Washington, D.C. —
Senator John Thune today introduced a bill that would require the Secretary of the Treasury to use taxpayer funds returned by financial institutions under the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to reduce the national debt. Several financial institutions that received TARP funding have returned or expressed an interest in returning billions in taxpayer funding.
"Congress is responsible for allocating taxpayer dollars and this legislation will prevent the Obama Administration from attempting to turn this money into a revolving slush fund," said Thune. "TARP was designed for the President to report back to Congress and seek approval for additional funding. This legislation ensures the returned funds are not reallocated by the administration for other priorities. Instead, this bill would work to reduce the size of the national debt in this country, something that seems to be a forgotten idea with the current Democrat leadership."
Recently, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner has indicated that he intends to spend these funds on additional TARP activities without Congressional approval.
"Congress is responsible for allocating taxpayer dollars and this legislation will prevent the Obama Administration from attempting to turn this money into a revolving slush fund," said Thune. "TARP was designed for the President to report back to Congress and seek approval for additional funding. This legislation ensures the returned funds are not reallocated by the administration for other priorities. Instead, this bill would work to reduce the size of the national debt in this country, something that seems to be a forgotten idea with the current Democrat leadership."
Recently, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner has indicated that he intends to spend these funds on additional TARP activities without Congressional approval.
