“To date, the Troubled Asset Relief Program has given more than $300 billion to private companies and there are plans to give billions more.
“Taxpayers have no sense that there is any control over this money. They have no idea what, if anything, they will get in return. This entire program is based on trust - trust in the givers and trust in the takers. At this point, there is no trust.
“To get money from Treasury, banks and others must sign a contract that states they have no material unpaid Federal taxes. Treasury did not ask these banks and companies to turn over their tax records. Treasury relied on the signed statements when it agreed to invest billions of taxpayer dollars. When you or I go to the bank to take out a mortgage to buy a house, we are asked for our tax returns. They’re not going to just take our word for it, and we are not asking for millions of dollars.
“The Subcommittee looked at the top 23 TARP recipients. We found that thirteen of them owed more than $220 million in unpaid Federal taxes. Two companies owe over $100 million each. How can this be? If we looked at all 470 recipients, how much would they owe?
“Are they signing contracts knowing that they owe taxes but thinking they will not get caught? Did then-Secretary Paulson turn a blind eye? Either way, this is shameful. It is a disgrace. The American people are fed up, they are fired up, and they’re not going to take it anymore. As Members of Congress, we shouldn’t take it anymore either.
“We want to get to the bottom of what is going on here. The taxpayers deserve nothing less than the truth. The oversight work that our witnesses are doing is so important. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses on their oversight efforts, and, most importantly, what Treasury needs to do to restore the public trust in this program.
“Thank you."
