House Proceeding 03-19-09 on Mar 19th, 2009 :: 0:02:05 to 0:20:00
Total video length: 2 hours 12 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:1,187 Duration: 0:17:55 Discussion

Next speech:

0:02:32 to 0:02:54( Edit History Discussion )

reconslaid on the table the speaker pro tempore: the house will come to order. all members are encouraged to take a seat, take their conversations off th floor, the house will come to order. there are no more votes in that series.

0:03:02 to 0:03:22( Edit History Discussion )

the house will come to order. again, no more votes in that series, the house will come to all members are encouraged to take their seats or take their conversations off the house

0:03:23 to 0:03:38( Edit History Discussion )

floor. no additiona series. the house will continue to suspend until we h the -- until we have order in

0:04:41 to 0:05:01( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Ross: the house. the speaker pro tempore: members are recorded there are no other recorded votes in that series. members are encouraged to take a seat or take their conversations off the house floor. the house will come to order. pursuant to clause 8 of rule 20, the chair will postpone further

0:05:00 to 0:05:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Mike Ross

0:05:02 to 0:05:05( Edit History Discussion )

Mike Ross: suspend the rules on which a recorded vote or the yeas and

0:05:06 to 0:05:28( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: nays are ordered or on which the vote is objected to under 20. recorded votes on postponed

0:05:10 to 0:09:35( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Charles B. Rangel

0:05:29 to 0:05:50( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: questions will btaken later. the house will come to order. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york mr. rangel: mr. speaker, i rise and move t and pass h.r. 1586. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title of

0:05:51 to 0:06:12( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: the bill. the clerk: h.r. 1586, a bill to impose an additional tax on bonuses received from certain tarp recipients. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from new york, mr. rangel, and the gentleman from michigan, mr. camp, each will control 20 minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. mr. rangel: the house is not in order, mr. speaker.

0:06:13 to 0:06:33( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is correct. all proceed tho will suspend until we have order in the house. again, the chair reminds members to take a seat. members are urged to take a seat or take their conversations off the house floor. action on the house floor will

0:06:34 to 0:06:54( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: continue to suspend until we have order in the house. the gentleman from new york. mr. rangel: first of all, mr. speaker, i want to thank congressman peters, congre israel, congresswoman maloney for coming together and working

0:06:55 to 0:07:15( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: with the committee to see how e best that we could, we could right a wrong. most all americans believe that a bonus is something that is paid as a reward for a job well done.

0:07:16 to 0:07:37( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: and certainly we in the house that when a handful of people receiving taxpayers' money for threatening the community in which we live and indeed our country and the financial structure of the world, the whole idea that they should be rewarded millions of dollars is repugnant to everything that decent people

0:07:38 to 0:07:58( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: believe in. but notwithstanding that, it's not our job to tell the private ctor what to do. it is our job to say, you don't do it at taxpayers' expense. all this bill does is just pull out that part that they call bonus, and if you received, or

0:07:59 to 0:08:22( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: the company received, $5 billion of taxpayers' money we say the tax that you will pay on this is 90%. and the rest of your income would be at the regular rate of 35%. if, indeed, this combinat the so-called bonus reward is combined with th

0:08:23 to 0:08:45( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: and reach ascap of $250,000, count. maybe somewhere along the line, someone might say, i don't we've caused enough damage. people have lost their jobs, their savings, they've lost their homes, their health insurance, they've lost their dignity, they've lost their

0:08:46 to 0:09:07( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: pride, and we don't deserve to take this money from the taxpayers, then give it back, don't receive it, and the law certainly would not apply. but if you are proud of what you've done, we're saying the buck is going to stop here, the red light is flashing and anyone thinking about doing this, we say, you just pay your dues to

0:09:08 to 0:09:28( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: the i.r.s. because we're going to be watching this job. so, mr. speaker, we' trying to punish anybody, we just say, do what you have to do, rewards are subjective, but you don't it with taxpayers' money. and at the end of the day, i do

0:09:29 to 0:09:35( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: hope that this will be a message that will be sent in a bipartisan way. we may have differencehow we resolve this problem in the

0:09:36 to 0:09:56( Edit History Discussion )

future, but this problem is there and we are saying to the i.r.s. and to the commissioner that we really want to make certain that at the end of the day, they're not the ones that's caused the problem and then get rewarded for it. i reserve the bala time.

0:09:57 to 0:10:20( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: . the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: at this time i yield one minute to the distinguished majority leader. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from ohio recognized for one minute. mr. boehner: mr. speaker, my colleagues, i when we had the stimulus bill on the floor, rember the 1,100-page bill that no one had time

0:10:00 to 0:13:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John A. Boehner

0:10:21 to 0:10:42( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: and that no one did read? obviously the president di't have time to read it, either. because in that bill was this one sentence. this oneentee that made it clear that someone knew that these a.i.g. bonuses to be paid and they didn't want them stopped. so somehow in the dark of night

0:10:43 to 0:11:03( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: this one sentence was added to the bill so that a.i.g. would pay these bonuses to their executives. this language wasn't in the house bill. this language wasn't in the senate bill. this language showed up in the dead of night and no one got to see it.

0:11:04 to 0:11:24( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: i'm wondering where did the language come from? who wrote it? who asked the conferees to put it in the bill? what conferees on the part of the house agreed to this? i'm looking for sebody to put

0:11:25 to 0:11:45( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: their hand up. that's the whole issue. this political circus that's going on here today with this bill is not getting to the bottom of the questions of who knew what and when did they know it. somebody was responsible to draw up this language. someone brought it to the

0:11:46 to 0:12:06( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: conferees. someone brought it to the democrat leadership who wrote this bill in secret and put this language in there. but we have no idea who it was. secondly, the bill before us attempts to recoup 90% of these bonuses. why 90%? the american people are

0:12:07 to 0:12:27( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: outraged. i'm outraged. we just voted down an opportunity to bring a bill to the floor from our freshmen members that said, we'll simple, we ought to get 14u7bd% of this money back -- 100% of this money back. we can get 100% back because the treasury secretary has the ability to get it all back. the administration has the

0:12:28 to 0:12:50( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: ability to get it all back. why don't we just get it all back? why are we bringing this bill to the floor today to give members political cover when in fact the treasury secretary has the authority, the administration has the authority to get all of it back? but, no, that got voted down. our bill would have been a better bill.

0:12:51 to 0:13:12( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: secondly -- thirdly, our colleagues, mr. latourette and mr. mccotter, have introduced a resolution of inquiry to get all of the documents surrounding communications between the treasury, the fed, and a.i.g. to understand who was in the middle of this conversation? people have known about this for months. and yet we just found out about

0:13:13 to 0:13:33( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: it over the last 48 hours. and so we want this resolution of inquiry to be passed by the committee. we want to get to the bottom of all of this. but in the meantime do we have have to have this political charade of bringing this bill out here? i don't think so. i think this is a bad bill with bad consequences. we didn't see the bill until

0:13:34 to 0:13:40( Edit History Discussion )

John A. Boehner: last night. nobody in the committee marked it up. nobody debated it. and nobody understands the consequences of what we are

0:13:41 to 0:14:01( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: about to do. how can we a bill like this? i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. there will be order in the house. the gentleman from new york. mr. rangel: let me try to answer a couple of qstions. whateveroint the

0:13:45 to 0:14:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Charles B. Rangel

0:14:02 to 0:14:22( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: leader was making as to what happened in the senate bill, he should have an inquiry and do whatever he has to do. i can say as a cferee that issue never was in conference. having said that mean whatever he comes up with in his inquiry that these people

0:14:23 to 0:14:44( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: deserve to have these bonuses at firp expense. that's the issue -- at taxpayer expense. that's the issue before the floor. it has nothing to do with what was in conference. it has everything to do with do these people deserve at taxpayers' expense to receive these type of bonus? the second thing is that while it's only 90% federal, there is

0:14:45 to 0:14:45( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: local a state liability and

0:14:46 to 0:15:06( Edit History Discussion )

Steve Israel: they are entitled their 10% to take a look a that and make the decision that is they have. i want to now -- decisions that they have. i want to now yield one minute to my friend and colleague from new york, congressman israeli israel. -- congressman israel. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. israel: i thank the distinguished chairman for

0:14:50 to 0:16:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Steve Israel

0:15:07 to 0:15:29( Edit History Discussion )

Steve Israel: giving me the honor of co-sponsoring this legislation with him. mr. speaker, we have just seen the difference between rhetoric and action. we can finger point, we can lay blame, we can talk about the past. we just want to recover the taxpayers' money for them. we want to recover the money and others want a rolution of

0:15:30 to 0:15:50( Edit History Discussion )

Steve Israel: inquiry. mr. speaker, this vote is the difference between solving the problem or continuing the problem. we are going to cast this vote and go home to our districts and the american people are going to say to each of us, did you get my money back or did you continue your posturing? did you get my money back or did you continue the politics?

0:15:51 to 0:16:10( Edit History Discussion )

Steve Israel: did you vote to recover my money or did you vote to allow them to get away with my money? that's what this is about, mr. speaker. the american people have had it with the posturing and partisanship and politics. they want their money back. the only way to get their money back, mr. speaker, the only way to get their money back, is to tax it back.

0:16:11 to 0:16:31( Edit History Discussion )

Dave Camp: let me say one other thing, mr. speaker. i have heard from some of my friends in new york who said, is is unfair. it's unfair because i thought i'd get my bonus. mr. speaker, they are going to have to tighten their belts just like the rest of america. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. there will be order in the house. the gentleman from michigan. mr. camp: thank you, mr. speaker.

0:16:15 to 0:18:15( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Dave Camp

0:16:32 to 0:16:52( Edit History Discussion )

Dave Camp: i yield myself two mutes. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for two minutes. mr. camp: frankly, the chairman of the ways and means committee and i agree that bypassing the committee is a dangerous way to legislate. that invites unnecessary errors. i think the stimulus bill is proof positive. that's why we are here today. but again we are faced today with a bill that has had no public scrutiny and has not come

0:16:53 to 0:17:16( Edit History Discussion )

Dave Camp: before the ways and means committee. madam speaker, let us do our jobs. when congress acted to stave off an imminent financial and economic collapse, the results of which would have been depression-era unemployment levels, we did so with faith that the past and current administrations would carefully manage the people's money.

0:17:17 to 0:17:37( Edit History Discussion )

Dave Camp: that trust has been shattered. lesson learned. what has been particularly troubling is the difficulty with which the truth has come out in recent days. after many varying and contradictory excuses, we now know that the obama administration working behind closed doors secretly eliminated provision that is would have prevented the appalling abuse of taxpayer money. adding insult to injury, they

0:17:38 to 0:17:58( Edit History Discussion )

Dave Camp: explicitly protected bonuses at companies that in many cases are operating only due to the generosity of the american people. it's a breach of the public trust that should have the repeatedly failed to pay his own taxes looking for a new job. several of my colleagues on this side of the aisle and even chairman rangel have noted good reasons to oppose the bill before us.

0:17:59 to 0:18:15( Edit History Discussion )

Dave Camp: it's an extreme use of the tax code to correct an extreme and excessive wrong done to the american taxpayer. i'm sure we'll hear today that two wrongs don't make a right, but neither does inaction. it is our duty to protect and defend hardworking, tax paying americans. at the end of the day this

0:18:16 to 0:18:36( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: insult to taxpayers cannot, should not, and will not stand. i urge my colleagues to vote for the measure. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new york. mr. rangel: thank you, mr. speaker. let me thank my leader, republican on the committee, for pointing out that this is and i agree and extraordinary procedure. and i have given it a lot of thought to it.

0:18:20 to 0:19:15( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Charles B. Rangel

0:18:37 to 0:18:57( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: and it just seemed that this is an extraordinary situation when president bush and secretary paulson would come to the congress and ask for $700 if we didn't do it in a week or two the sky would fall not only in the united states but around the world. if indeed among that group of people who without regard to the

0:18:58 to 0:19:15( Edit History Discussion )

Charles B. Rangel: people that we were trying to protect take this money, then it calls for an extraordinary response to it. i feel very, very comfortable in saying we triedo look at the arsenal that we had, whether it's justice department, the finance, and the american people demand protection, and that's

0:19:16 to 0:19:37( Edit History Discussion )

Sander M. Levin: at we are doing today with your help. i'd like to call on a s member of the committee, my friend from michigan, congressman levin, for one minute. mr. levin: i ask unanimous consent to revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for one minute. and without objection, so ordered.

0:19:20 to 0:20:45( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Sander M. Levin

0:19:38 to 0:19:58( Edit History Discussion )

Sander M. Levin: mr. levin: hear the debate fm the other side. i guess some are going to vot yes. i hope the vast majority will. after trying to make political points. this isn't the time for that. we are in the midst of a

0:19:59 to 0:20:21( Edit History Discussion )

Sander M. Levin: national economic cris. almost 4.5 million jobs lost during this recession. homes are being lost. and i think everybody has to participate in the solution. and no one should exploit it. in one bonus payment, these executives who worke in the division that helped bring about