AIG Bonuses

Floor Speech

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, regarding the AIG bonuses, it is hard to overstate the outrage that I and others experienced over the weekend to learn that AIG, which already has received nearly $175 billion from the American taxpayer, is planning to hand out $165 million in bonuses to its employees. This is absolutely appalling, and it is particularly disturbing given the fact that I sent a letter to Secretary Paulson more than 5 months ago insisting that if taxpayers were going to help private businesses, then the Treasury would need to use its ``full enforcement powers to prevent any misuse of taxpayer funds.''

The administration needs to get the message from the taxpayers on this issue. Going forward, the American people need to have complete certainty that taxpayer money is not wasted in this particular manner again. It is my hope the administration will continue to press AIG on these bonuses and that it will pursue any and all lawful means of recovering these payments to the very people who were responsible for creating this mess in the first place.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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