Alcee Hastings: “Mr. Speaker, while I would prefer that this be an open rule, I rise today in support of the rule, as it makes in order…”

“Mr. Speaker, while I would prefer that this be an open rule, I rise today in support of the rule, as it makes in order those amendments which were submitted yesterday evening during the Committee on Rules hearing. I note that this is the 149th rule that this body has considered in the 108th Congress. Of those 149 rules, 18 have been procedural. Of the remaining 131 rules, 106, or more than 83 percent, have been closed or restricted. One can only hope that the majority will use this rule as the template for future rules. As my colleague from the majority pointed out, the underlying legislation blocks the implementation of new accounting standards recently proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. These new standards would require companies to deduct from their profits the value of the stock options they issue to employees and executives. Supporters of the Stock Option Accounting Reform Act will note that their bill includes a compromise, requiring the inclusion of stock options afforded to a company's top five executives in that company's profits. The Wall Street Journal, however, has noted that such disclosure would not adequately reflect a company's true profits.”