Xavier Becerra: “Mr. Speaker, Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom, the recent record of investment advisers serving their own interests…”

“Mr. Speaker, Enron, Global Crossing, WorldCom, the recent record of investment advisers serving their own interests above those of employees or investors is an unambiguous one and is not a pretty one. The time is not right for this particular idea because opening up a loophole to allow an employer to offer conflicted investment advice to its employee shareholders is something that, with previous history right before us, makes it very clear that we open up a Pandora's box. Maybe sometime in the future we can figure out how to do this the right way, and I believe the Democratic alternative does exactly that. It finds ways to make sure that our investment by employees who work very hard not only are protected, not only is there flexibility, but that it can be done in a way that gives the employer the best opportunity to make sure employees are making the most of their investments, but to today believe that we can open the door to permitting conflicted investment advice is to not look at history and to not look at history of just the recent past. Has the scandal of Enron left our mind so quickly that we believe we could do this? Are we still not aware that Global Crossing is still in the bankruptcy court? Did we forget that WorldCom could not provide to its employees its 401(k)s?”