Missed in the AIG hullaballoo last week is this House resolution:
Resolved, That the House of Representatives directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption… (Introduced in House)
HRES 251 IH
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. RES. 251
Directing the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to the House of Representatives all information in his possession relating to specific communications with American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 17, 2009
Mr. LATOURETTE (for himself, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. CANTOR, Mr. PENCE, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. UPTON, Mr. PETRI, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. WALDEN, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. GERLACH, Mr. DENT, Mr. BARTLETT, Mrs. MILLER of Michigan, Mr. SIMPSON, Mr. AUSTRIA, Mr. PLATTS, Mr. KIRK, Mr. WHITFIELD, Mr. GOHMERT, Mr. DUNCAN, Mr. DREIER, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. BILBRAY, and Mr. EHLERS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services
RESOLUTION
Directing the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to the House of Representatives all information in his possession relating to specific communications with American International Group, Inc. (AIG).
Resolved, That the House of Representatives directs the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, copies of any portions of all Department of the Treasury documents, records, and communications referring or relating to–
(1) any negotiation concerning the controlled break-up of the American International Group, Inc. into at least 3 Government-controlled divisions;
(2) any negotiation concerning any additional assistance under title I of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (12 U.S.C. 5201 et seq.) or other program administered by the Secretary to such corporation; or
(3) any Government communication or authorization for payment of any pre-existing bonus contract with any executive of the American International Group, Inc.
This is House Resolution 251. The resolution is authored by Ohio’s Steven LaTourette. The resolution is cosponsored by 51 House Republicans.
Between Senator Dodd and Secretary Geithner, there are at least 3 different versions of how much was known about the AIG bonuses. Using the assumption that AIG was trying to “sneak one by,” the Democrats passed a punitive tax on those receiving bonuses. They did this in part to take the focus off of their own party’s incompetence of thinking through details, at best, or negotiating the details and not having the courage of their convictions, at worst. Given the serious questions this issue raises about Geithner’s integrity and ability, I would think “the most ethical and transparent” administration ever would support this resolution.
Cue the crickets!
BTW, I don’t see Paul Ryan’s name on the list of cosponsors. I would expect the fine Congressman to want the full details of this issue. Of course, there still remains the possibility that he just wishes no one to reraise the question of his vote on the AIG bill.
Revisions/extensions (2:37 pm 3/23/2009, steveegg) – Fixed the link and did some formatting changes. Also, I note that Wisconsin’s other two Republican Congressmen, Jim Sensenbrenner and Tom Petri, are listed as co-sponsors.
