TANNER SAYS ECONOMIC RECOVERY INACTION
WOULD HURT FAMILIES' FINANCIAL SECURITY

Writes Provision to Help Taxpayers Recoup from Investment

Congressman John Tanner said the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act is important to protect Tennessee families’ retirement funds from drastic drops. Tanner wrote a provision included in the negotiated bill that insures any federal investment from the American taxpayers be recovered.

“Our ‘recoupment’ clause shifts the burden away from the American taxpayer so that in the long run, any investment of federal dollars will be recovered,” Tanner said. “As we in the Blue Dog Coalition have talked about for years, our nation’s fiscal outlook is bleak. It is imperative that the cost of this package be recovered without adding an additional hundreds of billions of dollars to our federal debt.

“I am convinced that federal inaction would be disastrous for families’ retirement accounts,” Congressman Tanner said. “Individuals’ 401k accounts, IRAs and state and local pension funds could rapidly lose stability if we do not take steps to assist our economic infrastructure.

“I understand and share the frustration of American taxpayers about the need for this legislation,” Tanner said. “However, the danger of double-digit inflation, double-digit unemployment, much higher interest rates and devalued retirement funds is just too great a risk to take with our economy.”

Tanner, a founding member of the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally responsible, conservative-to-moderate Democrats, represents Tennessee’s 8^th Congressional district in West and Middle Tennessee. He serves on the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and as chairman of the U.S. delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

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Contact: Randy Ford, 202.225.4714