Cost Estimate on Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, September 28, 2008, Letter to the Honorable Barney Frank: “The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has reviewed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, as released by the House Committee on Financial Services on September 28, 2008. The legislation would, among other provisions, create a Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), under which the Secretary of the Treasury would be authorized to purchase, insure, hold, and sell a wide variety of financial instruments, particularly those that are based on or related to residential or commercial mortgages issued prior to March 14, 2008. Under the legislation, the authority to enter into agreements to purchase such troubled assets would initially be set to expire on December 31, 2009, but could be extended through two years from the date of enactment upon certification by the Secretary that such an extension is necessary.”