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addressour nation's economic crisis. I am also satisfied that the significantrecommendations Ioffered during the legislation's consideration were incorporated into theadmittedlyimperfect bill. Moreover, I was persuaded to support the Senate legislationbecause itprovided meaningful tax relief to hardworking Virginia families and small

businesses.

Throughout the bill's negotiations, I was outspoken in support ofseveral basicprinciples that are essential for the future economic well-being of our country.Forexample, I wrote a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd only one

day after U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson announced the original plan. Ispoketwice on the Senate floor about the proposal. Moreover, I led an

effort to convince the Senate Majority Leader to incorporate these principles inanylegislation, including them in a letter that was co-signed by eight of my Senatecolleagues.

The fundamental principles that I raised included:

A grave concern about the transfer of so much financial power and discretiontoone individual in the executive branch of government, and the lack of a clearmechanism for the oversight of this unprecedented power;

The need for proper limits on executive compensation, and a guarantee that

theexecutives who mismanaged our financial markets not be unjustly enriched by ataxpayer bailout;

The need for a guarantee that the American taxpayer be able to sharedirectly inany benefits gained by the rescue legislation;

Appropriate limits on the ability of foreign institutions to participatein theprogram; and

The release of federal funds for the program in installments in order to

ensure thatCongress can properly fulfill its oversight role, and to give Congress time toenactmeaningful new reforms to the regulatory structure.

We were able to achieve significant progress in each of these areas.In particular,I am pleased that the Senate included meaningful provisions in the bill to limitexecutivecompensation and to give taxpayers the chance to share in any gains achievedthrough

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this legislation. These provisions will help to restore taxpayer confidence inour financialsystem and ease the credit crunch that threatens economic growth.

The President signed the economic rescue legislation into law onOctober 3,2008. Going forward, I will work aggressively with members of Congress from bothsides of the aisle to ensure that this new law is implemented fairly, and in a way

thatsafeguards the American taxpayer. Equally important, the next Congress mustrestore toour financial system a regulatory structure that will prevent this terriblechapter inAmerican history from ever happening again.As Congress continues to address issues related to our nation's economy and thewell-being of hardworking Virginians, please be assured that your specific viewsandsuggestions will be very helpful to me and my staff. I hope that you willcontinue toshare your thoughts with us in the years ahead.

I would also invite you to visit my website at www.webb.senate.gov for regularupdates about my activities and positions on matters that are important toVirginia andour nation.Sincerely,

Jim WebbUnited States SenatorJW:kw

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