Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the financial reform bill before the Senate includes a section, subtitle J, section 991, that would permit the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, to be ``self-funded,'' meaning that the SEC would set its own budget and collect the subsequent fees from the companies the agency regulates. The effect of this action would be to remove a critical oversight role for the Appropriations Committee. Currently, Congress sets the amount to be collected and the SEC adjusts their fees during the year accordingly. The provision included in S. 3217 allows the SEC to both set the fee level and adjust the fees accordingly, basically creating a carte blanche approach to SEC budgeting. I, along with eight of my colleagues, including the vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Senator Cochran, the chairman and ranking member of the subcommittee with oversight responsibilities for the SEC, Senators Durbin and Collins, along with Senators Byrd, Harkin, Voinovich, Murkowski, and Brownback, have introduced a bipartisan amendment to strike the provision from the underlying bill. No one disputes the fine job Chairperson Mary Schapiro has done since taking the helm of the SEC. But the foundation of our government is based on checks and balances, not personalities. Agencies should not be given sole authority to negotiate the fees that support their operations with the very institutions over which they regulate.…”