Disapproval Of Obligations Under The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act Of 2008 - Continued

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Mr. HARKIN. Madam President, I wish to make it clear from the beginning that no vote--well, there have been a few votes I have cast in my 24 years, now going on 25 years, that I have regretted. We are all human. We make mistakes. We try to get the best information we can, and then we vote.

Last fall, the information we got is we were on the verge of collapse, we had to do something, we had to get this TARP bill through, so I voted for it.

Then I became more and more dismayed as the weeks went by and the months now to see how it was mishandled completely, not in accordance with what we in Congress were told they were going to do. They said they were going to purchase toxic assets. But then Secretary Paulson and his friends did the old bait and switch. Instead of doing that, they pumped tens of billions of dollars into purchasing equity in major banks.

I said many times it is sort of like Secretary Paulson and his buddies doing all for whom I call the graduates of Goldman Sachs, sort of taking care of their buddies and bailing out their buddies in the banking industry.

So when this new TARP came up, I must tell you I was adamantly opposed: no more of this, we are not going to put any more money out there like this. Then I began discussions with the new administration coming in. They have come up and talked with us a number of times. I had about three phone calls last night with my good friend, Senator Joe Biden, who will be our next Vice President.

He said: What is troubling you?

I said: What is troubling me is that no one seems to be responsible for what happened to the first 350. You have Paulson, but then there is President Bush, and somebody else seems to be responsible.

I said: Secondly, they didn't use the money for what we wanted and there is no transparency. We don't know what happened to a lot of it. And I said: Third, there has to be more of this money put out there for middle-class America. It has to be put out there for them--not this trickle down where you put it in investment banks--but put it down below so it can percolate up. He talked with the President-elect. We had three phone calls last evening.

I see a letter from Lawrence Summers was sent up to us today which reiterates what soon-to-be Vice President Biden said to me last night. First, no substantial amount of money will go out of this fund unless it is signed off by President Barack Obama. He has to sign off on it. So we know where the buck stops.

Second, the way the system is set up, Vice President Joe Biden will be in there, he will be a part of this process, and the President will rely on him for his input into this process. I know Joe Biden. There has never been a stronger fighter for middle-class America and for working families than Joe Biden. So that reassures me we have another source of input into this effort.

And third, they are going to make it absolutely transparent and put it out for everyone to see where they are going.

Again, there were a couple of other things they agreed to do. No. 1, executive compensation cannot go above a certain threshold until the Government has been repaid. That is good.

No. 2, shareholders will not be rewarded until the Government has been repaid. For firms receiving exceptional assistance, quarterly dividend payments will be restricted to 1 penny per quarter until the taxpayers are repaid. That is pretty darn reassuring to me.

And now this: preclude the use of Government funds to purchase healthy firms rather than to boost lending. That is exactly what happened with the last 350.

I find myself now in a position of saying: Look, we still have problems out there, we have credit problems out there. We didn't answer these problems. We have a new team. Barack Obama--and I served with him in the Senate as all of us have--said time and time again--and I know where he is coming from--that we have to help middle-class America, that we can't just put the money in at the top anymore. Joe Biden has said the same things.

With these assurances that there is a new team down there, now I am going to be able to support the release of the next $350 billion.

I close with this: I felt a little bit, after the last one, like Charlie Brown and Lucy--she is always pulling the football out from under Charlie Brown. I said: That is not going to happen to me again. Well, Lucy is not holding the ball now. We have someone new holding that ball, someone by the name of Barack Obama and Joe Biden and their team.

I am going to put my trust in them based on this letter that has been sent up, which I understand was made part of the Record earlier today. With those assurances that we can get that money out, down to homeowners, to help on foreclosures, to help out some of our smaller banks with their credit problems, I see my way clear now to vote to make sure we get this money released for the new administration.

I yield the floor.

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