Washington, DC- Idaho Senator Jim Risch signed a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner calling for the expiration of the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) at year's end. TARP is set to expire on December 31, but the Treasury Department has the authority to extend the program through October 3, 2010.

"One of my first votes as a U.S. Senator was against the release of the second half of TARP funding. This program has never worked as it was originally set up. Instead of taking troubled assets off the books of banks, it has been used to purchase stock in companies like Chrysler and GM and to finance bonuses at other banks," Risch said. "With the ‘too big to fail' banks now stabilized, it is time to end this program, recoup any funds we can and put them toward paying down our staggering national debt."

Risch was joined in signing the letter by 38 of his colleagues. The full letter is below.

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