[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12796-12797]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    H.R. 5110, OMNIBUS CORPORATE REFORM AND RESTORATION ACT OF 2002

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Kirk). Under a previous order of the 
House, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I believe that there are a 
number of issues that deserve the attention of this body, and I asked 
to address this House at this time because I have completed the 
assignment that was given to me, or the initial part of the assignment 
given to me by the pain of my constituents. Just a few moments ago I 
announced that I would file, and now I have filed, the Omnibus 
Corporate Reform and Restoration Act of 2002, H.R. 5110, an omnibus 
bill that lays clearly on this Congress an opportunity to make sweeping 
corporate changes now.
  I said before that there is no pride of authorship. There should not 
be. We should work together on behalf of the American people. And if by 
chance this bill gets dissected and pieces of it pass, it may not be 
the whole but it will be the part. Right now, this bill encompasses a 
number of provisions that, if passed, could immediately address some of 
the concerns that we have.
  We will never get to the point of restoring investor confidence until 
we stabilize and allow the American people to have a sense that we are 
inside the board room peering in to oversee the proper activity of 
those who govern the corporations of America. We will never restore 
confidence until we again see corporate executives as leaders of United 
Way and Civic Citizens, that many of us have come to know and 
appreciate. We will never restore corporate confidence and investor 
confidence until we determine that those who have been broken and lost 
such large amounts of money, like the grandmother in my constituency 
that lost $150,000 as a new investor. That is a lot for someone who is 
just exposing themselves to the market.
  This bill will, in fact, do something historic and different. It will 
make for the first time unemployed employees, fired employees, whose 
company files bankruptcy, secured creditors. What does that mean? Just 
a few days before Enron filed bankruptcy, they gave $105 million in 
retention bonuses to corporate executives. On Sunday, they filed for 
bankruptcy. On Monday, they laid off 5,000 of my constituents, many of 
them without severance pay, who lost their pensions and 401(k)s. For 
the

[[Page 12797]]

last 6 months, we fought with the bankruptcy court because they were 
not secured creditors. They had no status in the bankruptcy 
proceedings. This bill will give them secured creditor status. They 
will be inside the courtroom to be able to fight for their benefits.
  This bill provides for criminal penalties for altering or destroying 
documents. We know what happens with that. All of us panic sometimes. 
Everyone wishes they had not made the wrong decision, tearing up a 
piece of paper to cover up. Coverup is worse than a crime. So we need 
to make sure they do not run to their office by mistake or otherwise 
and tear up documents.
  The bill provides for prohibition on loans to officers and directors. 
I frankly think we might be able to regulate it, but clearly we can see 
from WorldCom what can be done in crumbling one's own company. This 
will help in curtailing large loans by boards of directors to company 
executives; it will stop creating offshore companies and inside special 
companies that the board does not even know anything about and that is 
used to puff up the bottom line.

                              {time}  1115

  Also to protect the pensions of employees, and many others. I believe 
that the Committee on the Judiciary, of which I am a member, should 
hold hearings on whether or not enhanced criminal penalties or criminal 
initiatives need to be passed.
  I move now to share with Members, we had a surplus. In fact, in March 
2001, we had a $5.6 trillion surplus with a decreasing debt. Because of 
the large tax cut that went nowhere and no one can remember, we now 
have no surplus. Yet we have the responsibility to our senior citizens 
because many of them are not able to pay rent or to get good food 
because they have an enormous prescription drug cost. We need a 
guaranteed prescription drug benefit. Where is our heart in America? 
Where is our reason and our respect for the Greatest Generation?
  I would like this to be bipartisan, but we need it to work; and the 
Republican plan is a voluntary card that insurance companies have. And 
if they do not make the money in their area, as they did not in my 
area, then they will close up shop. There is a period when they stop 
paying for the prescription drugs.
  Mr. Speaker, there is a lot left to be done. Let me conclude by 
saying we are working on the homeland security department, and I am for 
it. But as we create this Department, we cannot forget our civil 
liberties and due process. We must have those as we move this 
Department forward.
  Mr. Speaker, this is work undone. We must get to work in this 
Congress.

                          ____________________