José E. Serrano: “If I didn't know better, I would be confused. On one hand, we cut money from the SEC because they shouldn't be the cop…”

“If I didn't know better, I would be confused. On one hand, we cut money from the SEC because they shouldn't be the cop on Wall Street that it should be, but then on the other hand we want to continue to cut money and prevent them from telling us where the other money is coming from, which is the one that funds elections. What is the problem with the American people knowing that such a candidate or such a committee got money from such a corporation? I want to know. They want to know. So, sure, our ratings are low. You know why our ratings are low? Because there is so much secrecy in what we do, and it shouldn't be. This is a great amendment, and it is one that should be accepted on a bipartisan basis. Let's stop trying to tell the SEC that they don't exist. They exist. And I will tell you one last point that is very short. When I was chairman of this committee, they came to us and said: We don't want any more money; we are fine. Then we found out years later why they didn't want more money, because they didn't want to enforce anything. We fell through into a big hole.”