On the recordJuly 7, 2016
Mr. Chair, I apologize if I wasn't clear. This amendment does not stop companies from mentioning bona fide weather and environmental risks in their disclosures. If a company wants to weigh in on climate change, nothing in this amendment would prevent it from volunteering that information; but the reality is that companies are already required to disclose all material information. We shouldn't allow the disclosure system to continue to be used as a tool for special interests. Instead of forcing agendas on companies, the SEC should be focused on protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly, and efficient markets, and facilitating capital formation. The SEC let Bernard Madoff run free for 10 years--a decade--while he evaporated $70 billion worth of people's life savings and hard-earned money. They were asleep at the switch. They were busy doing something else like this. Their job is to protect investors, and that is the intent of this amendment. I urge my colleagues to support the amendment. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
