Auto Industry Emergency Bridge Loan Act

Madam President, today may mark the last day of this session, although I shall not try to make that prediction. However, I would not want this day to pass without availing myself of the opportunity and the privilege to come to this floor and say a few words on behalf of the very dear and valued friends whom I have served with in this Chamber as they depart and go on the road of life to, I expect, in each case great challenges.

Gordon Smith and I have become friends for ever so many reasons. One, we both love the outdoors. He and his devoted wife Sharon and my wife, we have all been close friends through these years. As I look back, I will always remember Gordon. I remember when I was chairman of the Armed Services Committee and entrusted with the extraordinary responsibilities--along with other committee members, as well as, indeed, every Member of this Chamber--entrusted with those decisions relating to this Nation's Armed Forces who were fighting so valiantly then, today, and for the foreseeable future--I hope the short future-- in Iraq.

Gordon and I had many very quiet and private conversations about his deep concerns and convictions. His convictions emanated from the depths of his heart. Politics played no role in his approach to the conflict in Iraq. He was gravely concerned about the loss of life and limb, the image of this Nation, and, indeed, the families of the loved ones who are fighting in that conflict. So I say: Gordon, we had our differences, but I respected your stance. I can see him standing back there as erect as he always was, standing and voting against me and voting against others, but again, drawing on his own deeply held personal convictions. Time will tell and history will tell if I was right or if I was wrong, but I found his counsel, his willingness to listen, his willingness to share with me his most inner thoughts about that conflict a very valuable asset as I and others in leadership positions carried the heavy burden of that conflict. So I am grateful to him. He is a very sensitive man, and he showed that sensitivity every so often as he plunged into the complex issues with regard to health care, the almost insoluble problems--problems that he recognized have to be solved, particularly so that people of lesser means can achieve a measure of health care equivalent to those who have the means can receive for themselves. It is a hallmark of how this man proudly walked his way through life, with a loving wife by his side and the family whom he loves so dearly, and always thinking about those who perhaps have not had the opportunities that he and I and others have had, particularly as it relates to health care.

He also loves the outdoors. A great golfer, we played together from time to time. His skill is far superior to mine in every way. He is a lover of art. We shared our interest in paintings, particularly paintings that had come from Scotland. To have had the friendship of Gordon Smith is to have shared the life of a wonderful human being, and I thank Gordon for all that he has done for me and for this great Nation, and for his beloved State. I wish him well in his next venture, and I look forward to meeting him along the way.

Elizabeth Dole

I have known her for quite a few years. We had a wonderful evening last night where the leadership of the Republican Party--indeed, almost all of the Members of the Republican caucus--came to say not farewell, but to listen to the words of those of us who are moving on and will not be a part of the next Congress. Elizabeth got up, and she is such a very forceful speaker. She truly speaks from the heart. She has a remarkable memory. She recalled how when both of us were bachelor and spinster, we danced together. My lovely wife, who is a dear friend of hers, kind of looked at me and I winked and said, She was the best. It is just one of her marvelous traits. Talk about glass ceilings: She shattered her share. She has taken on many challenges in the private and public sector, some of which only men have ever had, and performed her duties with great distinction, and always with a quiet sense of what we call southern humility. She is very proud of her roots and her family. How often she has referred to her mother.

She is a Phi Beta Kappa from Duke University and went on to Harvard for a master's degree and a law degree. Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Labor. Few women have had that much stamina, conviction, self-confidence to achieve those goals; and then, of course, to have become a U.S. Senator. That was a special challenge because she was fortunate to have as a husband Robert Dole, the Republican leader of the U.S. Senate, if I can say with a deep sense of humility, one of the best friends I ever had in this institution.

I remember talking to him one time, of course, concerning the events of that particular period, and I said he ought to think about running for leader of the Senate. Oh, no, no. No, I don't think they will ever elect me. Well, this conversation went on for some period of weeks, months, it may have been, I don't recall. Finally, I said: I have so much faith that you can win that election that I would be happy to appoint myself as one of your managers of the campaign to get it. So I took that, along with several other very fine colleagues, both of whom moved on years ago from this Chamber. And he won. He was amazed that he had won. I wasn't. I always recognized the leadership in him. He did a wonderful job as our Republican leader. His portrait proudly hangs right here in the corridor off of our Chamber. I never walk by that I don't just quietly give him a hand salute, because I was a part of the World War II generation, but a very small part, serving only in the final year of the war and always in a training command, ready as a 17-, 18-year-old kid to become a replacement for those serving abroad. Bob Dole was truly one of those who earned the accolade of the ``greatest generation.'' He fought in Europe. He was a young lieutenant and in leading his men in the toughest of battles in Italy, he received what for others I think would have been mortal and fatal wounds.

Because he had such an internal strength and constitution, he survived those wounds and came on to have a distinguished career. As I look back on his Senate days--and they pass so quickly, as did my 30 years--I remember taking trips with him. We went to Russia together, which was the Soviet Union at that time. He was a staunch believer that one day Russia would become just Russia once again and those people would have some measure of a voice in their Government. That did come to pass, and that was an extraordinary trip.

What I best remember is the time of the D-day anniversary. He was asked to speak in Italy, where he had fought. And then, together, we traveled to the Normandy beaches to join the President and others. In the course of that trip, we went back to the very ground on which he was wounded. He walked over to the stone wall that is still there--he remembers it ever so well--where he dragged his badly wounded body to give him a measure of protection until help could come, after which

he began that very long, arduous, challenging period of his life. It took years to rebuild that body, but the mind was always there fully intact. But he would once again have an important role serving America as a public servant in the Senate.

I don't know of a husband and wife team who any admire with a greater level of affection than we do Bob and Elizabeth Dole. So I wish them both very well. She was on our Armed Services Committee. She was a strong advocate for the men and women in the Armed Forces. She had a place in her heart for all who served at Fort Bragg and the Marines' Camp Lejeune, and Pope Air Force Base. But that is further evidence of the deep affection she has for her husband Bob.

John Sununu

Lastly, I turn to John Sununu. I confess not to have known him very well. I had met him when he came from the House of Representatives to the Senate. I suppose all of us who have been here for a period of time, having been given that marvelous accolade of an old bull, presume we can judge others quickly. I saw in John Sununu a man who would take charge from the day he came, and that he did. From the very moment he walked on the floor of the Senate, he was possessed of his own self- confidence, his own driving, almost a fierce desire to be a leader--a leader in the sense of advocating as a true fighter, advocating for those issues in which he had a belief in the principles that were dear to his heart.

The field of economics is quite a challenge, and with little provocation he would give you a tutorial on the most complex issues as they relate to economics. Indeed, in the weeks before the election, as this body was coming to a close and we voted on such measures as the rescue package and so forth, he frequently stood. When he spoke, our caucus and those around him listened very carefully. I mention this because he exhibited real academic strength at both MIT and Harvard. He did a lot of interesting things in his short life before he came to the Senate, not the least of which was being in the House of Representatives.

John also had a special niche for his interest in education. He wanted to make sure people less fortunate than we would have an opportunity to get an education and that those in the system and struggling are given any help possible to succeed in their own goals of educating themselves. He also held--very unusual--a special regard for the families of law enforcement officers, men or women in uniform, and particularly those families who lost a spouse or loved one in the line of duty.

He is an extraordinary man, John Sununu--very sensitive, very thoughtful, a man who loves his State, particularly the rivers of his State. He commended me for leading the charge in my State to remove an old dam that, for 80 years, blocked the migration of a fish from the Atlantic Ocean to the Blue Ridge Mountains. He was challenged to try to remedy a similar situation that existed in his State. I will miss John, his wife Kitty, and his lovely family. Kitty and my wife shared a few words on our departure last night from the dinner.

I am not one who makes many predictions, but I predict this man continues to not walk but run down that road of life, one who makes those twists and turns, climbs those mountains, and crosses those rivers. He will leave his mark on many successful ventures. We will hear from this man not once, not twice but many times again. I wish him well.

Lastly, I simply say to my State two words: Thank you. I thank all those Virginians who have supported me these 30 years. It was a humble challenge for me. I accepted it and I look back on it with the deepest of respect for the trust and confidence you gave me--all Virginians-- over these 30 years.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, with the size and complexity of the Treasury Department's efforts to administer the Troubled Asset Relief Program, TARP, which is unprecedented in recent U.S. history, it is essential to have a Special Inspector General, IG, who is focused exclusively on conducting effective oversight. When Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, I was proud to join Senator Baucus, as well as 31 of my other colleagues, to insist that the legislation direct the Treasury Secretary to appoint a Special IG as soon as possible. Notably, we tasked the Special IG with ensuring program transparency by collecting data on the Treasury's actions and reporting regularly to Congress. One might say that the Special IG is the cop on the beat dedicated to protecting taxpayers' interests.

Many would argue that the Treasury's current authority is almost completely unrestrained. There is a saying about what absolute power does to people and organizations, namely that absolute power corrupts absolutely. We must not allow unrestrained power to corrupt the Treasury Department's authority or mission. It is essential that proper oversight exists so that the Treasury Department is held accountable for how it expends taxpayer dollars.

A strong IG is even more critical now that the Treasury Department is directly injecting capital into banks, as well as potentially aiding other entities that provide consumer credit. The oversight requirements originally designed by Congress to scrutinize the purchase of toxic assets do not accurately or adequately describe the Treasury's equity investments and, therefore, do not provide the strong taxpayer protections Congress requires.

With the Treasury Department changing the plan day-by-day, there is growing market uncertainty about how best to address the economic crisis. The Treasury needs to inspire confidence. It must not follow Wall Street's example and play fast and loose on the public's dime. The bottom line is we must ensure the government respects the public's money more than Wall Street ever did. That will be the Special Inspector General's job. It is imperative then that the Special IG be adequately equipped with authority and resources to carry out this mission.

On Monday, the Finance Committee held a hearing to consider the nomination of Neil Barofsky to be the Special IG for TARP. Mr. Barofsky has had a distinguished career as a Federal prosecutor investigating white-collar crimes, but regardless of how impressive his resume might be, he cannot succeed at his job if his hands are tied with inadequate authority and resources. At this hearing, I noted a number of concerns that I have with the authority, or lack thereof, given to the Special IG, and for this reason, I rise today, to offer legislation, the Troubled Asset Relief Program Inspector General Improvement Act, that will give the Special IG the teeth that he needs to provide the oversight that taxpayers deserve with their precious tax dollars at stake.

Time is of the essence with the Treasury already having committed $290 billion without the Special IG's oversight. We cannot afford any further delay in the office of the Special IG becoming operational. Accordingly, because the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) did not specify the timing the Treasury Department must observe to transfer $50 million to the Special IG to set up his office, my legislation would direct the Treasury Secretary to provide the TARP IG with $50 million within three days after he is confirmed by the Senate. In addition, because the TARP IG must hire personnel to get up and running, my bill includes a proposal to waive applicable civil service rules that could delay that process. I am concerned that without this change, it may be summer before the TARP IG's office is sufficiently staffed to discharge its responsibilities.

Notably, EESA requires the TARP to address deficiencies that the Comptroller General identifies, or to certify to the appropriate committees of Congress that no action is necessary, but it places no similar requirement on the TARP regarding audit findings by the Special IG. My bill would place the same requirements on the TARP to address recommendations by the Special IG as are required by the findings of the Comptroller General.

Additionally, now that the Treasury Department has changed course and decided to inject capital directly into financial institutions rather than purchase toxic and illiquid assets as originally contemplated, Congress must be sure that the Special IG has the authority to fully investigate any other type of transaction undertaken by TARP. Although many contend that the underlying statute provides the Special IG with the ability to investigate equity injections, with Treasury Secretary Paulson hinting that TARP may be expanded to benefit credit card, student loan, and car loan companies, and with the possibility that the incoming administration might enlarge the program further still in ways that we are not fully able to anticipate, it is imperative that the Special IG have the ability to conduct oversight over whatever way funds are ultimately expended. My legislation mandates that the Special IG can go wherever necessary to protect taxpayers.

Last but not least, as there is tremendous concern in many quarters that financial institutions will use the $250 billion in equity injections they have been allocated pursuant to TARP to either purchase their weaker competitors or simply pay dividends to shareholders, I believe it is absolutely critical that the public understand exactly how these funds are being committed. Although I hope the funds will be used to promote lending, which is so critical to restoring economic growth and job creation, we must be sure that such lending occurs. Accordingly, my bill would require the TARP IG to prepare by July 1, 2009, an analysis for Congress of what exactly banks did with the $250 billion they have received.

Finally, Mr. President, I would be remiss not to acknowledge similar legislation introduced yesterday by my colleagues Senators McCaskill, Grassley, Collins, and Lieberman. Although their legislation would speed the hiring process to allow the TARP IG to quickly begin operations, as well as allow the IG to investigate any initiative created as part of the program, it would not make some of the other changes I believe are absolutely vital. All that said, I hope that we can work together on a consensus, bipartisan package that can expeditiously clear the Senate.

Mr. Prsident, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, seven weeks ago Congress faced an extremely difficult decision of whether or not to pass an unprecedented $700 billion economic stabilization bill to help our Nation's economy and financial markets. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, the Act, passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, was designed to provide new, expanded authority to the Department of the Treasury to take immediate action to stabilize our financial markets by purchasing troubled assets through a program called the Troubled Asset Relief Program or TARP. This new authority was designed to stop the continued declines in the financial services industry and the credit markets.

Like many of the thousands of constituents from Iowa I've heard from, I shared their concerns that the stabilization plan put hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars at risk. During the debate on this legislation I made it clear that I would only support this package if it included significant checks on the spending through various oversight mechanisms. I wanted to make sure the legislation wasn't a blank check for Government bureaucrats to spend taxpayer dollars with impunity. I'm glad that Congress listened to my concerns and I'm glad that specific oversight reforms I recommended were included in the final package. For instance, the creation of a Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (Inspector General) was something I worked to include in the final legislation to ensure that an independent watchdog would be looking out for taxpayer funds allocated to the TARP.

The legislation also has a number of additional oversight provisions such as the creation of a Financial Stability Oversight Board that is responsible for reviewing the exercise of the program to ensure the Treasury is operating as

envisioned. Additionally, the legislation included provisions requiring regular reports from the Treasury to Congress, Tranche reports outlining any assets Treasury chooses to purchase, and reports from the Comptroller General at the Government Accountability Office. The Act also places controls on executive compensation and corporate governance at participating entities. Taken together, these provisions were aimed to provide a sturdy foundation for ensuring the program is properly overseen.

However, despite these controls, many of these oversight provisions have been slowly implemented or outright ignored until recently. To date, the Senate has only held hearings on the nomination for the Special Inspector General and it is unclear when the nomination will be approved. Until then, the Inspector General at the Department of the Treasury has devoted some resources to overseeing the TARP, but we need to act expeditiously to approve the Special Inspector General to ensure someone is watching over all these taxpayer funds.

I do believe once we confirm a nominee to be the Special Inspector General that this office will face an uphill battle to work quickly to hire staff and to get operations moving to find out where all the billions of dollars are and how they were spent. This isn't an impossible task, but it is one that will take serious effort and great leadership to accomplish.

One concern I have with the Special Inspector General is the lack of authority that office will have to oversee the TARP and new, evolving programs under the TARP such as the Capital Purchase Plan, or CPP. The Secretary of the Treasury has indicated publicly that he intends to continue utilizing his authority under the Act to use the TARP and the CPP to continue to provide taxpayer funds via equity injections and stock warrant purchases to banks, financial institutions, and other entities, as opposed to purchasing distressed assets as the TARP was originally envisioned. While the Secretary is acting within his authority, this change was not necessarily envisioned from the oversight perspective when the Special Inspector General authorization was drafted. Instead, the current Act could be construed to only give the Special Inspector General the authority to review purchases of distressed assets and not the purchases and equity injections currently ongoing under the CPP. As a result, the Special Inspector General could be limited in authority to review the TARP before he takes office.

To rectify this, Senator McCaskill and I are here today to introduce a simple legislative fix to this provision that would amend the Act to allow the Special Inspector General to review all actions taken under the TARP, including those of the CPP. This is a straight forward solution to ensure that the Special Inspector General has all the authority necessary to oversee the taxpayer dollars that are being used to stabilize the financial industry.

This legislation makes one other change to the Act that will help the Special Inspector General hit the ground running once the Senate confirms the nomination. Looking back to the last Special Inspector General Congress created, the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, SIGIR, we noted that Congress provided SIGIR the authority to utilize special hiring authority to fill these important jobs quickly and not have them tied up in bureaucratic red tape. This section of our bill simply states that the Special Inspector General may utilize special expedited hiring authority authorized under 5 U.S.C. Sec. 3161 for the first six months after the date of enactment to get the office up and running. Further, the section also removes statutory limits for how long these special appointments may serve because we do not want to limit the length of time these employees can work for the Special Inspector General given we don't know how long they will be needed to oversee this program.

Taken together, these two simple provisions are necessary to ensure that the Special Inspector General is the aggressive, independent watchdog we envisioned when we passed the Act and not just a paper tiger. As a long time supporter of Inspectors General, I believe this legislation is necessary to ensure the success of the Special Inspector General. I urge my colleagues to support this urgent legislative fix to help ensure that American taxpayer dollars are not lost to fraud, waste, or abuse because of a simple oversight in the drafting of the original legislation.

Mr. President, today I am proud to cosponsor this legislation to expand the Rural Energy for America Program, REAP, to include schools in rural areas. This amendment to the program will encourage our rural schools to carry out energy efficiency projects and install renewable energy systems, thus reducing their dependence on fossil energy and reducing future energy costs. I am proud to join my colleague, Senator Reid of Nevada, as a cosponsor of this bill.

The Rural Energy for America Program, enacted in the 2008 farm bill-- the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008--is an expansion of the very successful section 9006 program which was established by the 2002 farm bill. The program has supported over 2,000 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects for farmers, ranchers, and rural small businesses since its enactment. Most impressive is the fact that the Federal investments in these projects were matched by almost 10 times as much in funding from the developers of the projects and other sources. This truly is a hallmark of a

successful Federal program, exactly the kind of program that deserves expansion, especially because it supports rural economic development while helping to provide us with cleaner and more sustainable energy systems. Expanding this program to rural schools just makes sense--they foster rural economic development and should be able to take part in this transition to better energy systems and to realize the associated environmental and economic benefits.

I urge my Senate colleagues to join me in passing this important legislation.

Mr. President, today, I am introducing legislation--the Derivatives Trading Integrity Act--which calls for establishing stronger standards of openness, transparency and integrity in the trading of financial swaps and other over-the-counter derivatives as a critical step toward rebuilding and restoring confidence in the financial system. With the total face value of swaps reaching a high of some $531 trillion at the middle of this year--8-and-a-half times the world GDP of $62 trillion--it is long past time for accountability in these markets. Over the years, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Congress have responded to concerns of the the swaps industry by allowing instruments that are in form and function futures contracts to be privately negotiated without the safeguards provided through exchange trading.

The economic downturn in this country is forcing us to examine all contributing factors to the crisis in our financial markets. By restoring reasonable safeguards and regulation of swaps, including credit default swaps, along with all other futures contracts, this legislation will go a long way to restore confidence in the markets and reestablish soundness and integrity in the financial system. My bill will end the unregulated ``casino capitalism'' that has engendered great risks in swaps trading. And it will bring these transactions out into the sunlight where they can be monitored and appropriately and responsibly regulated. This legislation will establish authority and safeguards to ensure that parties can meet their obligations to manage and reduce danger and risk to the entire financial system and economy.

Virtually all contracts now commonly referred to as swaps fall under the definition of futures contracts and function basically in the same manner as futures contracts. This bill amends the Commodity Exchange Act to eliminate the distinction in futures contracts among ``excluded'' and ``exempt'' commodities and regulated, exchange-traded commodities; futures contracts for all commodities would be treated the same.

In addition, the bill eliminates the statutory exclusion of swap transactions from regulation, and it ends the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's authority to exempt such transactions from the general requirement that a contract for the purchase or sale of a commodity for future delivery can only trade on a regulated board of trade. In effect, this means that all futures contracts must trade on a designated contract market or a derivatives transaction execution facility.

Last month, the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry heard dramatic testimony about the impact of unregulated financial derivatives on the U.S. economy. We have seen large negative consequences from the lack of price transparency and the failure to properly measure and collateralize the risk in trading over-the-counter derivatives. The problems have not been in the trading of financial futures on regulated futures markets, subject to the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

This legislation I am introducing will establish the standards that all futures contracts trade on regulated exchange. The regulated exchanges will work with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to ensure that trading on the exchange is fair and equitable and not subject to abuses. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has the experience and expertise to oversee these matters.

Bringing necessary openness, transparency, soundness, and integrity to trading in contracts which are now unregulated over-the-counter swaps and related derivatives is a key element in restoring trust and confidence in the financial system so that we can rebuild our economy on a solid foundation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Before closing, I offer a few comments on the TARP program. Since enactment of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act in early October, the Treasury Department has spent almost all of its initial $350 billion under TARP to recapitalize several banks and financial institutions. It has been reported that the Treasury Secretary may request the remaining $350 billion as early as this week. Under the law, the President must submit a written request that details the Treasury Secretary's plan to use the additional funds, and Congress has 15 days to enact a disapproval resolution. However, given the track record of the Treasury's use of the initial $350 billion of TARP funds, it is difficult for many of us to feel confident that the Department will spend additional funds in an effective and efficient manner. The administration is going to have to demonstrate that it has addressed a number of very serious implementation issues. As a Senator from the Show Me State, I expect to see them.

Some of these issues are related to the management and oversight of the funds as reported last week by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the GAO. In its report, the GAO uncovered a number of management and oversight deficiencies that raise serious questions about the program's integrity, accountability, transparency, and effectiveness. Frankly, the GAO's findings were very troubling. The GAO pointed to the Treasury Department's inadequate staffing, failure to establish a mechanism to track billions in taxpayer funds provided to the banks, and failure to establish a system on how it would monitor compliance with executive compensation limitations required by the legislation. In other words, it appears the Treasury is unable to tell taxpayers how their funds are being spent and whether the money is being spent in a reasonable and effective manner. I don't think that is acceptable.

The GAO also uncovered other troubling findings, such as Treasury's lack of action to address the foreclosure crisis. As we all know, the housing foreclosure crisis is at the center of the financial credit crisis. In recognition of this, the EESA included specific language for the Secretary to address the housing crisis. Unfortunately, Treasury has not taken sufficient action as communities and families across the country continue to be devastated by foreclosures. Loan modification efforts are failing, as evidenced by the Treasury Office of Comptroller--the OCC--data released this morning. According to the OCC, about 36 percent of borrowers were more than 30 days past due on loan payments 3 months after their loan was modified and nearly 53 percent were more than 30 days late after 6 months. What is going on here?

These findings raise significant questions, if not doubts, about both private and Government loan modification efforts, including those through the Department's so-called HOPE NOW Program. As I previously warned, the administration's and Congress's push to use the Federal Housing Administration to prevent foreclosures by refinancing subprime and troubled loans may end up costing taxpayers a lot of money in the near future. Rescuing the FHA through taxpayer funds is not surprising to those who have watched the FHA closely and know they have longstanding management and oversight

problems and lack of resources. Clearly, a more aggressive, comprehensive, and smarter approach to the foreclosure crisis must be taken if we are to recover from the recession.

The housing crisis has now spread from subprime mortgages to prime mortgages as economic factors impact borrowers' ability to pay their mortgages. Due to expansion of the mortgage crisis, it is critical that we find measures to protect and create jobs. The importance of jobs and its impact on the housing crisis further raises the importance of devising a responsible rescue package for the auto industry since millions of jobs are at risk--over 3 million jobs in the Nation, 220,000 jobs in Missouri.

TARP has also disappointed me by the ad hoc implementation of the program. Prior to the creation of TARP, the Department seemed to be improvising on a daily basis its intervention with financial markets. One of our intents in creating TARP was to provide a structure and coherency to the Government's approach to the financial crisis. That we have not seen. Before this and the next administration submit a request for the remaining TARP funds, we expect to have answers to the questions and issues raised by the GAO and others. The Government needs to provide more certainty on how it will address the financial and economic crisis and provide answers to taxpayers on how it has spent taxpayers funds already provided.

These are very serious times. I want to see action by this Congress. I want to see us move quickly. But I also want to see action by the auto industry to advise the czar or the Secretary of Commerce, and I want to see action by the Treasury to give us a better idea of how TARP funds are being used, how they will be accounted for, how they are going to be implemented, and how they are going to be used. If they don't have an approach, I will come forward with a suggestion on how we restructure those home loans that are in crisis.

I ask unanimous consent that Senator Brownback be added as a cosponsor to S. 3715, the Auto Industry Emergency Bridge Loan Act.

I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.