[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 51 (Tuesday, April 30, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E670]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




CORPORATE AND AUDITING ACCOUNTABILITY, RESPONSIBILITY, AND TRANSPARENCY 
                              ACT OF 2002

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. JOHN R. THUNE

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 24, 2002

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3763) to 
     protect investors by improving the accuracy and reliability 
     of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities 
     laws, and for other purposes:

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. Chairman, there is little debate and even less doubt 
that our economic system is the best in the world. However, we learned 
last year that companies have the capacity to violate laws, deceive 
investors, and through those actions defraud the public. This is not a 
fault of our economic system. Instead it is the result of action of a 
few dishonest and irresponsible few, and it underscores our nation's 
reliance on, and the value of, the rule of law throughout our society.
  I believe that because of these actions Congress must restore 
confidence in our economic system by recognizing and acting on the 
excesses of those few bad actors. Today, Mr. Chairman, Congress will 
act, in the wake of the Enron collapse, to pass legislation designed to 
protect investors and employees from what happened at Enron.
  First, this legislation acts to restore confidence in accounting 
practices. It is important that we have a strong and healthy accounting 
industry to keep companies financially sound and to provide investors 
with solid information. This bill creates a new, public regulatory 
board with strong oversight authority that will be under the direct 
authority of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and will have 
to certify any accountant wishing to audit the financial statements 
required from public issuers of stock.
  Second, the bill increases corporate disclosure and responsibility. 
Investors rely on information to make their financial decisions. This 
legislation will increase the amount of real-time information made 
available to American investors, employees and the general public. For 
example, off-balance sheet transactions, like the special entities made 
famous by Enron, would have to be fully disclosed, and companies would 
be required to disclose information about their financial health more 
quickly and in plain English. Lastly, it would make it unlawful for 
anyone associated with a company to interfere with the auditing 
process.
  It is also vital for workers to be able to maintain a safe and secure 
retirement. For that reason, the bill helps to protect 401 (k) 
retirement plans by prohibiting corporate executives from making 
insider stock sales when other employees can't.
  Lastly, this legislation strengthens the SEC by increasing its budget 
and allowing it to perform additional tasks and oversight duties. The 
SEC will also be required to conduct regular and thorough reviews of 
the largest and most widely-traded companies.
  We've seen the excesses that dishonesty in our economic system can 
bring. Today, Congress will act to make sure that dishonest businessmen 
can't game our economic system, deceive investors and ruin the lives of 
their employees. This bill does that, which is why I support this 
common-sense legislation.