[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12413]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             CORPORATE ACCOUNTABILITY SHAREHOLDERS' RIGHTS

  (Mr. STUPAK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STUPAK. Mr. Speaker, there is anger and indignation all across 
this Nation about corporate shenanigans. This anger has manifested 
itself in a wide range of legislative proposals.
  But let us remember, Mr. Speaker, that it was this very House that 
gave the green light to corporate executives to lie to their board and 
their stockholders. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 
1995 was part of the Contract With America. It was vetoed by President 
Clinton but was passed over that veto.
  Mr. Speaker, we turned these corporate carnivores loose by shredding 
the ability of shareholders to hold executives accountable for their 
misstatements and misdeeds. And we put the stake in the heart of 
shareholders' rights by passing the Securities Litigation Uniform 
Standards Act of 1998. This act threw all security fraud class action 
suits into Federal Court where they were subject to the terms of the 
PSLRA.
  Anything we try is a legislative Band-Aid until and unless we restore 
shareholder rights. Support the Shareholder and Employee Rights 
Restoration Act of 2002, which the Republican leadership refuses to 
allow to come to this floor.

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