ALSO URGES THAT ALL RETURNED TARP FUNDS GO TOWARD DEFICIT REDUCTION

Washington, Dec 7, 2009 - Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Sixth) joined in signing a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner calling on him to allow the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) to expire on the December 31, 2009 deadline established in legislation. The letter urges Geithner to not use his authority to extend TARP into 2010. Stearns voted against establishing TARP, which has been heavily criticized for lacking transparency.

Stated Stearns, “This program was established to deal with the serious financial crisis that arose in 2008. As the economy recovers there will be continued ups and downs, but the financial system has stabilized enough that further intervention through TARP is not needed.” The letter also asks Geithner to apply all funds returned to TARP by financial institutions toward deficit reduction.

The letter states, “SIGTARP (The Office of the Special Inspector General for TARP) also reported repayments of $72.9 billion, $9.5 from dividends and interest and $2.9 billion in proceeds from sale of warrants, and we understand at least $45 billion more in repayments are pending. All of these TARP receipts and future receipts must be devoted to debt reduction rather than spent on further government interventions or other programs.”