Political Quotes

“a scandal-weary American people awoke this morning to more unpleasant news. WorldCom, an employer of 60,000 people, $107 billion in assets, announced that it would seek bankruptcy court protection. Millions of Americans have watched their retirement accounts evaporate because of fraud, rampant greed, and misgovernance in some of America's largest corporations. Ordinary investors and Wall Street alike have demanded stronger oversight of the accounting industry, rules that prohibit accounting firms from consulting the companies they audit, new authorities for Federal prosecutors to investigate and to punish corporate criminals, and a requirement that top executives personally certify the accuracy of their companies' financial statements. Legislation that would make these needed reforms passed the other body unanimously last week. Throughout the 1990s, Republicans rushed to unravel regulations and block needed reforms and helped creates the permissive regulatory environment that has led to recent corporate scandals. Now the Republican leadership has stubbornly refused to bring meaningful accounting reform to the floor. Why, Mr. Speaker?”