[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 96 (Tuesday, July 16, 2002)]
[House]
[Pages H4680-H4681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    NO CORPORATION IS ABOVE THE LAW

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the order of the House of 
January 23, 2002, the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Baldacci) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BALDACCI. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the issue of corporate 
accountability and to call for tougher corporate accountability in our 
society. We have been waiting, and we have been waiting, and we 
continue to wait for action. Over half of all American households have 
money invested in securities, either directly or through IRAs and 
pension funds. Since the Enron collapse, investors have lost hundreds 
of billions of dollars in stocks of companies that issued false 
financial reports.
  The reforms we support and are needed to restore confidence in our 
financial institutions have not been acted upon by this House. We urge 
this House to address this legislation, to be able to join with the 
Senate, to be able to put to the President's desk tough measures that 
send a strong message to Wall Street and to Main Street that the 
actions by these people and these corporations will not be tolerated, 
and that people will be held accountable, and that these actions are 
exceptions to the rule and not the rule itself.
  That message needs to be strong, needs to be firm, and needs the 
leadership of this country and in this House to be able to address it 
forcefully.
  We also have highlighted four different areas which those reforms 
need to be a part of: The independence of the accountants and the 
consultants to the corporations, ending these conflicts of interest, 
making sure that there is an independent board of audit that is 
overseeing these actions and trying to restore some of the confidence 
that has been lost.
  We need to make sure that the integrity of Wall Street and the faith 
in the markets has been restored, instead of lingering doubts and 
apprehensions. It cannot be left to the SEC to merely suggest 
guidelines.
  There have to be imposed criminal penalties that these actions have 
warranted, and that means mandatory jail time for the offenders. There 
can be no excuses, just firm sentences and jail times.
  Also, we need to make sure that we fund the SEC at a level so they 
can do their job effectively and they know that it is in the public 
interest and they are public servants. They need to understand their 
importance to the overall economy, and, in fact, to all of

[[Page H4681]]

us in our daily lives so that they uphold those standards, so that no 
person is above the law, no corporation is above the law, and we are 
all here to serve in the public interest.
  That is the message from this House Chamber that needs to be sent out 
across the Nation and to the world. That is where we all stand. I urge 
my colleagues in the House to join with the Senate in tough action and 
be able to put on the President's desk and urge the President to sign 
legislation to send a strong message from all parties, regardless of 
politics, and regardless of regions of this country, we stand as one. 
No one will have ownership in either party in terms of who is sending 
the strong message. All people in this country who are depending upon 
those stock markets and those investments to give them the retirement 
and the security in their later years, and they have worked hard for. 
We should not condone the actions of any person, any corporation, 
anywhere that has jeopardized that and has harmed our overall system.
  I ask Members of the House to send that strong message, regardless of 
Democrat or Republican or Independent, that we send it as one. That is 
the strongest message, when this Capitol can stand together and send 
that message to Wall Street, Main Street and every street in our 
country.

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