8/14/2019 Senator John Warner explains his "YES" vote of FED bailout bill

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-------- Original Message --------Subject:Correspondence from Senator WarnerDate:Thu, 16 Oct 2008 13:23:16 -0400From:To:

October 16, 2008

Mrs. WardBuena Vista, Virginia 24416Dear Mrs. Ward:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Emergency EconomicStabilizationAct (EESA). I appreciate your views on the matter.

As you know, on October 3, 2008, the President signed the EESA

(P.L.110-343)into law. Previously, the Senate passed the measure by a vote of 74 to 25, and theHouseof Representatives passed it by a vote of 263 to 171.

While this legislation certainly isn't perfect, I voted in favor offinal passage ofthe Act. Without some form of congressional action, the credit markets couldfreeze andwithout money flowing through the economy, car loans, student loans, mortgagelines ofcredit, could become inadequate. Job losses could follow and with it an increasein the

number of Americans without health insurance. After careful deliberations on thelegislation and my understanding of the economic problems facing our nation, Ibelievethat the consequences of not taking action could pose an ever greater threat tooureconomy and to all Americans.

The EESA enacted into law authorizes the Treasury Secretary toimplement theTroubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), a program which allows the government topurchase up to $700 billion worth of troubled assets from financial institutions,such asmortgages or mortgage-related securities. The government is expected to earn some

money back from TARP as the Treasury sells securities back to private holders orholdsthem to maturity. Proceeds and profits from the sale of troubled assets will bereturned tothe federal government and dedicated to paying down the national debt.

The Act also contains several important provisions designed to protectAmericantaxpayers. The measure limits executive compensation and prohibits "goldenparachutes"in companies that the Treasury buys assets from directly. Additional oversight is

8/14/2019 Senator John Warner explains his "YES" vote of FED bailout bill

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created,including an independent Inspector General to watch over the implementation ofTARPand a Congressional Oversight Panel to review the current state of financialmarkets andreview the Secretary's actions under TARP. The Act also requires the government totakean equity stake in companies that sell substantial amounts of assets to the

program.

Significant tax relief measures also are included in the Act, inparticular,provisions to help businesses and the jobs they support continue to produce cleanandrenewable energy. These tax relief measures will help bring the nation one stepcloser tobreaking its dependence from foreign oil. The Act also provides a patch to protect22million middle-income taxpayers from a $62 billion tax increase due to theAlternativeMinimum Tax (AMT). Originally meant to prevent higher-income taxpayers from taking

advantage of tax benefits to avoid paying taxes, the AMT was never indexed forinflation,and without the AMT patch, more middle-class Americans would have been impacted.Finally, provisions are included to require mental health parity in healthinsurancecoverage. Such parity, which I have long supported, will help improve mentalhealthinsurance benefits.

Again, thank you for the benefit of your views.

With kind regards, I am

Sincerely,

John W. WarnerUnited States Senator

Please note this email address does not accept incoming email. Should you wish toshare additional views with me, please do not hesitate to visit my website athttp://warner.senate.gov/contact/offices.htm; call my office at 202-224-2023; orwrite to me at United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510