge so-called cataclysmic crisis, if it was ever a threat, has p and so the whole rationale for the extraordinary $700 billion

7:29:35 to 7:29:55( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: tarp bailout program, that cris has clearly passed. now again, madam president, i am neat saying we're out of this recession. i'm not saying we're not in tougeconomic times. i'm not saying we don't have a lot further to go in recovery. i am saying that no one believes

7:29:56 to 7:30:17( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: the world financial system isn imminent danger of collapse or will be, thankfully, anytime soon. so, clearly, clearly the entire rationale for extraordinary and unprecedented use of government power and intervention -- and use of $700

7:30:18 to 7:30:38( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: billion of taxpayer funds -- that rationale has passed. reason number two, madam president, is that the tarp bailout fund in practice has become nothing more than a political been used in many, many different ways, never as it was originally designed.

7:30:39 to 7:30:59( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: of course, madam president, we all heard wn it was proposed that it was a toxic asset purchase program. it would be used for one purpose and one purpose only: for the government to buy toxic assets to get them off the balance sheets of troubled financial

7:31:00 to 7:31:21( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: institutions. that was t 100% of the rationale. well, madam president, as we all know, it never was used in that way. literally within a few weeks of congress passing the program last fall, it more offed completely.

7:31:22 to 7:31:42( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: -- it morphed c we weren't going to use them to buy toxic assets anymore. then it equity program for the largest banks that were deemed too big to fail. that has carried out to the of not just $700 billion but

7:31:43 to 7:32:04( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: trillions of dollars as this money has constantly reprocessed. next, madam president, tarp was morphed again and used as a slush fund to companies. specifically, the bush administration said, no, tarp isn't about manufacturers, auto companies at all. it's not

7:32:05 to 7:32:26( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: it's about financial institutions. nevertheless, it was again, used as a thrush fund to bail out -- as a slush fund to bail out two auto companies. and there are many different smaller programs which have bee devised and funded out of the tarp bailout slush fund. and, so, tarp has been

7:32:27 to 7:32:48( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: consistently used government for whatever different purpose, whatever new bright idea the administration, first the bush administration, now the obama administration, decides it's a good thing to it's truly become a slush fund

7:32:49 to 7:33:11( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: open-ended, no limits, that the administration can use pretty much however it wants. there doesn't seem to be any real or meaningful limitation. and so far the original $700 billion program has really grown to reach $3 trillion. and that's because some money is

7:33:12 to 7:33:32( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: paid out, it's paid back in, it's reprocessed again. so sic tarp, a group that monitors this, the financial pokes sure of tarp and tarp-related look at all the myriad activity, may reach $3 trillion.

7:33:33 to 7:33:53( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: and third and finally, madam president, the third important reason we should establish this date certain to wind down the tarp bailout slush fund is that from the very beginning tarp has not been transparent. it's been very opaque, and it's been ripe for fraud.

7:33:54 to 7:34:14( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: unfortunately, madam president, there are numerous, numerous pieces of evidence and media accounts to bear this out. for ins year, neil barofsky, special inspector general for the tarp program, issued a quarterly report in congress. and he said as of june

7:34:15 to 7:34:35( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: are 35 ongoing criminal and civil investigations about misuses of money. federal gordon grid, action against

7:34:36 to 7:34:56( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: misuse on makinghomeaffordable.gov. it is said the treasury repeatedly replss that sictarp believe are essential and fulfill treasury stated commitment to implement tarp -- quote -- "with the highest degree of accountability and transparency possible." close quote.

7:34:57 to 7:35:17( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: specifically, sic tarp had four key recommendations and they have not been complemented in any meaning -- implemented in any meaningful way. again, the vitter amendment is very simple, very straightforward. let's abide by the original end date for the tarp bailout fund. december 31 of thissies.

7:35:18 to 7:35:39( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: let's take back the -- of this year. let's take back the authority the secretary of the treasury now has to extend that to october 3 of simple reasons. number one, there is impending crisis anymore. number two, tarp has been used

7:35:40 to 7:36:01( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: as a slush fund for everything under the sun except the original purpose of buying troubledssets. and, number three, tarp has never been transparent, open and aboveboard. it's been rife with fraud and misuse. unfortunately, documented by criminal professions, i.g. --

7:36:02 to 7:36:06( Edit History Discussion )

David Vitter: criminal prosecutions, i.g. reports and the like. i urge my