Robin Carnahan: “Today my friend, Senator Nelson of Florida, and I are introducing important legislation to restore accountability to the…”

“Today my friend, Senator Nelson of Florida, and I are introducing important legislation to restore accountability to the accounting industry. The Integrity in Auditing Act will help renew Americans' confidence in our financial markets. Investors rely on the financial information that is provided by companies and certified by independent auditors. This legislation is designed to make sure that these auditors are truly independent. Over the course of the last few months, I have been looking into the devastating events related to the collapse of the Enron Corporation. As a member of both the Governmental Affairs Committee and the Commerce Committee, I have participated in numerous hearings on this matter. We have heard testimony from many experts about the different things that went wrong at Enron. The shareholders were failed by many parties who were supposed to be looking out for their interests: the company executives, the board of directors, the Government watchdogs, and certainly, the accountants who certified that Enron's financial statements were accurate. But, this is not just about Enron. This is about the disturbing number of restatements that firms have filed in recent years. It is no longer uncommon for a company to say that profits they previously touted were actually fictitious. This is absolutely unacceptable.”