Whereas the current financial crisis was caused by weak
underwriting standards, unsound risk management practices, increasingly complex
and opaque financial products, and consequent excessive leverage, which
combined to create vulnerabilities in the global financial system;
Whereas the current financial crisis has exposed the
imprudence of prior deregulation of the financial services industry, as well as
pervasive weaknesses in the enforcement of existing regulations for and
deficiencies in Federal and State regulatory authority related to that
industry; and
Whereas the current financial crisis has severely
depressed housing prices, caused a precipitous decline in the net worth of
Americans, constricted global credit markets, contracted growth of the Nation’s
gross domestic product, and increased the United States rate of unemployment:
Now, therefore, be it
1.There is established a select committee to
investigate the causes of the current financial crisis.
2.The select committee shall be composed of 15
members appointed by the Speaker from among the members of the Committee on
Financial Services, the Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, of whom 6 shall
be appointed after consultation with the minority leader. The Speaker shall
designate one member as the chair.
3.
(a)The select committee is authorized and
directed to conduct a thorough and complete investigation of—
(1)the operation by
any person, firm, co-partnership, company, association, corporation, or other
entity of the business of banking, financing, and extending credit; and of the
business of issuing, offering, or selling securities, futures, and
derivatives;
(2)the operation of
any mortgage broker and originator with respect to the business of issuing,
offering, or selling securities, futures, and derivatives;
(3)the practices of
any insurance company or insurance company affiliate relative or related to the
business of issuing, offering, or selling securities, futures, and
derivatives;
(4)the practices with
respect to the buying and selling and the borrowing and lending of securities
which are traded upon the various securities exchanges, or on the
over-the-counter market, or on any other market; and of the values of such
securities, as well as the practices of agencies related to rating securities;
and
(5)the effect of all
such business operations and practices upon interstate and foreign commerce,
upon the industrial and commercial credit structure of the United States, upon
the operation of the national banking system and the Federal Reserve System,
upon the market for securities of the United States Government, upon the market
for securities, futures, and derivatives, and the desirability of reforming the
regulation of any such business and any such securities, futures, and
derivatives, including the ability of the United States to impose civil or
criminal penalties with respect to any such operations and practices deemed
fraudulent or contrary to the public interest.
(b)The select committee shall report its
findings to the House during the current Congress.
4.
(a)For
the purpose of carrying out this resolution, the select committee may sit and
act during the present Congress at any time and place within the United States
or elsewhere, whether the House is in session, has recessed, or has adjourned
and hold such hearings as it considers necessary.
(b)Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives
(including the authority to subpoena witnesses and documents) shall apply to
the select committee.
5.Administrative
provisions
(a)There
shall be paid out of the applicable accounts of the House such sums as may be
necessary for the expenses of the select committee. Such payments shall be made
on vouchers signed by the chairman of the select committee and approved in the
manner directed by the Committee on House Administration. Amounts made
available under this subsection shall be expended in accordance with
regulations prescribed by the Committee on House Administration.
(b)In carrying out its functions under this resolution, the
select committee may—
(1)appoint, either on a permanent basis or as experts or consultants, any staff
that the select committee considers necessary;
(2)prescribe the duties and responsibilities
of the staff;
(3)fix the compensation of the staff at per
annum gross rates that do not exceed the highest rate of basic pay, as in
effect from time to time, of level V of the Executive Schedule in section 5316
of title 5, United States Code;
(4)terminate the employment of any such staff
as the select committee considers appropriate;
(5)reimburse members of the select committee
and its staff for travel, subsistence, and other necessary expenses incurred by
them in the performance of their functions for the select committee, other than
expenses in connection with any meeting of the select committee held in the
District of Columbia; and
(6)obtain detailees or staff from the
executive or legislative branch of the Government, who shall be deemed staff of
the select committee.
7.Dissolution and
disposition of records
(a)The
select committee shall cease to exist 30 days after filing the report required
under section 3.
(b)Upon dissolution of the select committee,
the records of the select committee shall become the records of the Committee
on Financial Services, the Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Energy
and Commerce, and the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.