I commend Chairman Oxley for scheduling the markup of this historic legislation.

I also want to commend both the chairman of the Subcommittee and the chairman of the full Committee and their staff for their willingness to work with the Democrats on the Committee in a fair and open manner in order to achieve bipartisan consensus on this legislation.

At the Subcommittee's July 17 hearing on the Banking Committee's version of this bill, I served notice that absent significant changes to protect taxpayers, investors, and consumers, I would be compelled to oppose it with every bit of strength I have.

I am pleased to report to you this morning that, while I have lingering concerns about a few elements of this legislation, it nonetheless now represents responsible legislation that I can and will lend my support to.

One thing that I had reaffirmed by this process is that securities firms, insurance companies, and commercial bankers are fierce competitors. This is healthy and it underlies the strength of our free market economy. Unfortunately, it makes it difficult to reach consensus on the kind of balanced legislation we are being asked to write. In arriving at fair and responsible legislation, we sometimes have had to say no to our friends and yes to our enemies.

This bill represents bipartisan compromise on all the key issues. I intend to support reporting it out of subcommittee favorably today, assuming no changes are made today that undermine the important protections that have been added to the bill. I commit to continuing to work with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle on further improvements as the bill moves through the process.

Back to the Public Record Home Page