Hearing of the House Financial Services Committee-Priorities for the Next Administration: Use of the TARP Funds Under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act

HEARING OF THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT ADMINISTRATION: USE OF TARP FUNDS UNDER THE EMERGENCY ECONOMIC STABILIZATION ACT
CHAIRED BY: REP. BARNEY FRANK (D-MA)

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be brief, under the circumstances.

I do want to ask the witnesses, however -- one of the concerns I have right now and one of the difficulties that we keep running into is the difficulties with the bond insurance companies. And looking forward, there's a sizable package that has been talked about in terms of a stimulus plan, and yet many of our municipalities are just hogtied right now because of the bond insurance situation. Either they don't have access or the premiums are 40 percent what they normally should be. Would you -- and in many cases, they are going to be the ones to facilitate a lot of this stimulus going forward. Is there any way, or would you recommend some type of assistance from TARP for some of our bond insurers to sort of -- to unclog the system?

And I'll yield back with the answer. Thank you.

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