Whereas the United States has experienced corporate
scandals in recent years, resulting in serious legislation and regulation
dealing with professional responsibility, ethics, and compliance
programs;
Whereas the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is a compelling
example of legislative guidance that recognizes the important role of
compliance programs for organizations that desire to maintain ethical and
law-abiding workplaces, services, and products;
Whereas the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, including
recent amendments to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, emphasize and reinforce
that there are specific consequences for noncompliance;
Whereas many companies in the United States have responded
by developing and implementing corporate ethics and compliance programs
intended to detect and prevent violations of law, such as establishing a high
level official to oversee compliance and integrity in the organization,
auditing and monitoring mechanisms to test compliance, reporting mechanisms
such as hotlines to ensure open communication, and training programs designed
to educate employees on the laws, regulations, and policies that affect their
business operation;
Whereas the private sector has organized to provide the
necessary resources for ethics and compliance professionals and others who wish
to promote quality compliance through organizations such as the Health Care
Compliance Association and the Society for Corporate Compliance and Ethics;
and
Whereas the establishment of a National Corporate
Compliance and Ethics Week would celebrate the creation and maintenance of
these ethics and compliance programs, and their resulting impact on the
integrity, ethics, and compliance of the organizations that have created them:
Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate designates the week
of May 22, 2006, as National Corporate Compliance and Ethics
Week
.