"Markets cannot function properly without free and open information, and any market without transparency cannot be an honest or efficient market. SEC Chairman Levitt deserves great credit for his tough recommendations for NASD to implement higher levels of price transparency and fraud detection in our corporate bond and preferred stock markets.

"Chairmen Bliley and Oxley are to be commended for their commitment to hold hearings on bond market transparency later this month. It is time for the Congress to awaken from its slumber and resume vigorous oversight of the securities markets in which more and more Americans are invested. I look forward to receiving the SEC's report on its review of the debt securities market and to working with all of these parties to improve price disclosure and investor protection in this vital sector."

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(Contact: Dennis Fitzgibbons 202/225-3641)

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