Bennett wants to end relief program

Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, introduced a bill Tuesday to end the Troubled Asset Relief Program by removing the treasury secretary's authority to extend it beyond the end of the year.

"The Obama administration has unilaterally violated the will and intent of Congress and used this money in a way that was never appropriate under the law as the TARP legislation was written," said Bennett, a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee.

"TARP was intended to deal with the financial crisis and allow financial institutions to stabilize themselves. That crisis has passed and the usefulness of TARP is therefore over. The program should expire as soon as possible," he said.

Bennett introduced a similar amendment last month to an unemployment insurance bill, but Democratic leadership objected to allowing a vote on it, saying it was not relevant to the overall bill.

"The Obama administration is using TARP like a revolving credit account and treating it as a permanent addition to the national debt," Bennett said.

TARP is scheduled to terminate on Dec. 31 unless the secretary of the treasury submits a written certification to Congress, which could extend it to Oct. 10, 2010.

Bennett's bill would strike the secretary's authority to extend the program, which would terminate it at the end of the year.

— Lee Davidson