Visclosky Statement on AIG

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Pete Visclosky issued the following statement today on AIG after voting for H.R. 1586, a bill to impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses paid to executives at AIG and other firms receiving Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 328 to 93:

“I am furious that AIG is lavishing over $165 million in ‘job performance’ bonuses on the very executives who ran that company into the ground.  The fact that AIG is using public funds to reward these individuals for contributing to the ruin of the American economy is despicable.  The very fact that these executives would accept bonuses taken out of the billions of dollars AIG has received from taxpayers, who are themselves struggling to survive in our current economic crisis, is reflective of Wall Street’s callous disregard for the suffering of others and obscene narcissistic greed.

“Since news of AIG’s bonus payments broke, I have been working to block them by any means that the law will allow.  To that end, I quickly joined over 90 like-minded colleagues in sending a letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, demanding that AIG be held accountable for its use of taxpayer funds and that the Administration take immediate action to prevent AIG from paying these bonuses.  Today, I joined my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in passing legislation that will allow taxpayers to recapture the AIG bonuses.

“I opposed the use of taxpayer funds to AIG and other financial institutions in the first place, voting against the Wall Street bailout three times, and will continue working to stop AIG’s misuse of public funds and other irresponsible behavior at bailed out companies.”