Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009

CORPORATE AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTION COMPENSATION FAIRNESS ACT OF 2009 -- (House of Representatives - July 31, 2009)

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. I thank my colleague from North Carolina for his leadership on this issue.

Mr. Speaker, in this country, we believe that hard work should be rewarded, and I think most people in this country believe in the concept of pay for performance. But what we've seen on Wall Street over the last many years is turning that concept of pay for performance on its head. We saw CEOs and the folks in the Wall Street boardrooms getting huge bonuses based on short-term gains for their companies, even while that excessive risk-taking put those institutions at risk.

Now, if it was just those institutions, I think we'd say, okay, let them take that risk. If they want to overpay their CEOs in the sense that the company's going to be put in jeopardy, and it was just that company at risk, okay. But what happened is this kind of excessive risk-taking went on at the biggest financial institutions of this country and put the entire economy at risk, put the financial system at risk, and at the end of the day, put all of the taxpayers in this country on the line.

So we all have a stake in changing the system. We all have a stake in making sure people get paid for performance, and not paid by putting taxpayers in the financial system at risk because, at the end of the day, we're all holding the line, not just the CEO and not just the shareholders.

So, Mr. Speaker, it's time to say, enough is enough. Let's pass this legislation to protect consumers, shareholders and the taxpayer.

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