Wendy Sherman: “So much of what we do on this floor is so partisan, going over the same old issues. I bring to you an amendment that I…”

“So much of what we do on this floor is so partisan, going over the same old issues. I bring to you an amendment that I cowrote with the Chamber of Commerce which deals with an issue that has not yet been discussed on this floor. The Financial Accounting Standards Board is funded by the SEC through a convoluted process designed to claim that they are not a government agency, but they are funded by a mandatory tax, and if you don't follow their prescriptions, you can, indeed, face criminal, as well as civil, penalties. If it is not broke, don't fix it. For 100 years, we had good rules on how to account for leases. The tenant pays rent, the owner of the building owns the building, and the financial statements disclose in the footnotes all the details any financial analyst would want to see. Since it is not broke, the folks at the Financial Accounting Standards Board have decided to fix it. They want to list on every balance sheet in America the future amount that will be paid in all lease payments as a liability. The effect of that is to increase the liabilities shown on the balance sheets of American business by $2 trillion. That is right, this is a $2 trillion issue that has not yet been discussed on this floor. The Financial Accounting Standards Board has done some outreach and taken some testimony. By the standards of the accounting world, they have listened.…”