Washington, D.C., Sep 24 -

Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave released the following statement regarding the provisions of the Wall Street bailout proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson:

“Apparently, the Secretary has taken the nickname of ‘King Henry’ seriously.  All Americans should be deeply disturbed by this proposal, which gives vast, unchecked power to the Secretary and his successor in the next Administration.”

Secretary Paulson, himself a former Wall Street executive, has proposed sweeping powers for his agency, highlighted by section 8 of his proposal, “Decisions by the Secretary pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.”

“Not only is the Secretary asking us to bail out his former colleagues, he’s asking us to remove any checks and balances to his power,” said Musgrave.  “This is a time for caution, both in terms of how we solve this problem, but also in terms of whom we choose to believe,” she concluded.