Fraud Enforcement And Recovery Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

Mr. BURGESS. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Mr. Speaker, I am generally not in favor of commissions. I think Congress gives up too much of its power to commissions in my brief experience here. But this is one point that I think does call out for a commission. Certainly just as egregious as what happened to this country on 9/11 was what happened to this country in September 2008 when we experienced a financial meltdown. And to date, we have not looked back into the causes of the crisis and held anyone accountable.

In fact, Congressman Brady from Texas and myself introduced a bill earlier this year for just such a commission, H.R. 2111, that differs substantially from the bill under consideration today.

The bill that we are considering today creates a 10-member commission with subpoena power. It is going to be composed of six Democrats and four Republicans. When we did the 9/11 Commission, was that not a 50/50 split with some members being named by agreement amongst the commissioners who were already selected? Why would we unbalance this commission when, quite frankly, Mr. Speaker, there is just as much guilt on one side of the aisle as there is on the other.

Senate 386 allows the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee to select a commissioner. The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee may have been part of the problem.

The bill allows the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee to appoint a representative to the commission. Mr. Speaker, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee may have been part of the problem.

Senate 386 creates an accountability commission focused on protecting the government. H.R. 2111 creates an accountability commission focused on protecting taxpayers and restoring public confidence, something that is critical at this juncture.

Importantly, Mr. Speaker, we do things like this all the time. We bring up an important concept and we pass it under suspension of the rules. This is an important commission that should be created with all due care and caution by this Congress, and then empowered to go out and do the work that we want it to do, not slipped in in the middle of a very quiet legislative day when Members don't even have any idea what they're coming to the floor to vote on.

I just want to end by quoting from the Investors Business Daily, an article entitled, Probe Yourselves, from April 16, 2009. The article says, `` `Regulators also deserve blame for lowering lending standards that then contributed to riskier home ownership and the housing bubble.' Exactly correct.''

Continuing to quote, ``As such, Pelosi's proposed commission will be little more than a fig leaf to cover Congress' own multitude of sins--letting its Members, the true creators of this financial mess, bash business leaders as they pose as populist saviors of Main Street from Wall Street.''

Continuing to quote, ``On NPR Thursday, a reporter confronted Representative Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, with the fact that his $300 billion `Hope for Homeowners' program''----

The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.

Mr. ISSA. I yield the gentleman 1 additional minute.

Mr. BURGESS. ``Chairman Frank was asked about his $300 billion `Hope for Homeowners' program, passed with much fanfare a year ago that had so far helped one homeowner. One. Frank's response: `It was the fault of the right.' ''

Continuing to quote, ``The truth is, Mr. Frank's party has been in charge since 2006. And during that time, Democrats have presided over one of the most disgraceful and least accomplished Congresses in history. This financial mess began on their watch, yet they pretend otherwise.''

Further quoting from the Investors Business Daily, the commission that is outlined ``won't get to the bottom of our financial crisis; it will carefully select scapegoats to be ritually shamed by the liberal media, stripped of their wealth, and exiled. The new rules will be imposed that will no doubt make things worse. And the cycle will begin again.

``Wall Street didn't create this subprime mess, Congress, through repeated interventions, did. When the whole thing failed, it was Congress' fault.''

They conclude by saying, ``We'd be happy to support a 9/11-style commission to look into the causes of the financial meltdown. But only if Congress agrees to put itself under the microscope. Anything less would be a sham.''

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