Orrin Hatch: “I want to applaud President Bush and Senator Lott for offering a comprehensive legislative proposal that calls for…”

“I want to applaud President Bush and Senator Lott for offering a comprehensive legislative proposal that calls for harsh, swift punishment of corporate executives who exploit the trust of their shareholders and employees, while enriching themselves. This bill, which tracks the President's recent proposal, increases the criminal penalties that apply to fraud statutes that are frequently used to prosecute corporate wrongdoers. It also strengthens an existing obstruction of justice statute, and calls for an aggravated sentencing enhancement for frauds perpetrated by corporate officers and directors. Finally, it increases the Security and Exchange Commission's administrative enforcement tools by strengthening the SEC's ability to freeze improper payments to corporate executives while the company is under investigation, and by enabling the SEC to bar corporate officers and directors from continued service where they engage in serious misconduct. I support these provisions because I strongly believe that it is critical that we hold corporate executives accountable for acts of wrongdoing.”