[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page E197]]
                    HONORING CHAIRMAN ARTHUR LEVITT

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL G. OXLEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 14, 2001

  Mr. OXLEY. Mr. Speaker, last week marked the end of the Honorable 
Arthur Levitt's tenure as the longest-serving Chairman in the history 
of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Arthur has 
been a good friend of mine for quite some time. More importantly, over 
the past eight years, he has been a leader in preserving the integrity 
of our capital markets and protecting America's investors.
  I have worked closely with Arthur during his entire tenure on a 
number of major initiatives, especially the past few years in my 
capacity as chairman of the former House Commerce Subcommittee on 
Finance and Hazardous Materials.
  Chairman Levitt leaves the Commission with an enviable record of 
accomplishment. He worked tirelessly to achieve his top priority of 
protecting investors, conducting more than 40 investor town meetings 
across the country, listening and responding to their concerns.
  He played an important role in the recent financial services debates. 
The financial modernization legislation--known as the Gramm-Leach-
Bliley Act--was enacted after decades of futility. It was, in part, the 
product of Chairman Levitt's hard work and support.
  Persuading the nation's stock exchanges to convert to decimal pricing 
took some prodding from the Commission and Congress, but I am pleased 
to report that America's investors are already benefiting from the 
narrower spreads that I envisioned when I introduced the Common Cents 
Stock Pricing Act of 1997. Chairman Levitt deserves a great deal of 
credit for helping implement this historic reform.
  He played an integral role in passage of the National Securities 
Markets Improvement Act, which modernized the relationship between 
state and federal securities regulators and eliminated costly and 
duplicative state regulation of national securities offerings. More 
recently, his work on the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, helped 
us pass historic legislation to provide legal certainty to the 
trillion-dollar derivatives industry.
  Finally, the SEC, under Mr. Levitt's direction, has taken important 
steps in creating a regulatory framework that embraces new technology 
and promotes competition.
  In closing, Mr. Speaker, let me say that Arthur Levitt is a man of 
great integrity who has served his nation admirably. He is the 
quintessential public servant. The American people are better off for 
his tenure.

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