On the recordJune 5, 2012
I rise to offer an amendment on behalf of myself, Mr. Scalise of Louisiana, Mrs. Adams of Florida and Mr. Broun of Georgia. My colleagues, this simple amendment will prohibit the Department of Energy from using any funds included in this bill to subordinate any loan obligation to other financing in violation of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. That was the original intent of Congress. As chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, I've led the investigation into the administration's rushed decision to loan Solyndra, a California-based solar panel manufacturing company, $535 million in taxpayers' money that was ultimately lost. During this investigation, it was uncovered that, shockingly, the Department of Energy knew as early as August 2009 that Solyndra would go bankrupt in September of 2011, but simply proceeded to risk more taxpayers' funds throughout that time. The investigation also discovered that following meetings with outside investors, DOE made the unprecedented decision on December 10, 2010, to subordinate $75 million of taxpayer money so more private capital could be injected into Solyndra. Subordination gave private investors' money priority over taxpayers' money, meaning that, in the event of bankruptcy, private investors would be paid back before the taxpayers. But Secretary Chu wasn't allowed to subordinate the taxpayers' money.…
