The House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises

Division of Enforcement, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, Feb 10, 2005

On behalf of the Securities and Exchange Commission, I am pleased to be here to testify before you. In inviting me here today you have asked that I discuss the Securities Fraud Deterrence and Investor Restitution Act, H.R. 2179 (the "Bill"), which recently was introduced by Chairmen Oxley and Baker, as well as other members of the Subcommittee.

As you know, I testified before the Subcommittee last February concerning the findings and legislative recommendations contained in a number of reports the Commission submitted to Congress pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. H.R. 2179 incorporates a number of the proposals from the Commission's reports, which, if adopted, would strengthen the Commission's enforcement capabilities and assist defrauded investors. These provisions would greatly enhance the effectiveness of the Commission's enforcement investigations, and significantly improve the Commission's ability to prosecute wrongdoers, collect money from them, and return it to injured investors. Accordingly, I commend Chairmen Oxley and Baker, and the other sponsors of this legislation, for their initiative and commitment in introducing this very useful and potentially far-reaching bill.