To require the Secretary of the Treasury to use any amounts repaid by a financial institution that is a recipient of assistance under the Troubled Assets Relief Program to reduce the authorization level under the TARP.

SA 1030. Mr. THUNE submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to
amendment SA 1018 submitted by Mr. Dodd (for himself and Mr. Shelby) to
the bill S. 896, to prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage
credit availability; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the end of the amendment, add the following:

TITLE V--TARP REDUCTION PRIORITY ACT

SEC. 501. SHORT TITLE.

This title may be cited as the ``TARP Reduction Priority
Act''.

SEC. 502. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) On October 7, 2008, Congress established the Troubled
Assets Relief Program (TARP) as part of the Emergency
Economic Stabilization Act (Public 110-343; 122 Stat. 3765)
and allocated $700,000,000,000 for the purchase of toxic
assets from banks with the goal of restoring liquidity to the
financial sector and restarting the flow of credit in our
markets.
(2) The Department of Treasury, without consultation with
Congress, changed the purpose of TARP and began injecting
capital into financial institutions through a program called
the Capital Purchase Program (CPP) rather than purchasing
toxic assets.
(3) Lending by financial institutions was not noticeably
increased with the implementation of the CPP and the
expenditure of $218,000,000,000 of TARP funds, despite the
goal of the program.
(4) The recipients of amounts under the CPP are now faced
with additional restrictions related to accepting those
funds.
(5) A number of community banks and large financial
institutions have expressed their desire to return their CPP
funds to the Department of Treasury and the Department has
begun the process of accepting receipt of such funds.
(6) The Department of the Treasury should not reuse
returned funds for additional lending for financial
assistance.
(7) The United States Constitution provided Congress with
the power of the purse hence any future spending of TARP
funds, or other financial assistance, should be determined by
Congress.

SEC. 503. TARP AUTHORIZATION REDUCTION.

Section 115(a)(3) the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act
of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5211 et seq.) is amended by inserting
``minus any amounts received by the Secretary for repayment
of the principal of financial assistance by an entity that
has received financial assistance under the TARP or any
program enacted by the Secretary under the authorities
granted to the Secretary under this Act,'' before
``outstanding at any one time.''
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