[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                         WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

  (Mr. STEARNS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, in determining his pick for the new head of 
the SEC, President Obama called for a ``shift in ethics on Wall 
Street'' and then subsequently announced his selection of Mary Schapiro 
for the SEC chairmanship. The irony of this selection is hard to miss, 
especially given Schapiro's reputation for favoring brokers and the 
securities industry over investors.
  As head of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Ms. Schapiro 
completely missed both the mortgage crisis and the Madoff $50 billion 
Ponzi scheme defrauding hundreds of unknowing investors. Furthermore, 
Ms. Schapiro's record as a regulator demonstrates she has seldomly 
pursued tough action against big Wall Street firms who, we all know, 
have atrociously abused our regulatory processes.
  And while President Obama has openly stated that ``the regulators who 
were assigned to oversee Wall Street dropped the ball,'' he has picked 
Schapiro, someone who was ``asleep at the switch,'' to steer the reform 
of the SEC.
  Which leaves me with the question: What was he thinking?

                          ____________________