On the recordApril 4, 2017
I want to thank my good friend from Michigan for yielding me this time, the vice ranking member of our committee, and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hultgren), my good friend, for cosponsoring this legislation with me. I do rise in support of H.R. 1343, Mr. Speaker, and I think it is a very simple piece of legislation. The chairman of the committee said it was a simple piece of legislation. It is very straightforward. It simply raises the threshold as to the amount of stock a private corporation can give its employees, from $5 million to $10 million, without triggering additional disclosure. What this bill is not about is rolling back disclosure because, as a practical matter, it simply defines the threshold as to when additional disclosure is required. That threshold was originally established in 1988 at $5 million. Five million dollars was good in 1988; it is no longer good in 2017. We have simply escalated that amount by inflation, and we have come up with the number $10 million, which is proposed in the legislation. One of the reasons this legislation does not roll back disclosures, which is a myth that I intend to debunk here this afternoon, is because, as a practical matter, what corporations will do is, in fact, not give additional stock to their employees if, in fact, it triggers additional disclosures.…
