Bill Pascrell: “I didn't come to speak on this issue tonight but another issue, but I can't help but look at the graphic message that's…”

“I didn't come to speak on this issue tonight but another issue, but I can't help but look at the graphic message that's right there in front of everybody, in front of the country, about the financial, Great Recession, depression--who was charged and how many were convicted. This is a very, very, very sad omen. If we go back into the nineties and into the first decade of this century, very, very specific, as we understood what was going to come, you need to have a Justice Department that's willing to stand up and fight the very people who many times fund our campaigns. Now, if you can't say it, then you shouldn't be here. AIG is a perfect example. They became the poster child of everything that was going wrong in our financial institutions. But AIG, in 2003 and 2005--rather, 2003 and 2005, got what are called deferred prosecutions. Deferred prosecutions to me are the very center, the very apex of what is corrupt about those moneylenders in the temple. Now, what is AIG all about? They made and packaged many of these financial deals that we read about it for so many years. And people look at this and they read about it. They may not know all the specific definitions about every one of these packages, these financial products, as they were called, but they do understand that nobody ever pays for anything, and nobody ever is held accountable.”