Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I rise today to speak in support of the Thune amendment, which I cosponsored. It would put the brakes on the TARP train…”

“I rise today to speak in support of the Thune amendment, which I cosponsored. It would put the brakes on the TARP train wreck. TARP was originally conceived to purchase toxic assets from banks in order to clean up their balance sheets and provide them the capability and liquidity to begin lending again. At the time, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that we were facing the most severe financial crisis in the post-World War II era. President Bush stated that the unprecedented challenges of such a financial crisis required unprecedented response and, without action, the American people would face massive job losses, significant erosion in the value of retirement accounts and home values, and a lack of credit availability. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said that unless Congress took action, the financial system of our Nation and the world would collapse in short order. My constituents said at the time that they could not get loans to keep their businesses up and running. Something needed to be done.”