Jeff Duncan: “I appreciate Mr. Smith's work on this and the work of many others. This amendment, I think, would have received…”

“I appreciate Mr. Smith's work on this and the work of many others. This amendment, I think, would have received widespread support on both sides of the aisle. I have been told that there are already some 32 companies that have filed approximately 2 billion dollars' worth of claims under this program and I think that if we had not been careful that this would very quickly turn into one of the largest boondoggles in the entire Federal Government. The gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Smith] and the gentleman from Vermont [Mr. Sanders] both made reference to the $92 million in bonuses that were paid out in one merger, approximately a third of those paid by the taxpayers. One man received a bonus of $9.2 million. I do not believe there is any way that he could have really earned that type of bonus. I think this is a program that really would horrify most taxpayers if they realized that it was going on and is something that we have never done and would not even consider, I don't believe, for 99.9 percent of the small businesses in this country. I am pleased that this amendment is going to be accepted, and I hope it survives in conference.”