December 02, 2008

DODD STATEMENT ON FINANCIAL RESCUE REPORT

"The Treasury Department must make significant changes as to how they are operating this program."

WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, today issued the following statement after receiving a report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the Treasury Department’s implementation of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.  Dodd incorporated the GAO reporting requirement in the financial rescue package in order to ensure adequate oversight of the law.
 
“I appreciate the insights and recommendations that the Government Accountability Office has put forward in this report.  The GAO’s findings reinforce the concerns that several of my colleagues and I have voiced for some time now – that the Treasury Department must make significant changes as to how they are operating this program in order for it to stabilize our economy and financial markets.  Specifically, the Treasury Department must execute this program with a much greater degree of accountability, transparency and integrity – with billions of taxpayer dollars at stake, Americans cannot be taken for granted or left in the dark. The Treasury Secretary should carefully review and respond to the GAO’s recommendations without delay.”
 
A copy of the report is attached.
 
 
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