Jim Sensenbrenner: “I am really befuddled on how Members on the other side of the aisle can come up and say that this bill is inadequate on…”

“I am really befuddled on how Members on the other side of the aisle can come up and say that this bill is inadequate on criminal penalties when the criminal penalties are double those that were passed by the other body, and that we have turned our back on whistleblowers, when this bill provides criminal sanctions against those who retaliate against corporate whistleblowers. If someone would retaliate against a corporate whistleblower, they go to jail. The other body does not do that at all. We have heard comments about the fact that this bill really does not deal with the whole issue of document shredding and other forms of obstruction of justice. Twenty years in this bill, 20 years in jail, that is a pretty tough penalty, and it is drafted broadly enough so that those who do shred documents can be caught in other obstruction-of-justice prosecutions. The bill which the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers) has introduced is only talking about 5-year penalties for these types of offenses. So if this is just a little teardrop, I think my colleague has had a wrong choice of words, because people who violate the law and the crimes that are set forth in this bill are going to go to jail for the rest of their productive lives, and that is a pretty serious penalty.”