Date: 2013-05-17
Speaker: CAROLYN B. MALONEY (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: New York

I thank the Chair. and I yield myself as much time as I may consume. First. I would like to say that I am happy to work with Mr. GARRETT on a variety of issues. I respect his leadership. But I must respectfully and strongly disagree with him on this issue before us today. It seems clear that the intended effect of the Republican bill is to cripple the SEC just as they undertake the very tough and important job of implementing the badly needed reforms we passed in DoddFrank. May I remind my colleagues that we passed DoddFrank in response to the worst financial crisis in our lifetime. one in which we were at one point losing 700.000 jobs a month. and by some estimates the loss was well over $12 trillion. My amendment strikes the underlying bill and puts a sense of Congress in its place. My amendment contains findings that very clearly lay out the costbenefit analysis process that the SEC already has to go through in proposing or adopting a rule. What this bill would do now. the Republican bill. is handcuff the SEC commissioners with unnecessary redtape so that the Commission will be unable to protect investors effectively. Despite what the other side of the aisle is saying. there is already a multilayered and effective costbenefit analysis built into the SEC rulemaking process. The SEC is already required by law to do costbenefit analysis under the Paperwork Reduction Act and the Congressional Review Act and the Regulatory Flexibility Act. and for the SEC specifically under the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996. In fact. just last year. the GAO issued a report praising the SECs guidance on costbenefit analysis saying: The basic elements of good regulatory economic analysis. And in evaluating a recent proposal on swaps regulation. the cochairman of the Financial Services Department at Cadawalder wrote: The SEC release contains the most detailed attempt at an economic analysis of the effect of the rules that I have seen from any agency. But under this Republican bill. the SEC would have to divert its limited budget resources away from enforcement or examining the impact of worldwide derivatives markets only to duplicate things it is already doing. This bill also says that every 5 years the SEC is required to do a costbenefit analysis of every regulation it has ever issued on any subject going back some 80 years. back to day one in 1933. And it would have to magically do all of this without one additional red cent of additional funding to cover the cost of it. If we want to highlight anything. we should be highlighting the extensive process that exists and the judicial scrutiny that it includes. which is what my amendment does. The stated mission of the SEC is to protect investors. not give them more redtape. maintain fair. orderly. and efficient markets. and facilitate capital formation. Lets help them do thatnot just make them jump through unnecessary. costly. and duplicative hoops. The underlying bill. the Republican bill. is a prescription for paralysis of the SECs ability to protect investors. I urge my colleagues to support my amendment. and I reserve the balance of my time.