John Sarbanes: “These provisions, among other things, require the CEOs and CFOs to certify their company's financial statements under…”

“These provisions, among other things, require the CEOs and CFOs to certify their company's financial statements under penalty of potentially severe punishments. We provide a $776 million authorization for the SEC. I want to spend a minute on this point, because it is very important. The Senate Appropriations Committee is now working on an appropriation that would contain $750 million for the SEC. It is urgent that we provide adequate funding for the Commission, whose responsibilities have expanded as the volume of market activity has grown, but whose funding has lagged. Clearly, the Commission must have the resources necessary to ensure a decisive and expeditious response to the scandals we have seen in recent months, and to minimize the likelihood that we will see others in the future. I must underscore this point. The Commission has been underfunded, and the result has been understaffing, high staff turnover and low morale as the Commission seeks to carry out its work. The SEC must be in a position to address immediately the problems of inadequate staff resources and inadequate pay. At the moment, the SEC cannot offer its attorneys and accountants the same level of salary and benefits that their counterparts receive at the five Federal bank regulatory agencies. Talented and dedicated staff attorneys and accountants can increase their compensation by as much as one-third simply by moving to another agency. This is an intolerable situation.”