Political Quotes

“I listened attentively to the remarks of the gentleman from Colorado. I was certainly in agreement with much of what he had to say. What amazed me was how much of his remarks were devoted to things that the Congress cannot do anything about. You can preach to the board of directors and you can talk about bad apples all you want to, but this is the Congress of the United States. We are empowered to take action against the fraud and abuse that is driving our market down. Only near the end of his remarks did the gentleman even mention pending legislation. If a Member of the House gets up on the floor, you would think he would discuss what it is we are going to do about it. Most of the remarks of the gentleman were devoted to some awfully bad apples, some folks who the President has said should go to jail, Democrats have said should go to jail, Republicans have said should go to jail. But if this problem was only about locking up a few crooks, the market would not be responding the way it is. It is about corporate greed, to be sure, and the gentleman was very correct in focusing on the manifestation of that greed. But there are some questions that the public, far more pointed questions that the public is asking the Congress now. Where was the Congress when Arthur Levitt tried to bar consultants from auditing the companies that paid them to consult?”