[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 14244]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                BRING MAIN STREET ETHICS TO WALL STREET

  (Mr. KINGSTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KINGSTON. Mr. Speaker, back in April 24 when the House 
Republicans passed Financial Accountability we had three main points to 
it. Number one, disclosure of facts. Disclosure of facts to employees, 
to shareholders, to anyone who may have something at stake that there 
are some problems, so that people can make intelligently investment 
decisions.
  Number two, if you break the law you are going to jail. We have laws 
against robbing banks, but people still rob banks, but when they do we 
put them in jail. There is no difference when you steal somebody's 
pension plan, you are stealing money. You ought to go to jail. You do 
not have the guts of somebody who would grab a purse and do it in 
person. You do it behind the cloak of corporate secrecy, behind the 
cloak of some accounting firm that you are in cahoots with. But if you 
are caught, you are going to jail.
  Number three, if you are the CEO of some big corporation and you have 
done this, you do not get to retire in your mansion. You do not get to 
go off to your mountain home. In fact, you get to be a guest of the 
government inside a penitentiary. That is what we are after.
  Let me say this: We need to bring the ethics of Main Street to Wall 
Street. It is time to have corporate accountability and pass a 
Republican plan.

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