Wicker Opposes Approval of Additional Bailout Funds
January 15, 2009
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today voted for a resolution of disapproval on President Bush’s request for an additional $350 billion in financial bailout funds. Wicker opposed the bailout legislation initially approved in October 2008, providing an initial $350 billion in funds. That measure also included a provision that allowed Congress 15 days to pass a resolution of disapproval to stop the additional $350 billion after it had been requested by the president. The resolution of disapproval was defeated in the Senate today by a vote of 52-42, clearing the way for the funds to be released.
After the vote, Wicker issued the following statement:
“I voted against the use of this $350 billion for the same reason I voted against the first bailout - there is no accountability for how the money will be spent and no plan to fix the root of these problems.
“The Treasury Department cannot clearly detail to Congress or the American taxpayers exactly how the initial $350 billion in bailout funds were spent. When the bailout was first proposed, Congress was told most of the funds would be used to take troubled mortgage-backed assets off banks’ books. Yet today, that $350 billion is gone and we have no clear picture on where the money went. Taxpayers deserve much better accountability.
“The American people should have first been given a clear idea of how the first half of the $700 billion bailout was spent before Congress even debated approving an additional $350 billion.”
After the vote, Wicker issued the following statement:
“I voted against the use of this $350 billion for the same reason I voted against the first bailout - there is no accountability for how the money will be spent and no plan to fix the root of these problems.
“The Treasury Department cannot clearly detail to Congress or the American taxpayers exactly how the initial $350 billion in bailout funds were spent. When the bailout was first proposed, Congress was told most of the funds would be used to take troubled mortgage-backed assets off banks’ books. Yet today, that $350 billion is gone and we have no clear picture on where the money went. Taxpayers deserve much better accountability.
“The American people should have first been given a clear idea of how the first half of the $700 billion bailout was spent before Congress even debated approving an additional $350 billion.”
