On the recordMay 27, 2021
Mr. President, I am disappointed that my bipartisan amendment with Senators Moran and Murkowski is not receiving a vote today. Our amendment has a simple purpose--to protect taxpayers. It seeks to do so by providing the administration the discretionary authority to negotiate for warrants, which are like stock options, as part of the $50 billion we are appropriating in this bill for the CHIPS for America Fund. A warrant is the right to purchase one share of common stock at a preestablished price, known as the strike price. Warrants, just like stock options, are exercised when the stock price is greater than the strike price. The idea is that if taxpayer dollars are necessary to invest in a company, then taxpayers should also benefit from some of the upside when the company grows. I worked on a bipartisan basis to secure warrants when Federal funds were needed for private companies as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP, and in the CARES Act. As a result of the warrants provision in TARP, nearly $10 billion in profit was generated for taxpayers. And according to new Department of Treasury estimates, taxpayers stand to gain more than $1 billion for the CARES Act warrants.…





