Dan Burton: “Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me say to everyone paying attention to this debate that I am under no illusion that this…”

“Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me say to everyone paying attention to this debate that I am under no illusion that this bill is going to go down to defeat. I think it is going to pass overwhelmingly. I do support wholeheartedly the $14 billion in fee reductions, which in effect is going to be like a tax cut for the American people. It is going to be an economic stimulus. What I do oppose, however, is the pay parity provisions, because I think it is going to end up costing the taxpayers of this country a great deal of money. Now, the SEC in effect wants to take the lid off of the salaries for the people that work there and to have them raised up in conjunction with the other financial institutions in this country. But let me just give you some facts that I think are very important. The SEC right now has the authority to pay retention allowances under current law up to 25 percent of base pay. So if somebody is making $160,000 a year, right now they could get a $40,000 bonus to keep that person employed. That would kick them up to $200,000. So they do not need this legislation to do that. The SEC has the authority to pay recruitment bonuses up to 25 percent of base pay. So, once again, if a person was being hired at $160,000, they could give them a $40,000 bonus, which would take them to $200,000. They have that ability right now.”