Pelosi: Congress' Taxpayer Protections in Financial Rescue Paying Dividends;

Pelosi: Congress' Taxpayer Protections in Financial Rescue Paying Dividends

Monday, August 31, 2009

Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami/Drew Hammill, 202-226-7616

Washington, D.C. - Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement on news reports that taxpayers are seeing profits from the federal rescue of financial institutions:

â€Å"Congress tightened the Bush Administration's TARP financial rescue plan last year by insisting that taxpayers be protected and that financial institutions reimburse the American people first. Today, these requirements are paying dividends.

â€Å"With the economy stabilizing and the financial sector stepping back from the brink, some of our biggest banks have already paid back the government for its capital investment, resulting in a profit of nearly $4 billion for this country's taxpayers. That represents a 15 percent annual return on our public investment - and a healthy dose of good news in the face of skepticism.

â€Å"Other financial institutions with outstanding financial commitments to the government should work to fulfill a key principle of the law: maximizing overall returns to the taxpayers.

â€Å"Our vigorous oversight of this process has been critical to ensuring the recovery of our financial system, and we will continue to take all steps necessary to protect taxpayers.â€

â€Å"Congress has appropriated $120 billion in emergency funding for infrastructure repair, housing, and assistance for individuals and businesses over the past four years. Since taking office, President Obama has ensured that more than $1 billion in public projects get out of the pipeline and onto the ground. And the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which we passed this year, is providing more than $25 billion into the states of the Gulf Coast - investing in new homes, reopening schools and health clinics, and restoring the coastline.

â€Å"With my colleagues in Congress we will continue to partner with the President and leaders across the region to complete the work of recovery and to help restore the lives changed forever by this storm.â€