Patrick McHenryChairman

WASHINGTON, November 17, 2009 -

- During consideration of the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009, Financial Services Committee Democrats voted against an amendment that would prevent the Treasury Department from extending Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) beyond  December 31^st, when it is set to expire.

The amendment, offered by Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN), would direct non-committed TARP funds to pay down the deficit.  Winding down TARP would protect taxpayers from continued losses resulting from those bailouts of financial institutions. The Wall Street Journal reported today that taxpayers may lose as much as $5.1 billion under TARP, which is just one of several government bailout programs.

Currently, the Administration has complete discretion to continue TARP beyond December 31^st.

Republicans believe that TARP must be terminated and the money returned to the taxpayer in the form of deficit reduction. However, TARP is viewed by many Democrats as a way to fund their policy priorities without Congressional appropriations.  Chairman Frank has introduced two such bills to fund a number of  housing subsidy initiatives.

The vote on the amendment was 30 to 37. Click here to view the vote tally.