Lloyd Bentsen: “on the underlying bill, let me say first of first off that I think the rule is a pretty good rule. There have been a lot…”

“on the underlying bill, let me say first of first off that I think the rule is a pretty good rule. There have been a lot of rules in this House that were not particularly good. This time the Committee on Rules saw fit to make a number of amendments in order. I wish that was the norm rather than the exception, but I appreciate the fact that that was the case on this bill. A lot is going to be said about the underlying bill, the substitutes, and the amendments in today's debate. I just want to say, having sat through a number of the hearings on Enron and looked at the other issues, the underlying bill is a good bill and I supported it in committee. I do not think we should view the underlying bill as a panacea. And I think if there is anything that we get out of this debate today, it is going to be that the Congress has to very clearly put itself on record, both to the public, including the investor class as one of our colleagues mentioned, as well as to the regulators, and particularly the Securities and Exchange Commission, exactly what it is we expect them to do. I think all of us believe in the sanctity of free markets. We have the most efficient markets in the world in the United States, but one of the reasons why the markets are so efficient is because we have a very strong disclosure system so that investors have an understanding of what it is they are buying.”