Letter To Nancy Pelosi, Speaker Of The House Of Representatives

Letter

Rep. Bill Foster (IL-14), along with Rep. Patrick Murphy (PA-8) and other fiscally conservative Democratic Members of Congress, sent a letter to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to encourage action that would pay down the deficit with more than $200 billion of TARP funds that were authorized but not used.

A Member of Congress who is concerned about the growing debt and federal deficit, Foster voted against the Democratic budget earlier this year because it did not do enough to lay down a path towards reducing the debt.

"We used TARP funds at an extraordinary time -- a time when we had to act to stabilize the financial industry," said Foster. "These were emergency loans and investments that came with strong conditions attached, and with strong oversight and enforcement of these conditions, we are now in a position that most of the funds will be repaid. However, some of the original TARP money was never used, and it is time for these funds to be used to pay down the deficit."

The text of the letter appears below.

Dear Madam Speaker:

We are writing to reiterate the importance of fulfilling our promises of fiscal responsibility in regard to the Troubled Assets Relief Program ("TARP"). Recent reports indicate that over $200 billion of the amount authorized for TARP was never used by the Treasury Department, and that many new proposals seek to reallocate these funds for other purposes. We feel strongly that the unused TARP funds should be used to reduce the deficit.

On November 19, 2009, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner testified before the Joint Economic Committee and indicated support for redirecting the unused TARP funds toward reducing the deficit. Secretary Geithner's testimony echoed previous comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before the House Budget Committee this summer, who sounded alarm bells about how our long-term fiscal imbalance threatens the ability of our economy to recovery. Chairman Bernanke stated, "Even as we take steps to address the recession and threats to financial stability, maintaining the confidence of the financial markets requires that we, as a nation, begin planning now for the restoration of fiscal balance."

With the House of Representatives on the verge of considering major reforms in the regulations of the firms receiving TARP funds, it is important that we also take action to put our fiscal house in order. Redirecting the unused TARP funds would be a positive step toward reducing the deficit.

Sincerely,

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