Political Quotes

“Madam Speaker, this legislation is very simple. It would establish a whistleblower program at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board based on the program Congress established at the Securities and Exchange Commission under Dodd-Frank. The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board was originally established to ensure proper oversight of audits of public companies. This was done after the implosion of Enron and its accounting firm Arthur Andersen, something that was very painful to many in my district in Houston. In the Dodd-Frank Act Congress passed, it expanded the whistleblower program at the SEC to both provide individual protections for retaliation if they came forward to the Commission and made them eligible for monetary awards if their information led to enforcement action. Likewise, under my bill, individuals would be eligible for a reward program upon the successful completion of disciplinary action. Whistleblowers would be incentivized to come forward when they suspect violations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; the rules of the PCAOB and the SEC; and other rules, laws, and professional standards governing audits of public companies. Importantly, these whistleblowers would also be protected against retaliation from their employers. In July, this House overwhelmingly passed the Whistleblower Protection Reform Act by a vote of 410-12. {time} 1615 This bill uses the very same whistleblower protections that the House passed in that piece of legislation.…”