Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the German Village Society for fifty years of dedication to preserving the unique, historical charm of the German Village community. German Village is one of the preeminent historic districts in the United States and is the first neighborhood in Ohio recognized by the White House as a ``Preserve America Community.''

Fifty years ago, community organizer Frank Fetch worried that the historical neighborhood south of downtown Columbus was deteriorating rapidly. He held a meeting to discuss ways to revive the neighborhood. This initial meeting led to the formation of the German Village Society, a group of devoted, preservation-minded residents intent on saving and restoring their neighborhood's historic charm.

Under the guidance of its charter members and with the dedication of local volunteers, German Village's historical preservation continues to this day. Residents donate more than 10,000 hours of their time annually to the community. Due to their passion and dedication to German Village, the entire 233-acre neighborhood is now on the U.S. Department of the Interior's Nation Register of Historic Places.

The German Village Society continues to enhance its reputation as one of central Ohio's best communities in which to live and work. The Haus Und Garten Tour event is recognized on the American Bus Association's ``100 Best Events'' list. The Society also hosts many free programs including Shakespeare in the Park, a summer series of Shakespeare's plays performed outdoors, and a weekly farmer's market. German Village is also home to the 23-acre Schiller Park, an anchor to the neighborhood for over 140 years, and numerous independent restaurants and businesses.

With the continued support of local residents, the German Village Society continues to enrich their neighborhood and promote ``living'' history. On January 10, 2010, the German Village Society celebrated its 50th anniversary. I am proud to recognize and honor the German Village Society and all of its dedicated volunteers for five decades of meaningful work to strengthen and preserve the thriving historical neighborhood of German Village.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Stefanie Spielman, a dedicated activist who fought to increase funding for breast cancer research and raise awareness about the disease. Stefanie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, survived four bouts of cancer and worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the vital role routine examinations play for women. Stefanie's death in November 2009 was a tragic loss for her family and the Columbus community, but her legacy will live on.

After her diagnosis, it became Stefanie's life mission to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. Her initial efforts were focused locally. Her neighborhood grocery store asked shoppers to purchase paper footballs, the donations from which would be given to the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital. The response was overwhelming. Within six months donations totaled $1 million, far exceeding the initial goal of $250,000. Inspired by this outpouring of support, Stefanie established the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research and Stefanie's Champions, an annual awards program recognizing those whose love, dedication and strength have had a powerful impact on the lives of cancer survivors. Stefanie's fundraising efforts continued over the next twelve years and at the time of her death, the Stefanie Spielman Fund for Breast Cancer Research had raised over $6.5 million for breast cancer research, education, and patient assistance. Stefanie also helped establish the Stefanie Spielman Patient Assistance Fund, which provides financial support to breast cancer patients and their families who are experiencing financial hardships. Through these efforts, Stefanie has touched the lives of countless individuals and families who have struggled with breast cancer.

The Upper Arlington Historical Society and the city of Upper Arlington have chosen Stefanie Spielman as one of the 2010 inductees to the Upper Arlington Wall of Honor. Each year, the Historical Society and the city select members of the community who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and personal character, or provided valuable service to the community. The induction ceremony will be held on May 23, 2010, in honor of Stefanie, her contributions to Upper Arlington, Columbus, and the search for a cure for breast cancer. I am proud to honor Stefanie Spielman, whose leadership and courage in the fight against breast cancer in the Columbus and greater Ohio area has been and continues to be an inspiration.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Cindy Dyas, a strong, inspirational woman who fought to raise awareness for breast cancer as well as the care of patients suffering from the illness. Cindy, diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991, was instrumental in bringing both issues to the forefront in the Columbus community.

Cindy Dyas played an integral role in bringing the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure to Columbus. Since the inaugural race in 1993, the number of participants has grown from 800 to 47,000 and has raised $13 million in support of Ohio cancer research. Currently the Columbus Race for the Cure ranks in the top 10 for participation among Race for the Cure events nationwide. Each year her contribution to breast cancer awareness and research in Columbus lives on through thousands of central Ohioans who take part in and support the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

After bringing the Race for the Cure to the Columbus area, Ms. Dyas walked in every race but one and was an active member of the Columbus Komen Board. In 2003 she received the Komen Cameo Award, the highest award given to a volunteer by the foundation. Upon her death in 2005, Susan G. Komen for the Cure established the Cindy Dyas Award of Heroism. The award is presented annually to a long-term breast cancer survivor whose dedication to the cure has given strength to others in the same way that Cindy Dyas has inspired countless cancer survivors.

The Upper Arlington Historical Society and the City of Upper Arlington have chosen Cindy Dyas as one of the 2010 inductee for the Upper Arlington Wall of Honor. Each year the Historical Society and the city select members of the community who have demonstrated an outstanding achievement and personal character, or provided valuable service to the community. The induction ceremony will be held on May 23, 2010, in honor of Cindy Dyas, her contribution to Upper Arlington, Columbus, and the search for a cure of breast cancer. I am proud to honor Cindy Dyas, whose leadership and courage in the fight against breast cancer in the Columbus and central Ohio area has been and continues to be an inspiration.

Thank you, Chairman Conyers, for allowing me this opportunity. Also, I want to give thanks to the work of my freshman colleagues, Tom Perriello and Betsy Markey, for their work on this important piece of legislation that I am very proud to be a cosponsor of.

I have been listening to this debate this afternoon, and it is very surprising--and actually highly ironic--to hear the opposition from the Republican side of the aisle to a bill that would simply make the health insurance industry operate fairly in a competitive marketplace. After all, it was a great Republican President, Teddy Roosevelt, who was the great trust buster, the one who brought antitrust principles into American jurisprudence and legislation. And as we have heard this afternoon from others, versions of this bill have had bipartisan support over the course of the years when there have been attempts to introduce antitrust legislation addressing this issue with respect to the health insurance industry. After all, competition is the engine that drives our economy, spurs innovation, and ensures that the American consumer would receive a fair deal. But for far too long the insurance industry has been able to avoid accountability by dividing up the territories among themselves like the robber barons once did on the backs of ordinary Americans.

I also serve with several of my colleagues on the Competitiveness Task Force, and I know that for our economy to regain its footing, we need central Ohio and American business to be competitive, something this bill will help to ensure.

This bill is needed because the health insurance industry is sick, and we need to fix it. We know that we have an unhealthy insurance system because we see that the signs and symptoms are there. Ninety-six percent of all health insurance markets are highly concentrated, meaning consumers have little or no choice between insurers, and it is too easy for insurance industries to conspire on practices.

I urge my colleagues to support passage of the Health Insurance Industry Fair Competition Act.

Thank you, my colleagues.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 1074, legislation that I introduced to honor the life of Hermine ``Miep'' Gies, who aided Anne Frank's family while they were in hiding and who preserved her diary for future generations.

I want to thank Chairman Berman and Ranking Member Ros-Lehtinen for their support in bringing this resolution to the floor.

Why is it important to honor Miep Gies?

I recently visited Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. It is an overwhelming experience, and as we ponder the horror of Hitler's plan to eradicate the Jewish people, we ask ourselves: How could this have happened? How could so many stand by silently? How could so many actually participate?

So it is important, I think, to understand that there are some who spoke up, heroes like Miep Gies, and it is important to honor people like her, people who helped the Jews, who worked against the sea of hatred that had enveloped most of Europe at that time--people like Miep Gies, an ordinary woman, who did an extraordinary thing.

She was born to a German Catholic family in Austria on February 15, 1909. When she was 11, her family sent her to live with a foster family in the Netherlands to escape food shortages in postwar Austria. She worked as a servant, as a seamstress, as waitress. Then, in 1933, she took a job with an Amsterdam manufacturing company owned by Otto Frank, a German Jew, who left Frankfurt when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany and when the organized attacks on the Jews began, including the boycott on Jewish businesses.

Ms. Gies quickly became friends with the Frank family. On July 6, 1942, more than 2 years into the German occupation of the Netherlands, Otto Frank; his wife, Edith; and his daughters, Margot and Anne, went into hiding in a secret annex behind a bookshelf in Otto Frank's office. They were later joined by Hermann and Auguste Van Pels; their son, Peter; and Fritz Pfeffer.

For 2 more years, Miep Gies, along with her husband, Jan, and three other employees of Otto Frank, risked their lives to supply the eight people in hiding with food, clothing, with news from the outside, and with paper for Anne to write on.

As Anne noted in her diary, ``Miep has so much to carry; she looks like a pack mule. She goes forth nearly every day, scrounging for vegetables, and then bicycles back with her purchases in large shopping bags.''

Miep is also the one who brought five library books to Anne every Saturday. She did this during a time of war. It

was a time of shortages, a time when getting food meant managing ration coupons. Despite their efforts, though, on August 4, 1944, the Gestapo raided the secret hiding place, and they captured the eight hideaways who were betrayed by an anonymous tip.

Miep Gies discovered the pages of the diary that Anne kept during her time in hiding, and Miep locked them in a desk drawer for safekeeping. When she learned that Margot and Anne had died of typhus at the Bergen- Belsen concentration camp, she returned Anne's diary to Otto Frank, the only one of the eight to have survived the Holocaust.

Later in her life, she testified against the Neo-Nazis, who denied the authenticity of the diary. She helped in the establishment of a museum in the small building where Anne and her family had hid.

As was noted, she passed away recently, on January 11, 2010, at the age of 100, but she kept alive a very important part of Holocaust history by preserving Anne's diary and by helping us to learn, to understand and to remember so it will not happen again.

The ``Diary of a Young Girl,'' by Anne Frank, has been translated into 70 languages--an inspirational story about hope in the face of war and an important testament for future generations so that the horrors of the Holocaust will not be forgotten. Like so many others who read Anne's diary, as a young woman, I was deeply moved by her steadfast optimism even during a period of her life defined by the evil of that day.

Thanks to Miep Gies' bravery, Anne's recollections have been preserved for future generations. Miep later described her efforts to assist the eight people in hiding, saying, ``Of course, it's nice to be appreciated, but I only did my duty to my fellow man. I helped people in need. Anyone can do that, can't they?''

This understated appraisal of her heroic acts is just one example of her modesty and her integrity. We can learn much from Miep Gies, an ordinary woman, who showed extraordinary courage in the face of unspeakable peril during Nazi occupation and the Holocaust. She is a powerful symbol of resistance against oppression and injustice. She is an example of our human capacity to rise even to the most daunting of challenges.

I urge my colleagues to join me in recognizing this incredible woman's life and legacy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Merle J. Pratt, a great American who has worked for decades to protect our nation, advocate for our veterans, and strengthen the State of Ohio. Currently a resident of Powell, Ohio, Merle has loyally served our nation as a member of the United States Navy, an employee for the State of Ohio, and a leader in numerous community organizations.

Merle served in the U.S. Navy for 26 years, including five years of active duty and over two decades in the U.S. Naval Reserve until his retirement in 1994 as a chief petty officer. Merle also served the Buckeye State in the Ohio Secretary of State's office and the Ohio Attorney General's office. After 26 years of service, Merle retired from his position as the Director of Constituent Services and Veteran Liaison for the Ohio Attorney General's office in 2009. His devotion to helping Ohio citizens and veterans inspired Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro to award Merle with the Innovation and Excellence Award in 2003.

In addition to his career as a public servant in the State of Ohio, Merle has served as a trustee, chairman, or president for many organizations and chapters dedicated to helping our nation's veterans, including the Military/Veterans Educational Foundation, Vietnam Veterans of America, the Columbus Veterans Day Parade Committee, the American Legion, the Franklin County Veteran's Memorial Board of Trustees, the Ohio Governor's Veterans Advisory Committee, and the Ohio Attorney General's Veterans Advisory Council. He has also been a longtime member of the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame Executive Committee, the Inter-Service Family Assistance Committee, the Ohio Veterans Employment and Training Council, and the Ohio Military Activation Task Force. Merle has been a Life Member of AMVETS Post 89 and served as the Chairman of the AMVETS State Legislative Committee from 1999 to 2009, during which he was awarded the prestigious AMVETS Silver Helmet Civil Servant of the Year award in 2004 for his passion and continued service to veterans in central Ohio. As a true public servant, Merle is continuing to actively participate in veterans services, and is currently serving as Commander for the AMVETS Department of Ohio.

Throughout his life, Merle has inspired those around him with his continued dedication to helping veterans and military families. On February 20, 2010, Merle will be recognized by the AMVETS Department of Ohio for his decades of invaluable service. I am proud to join this group in honoring Merle Pratt, whose leadership and commitment to our veterans, both in the Columbus community as well as around the nation, has been an inspiration and a blessing in the lives of countless Americans.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Marina Davis for 40 years of dedicated service to the young adults of central Ohio. Marina Davis devoted her life to improving our education system and inspiring students to strive for excellence. She passed away in December 2009, but will be remembered by everyone who knew her as a dedicated educator and a role model.

Marina Davis began her career in 1970 as a teacher at St. Anthony Grade School in Columbus, Ohio. She went on to teach English at St. Francis DeSales before becoming an assistant principal. While there, she chaired the St. Francis DeSales High School Committee, which received a Blue Ribbon Award for Excellence in Education from the U.S. Department of Education. In 1995 she became the first principal of Dublin Scioto High School, where she worked until her death this past December.

As an advocate for her students, staff, and faculty, Marina continually worked to improve the quality of education at each school she served. As an innovative administrator she instituted the Professional Learning Community Model at Dublin Scioto, which in 2009 received a Silver Award of Accomplishment from U.S. News and World Report. Marina's passion and commitment to education allowed her to make a difference in the lives of thousands of Ohio students and families, and this tragic loss is being felt throughout the community.

In memory of this outstanding public servant, the Dublin City Schools Board of Education has adopted a resolution formally naming the Performing Arts Center at Scioto High School in her honor. The Marina Davis Performing Arts Center will be dedicated on May 18, 2010, and will honor Marina's lifelong commitment to advancing the performing arts among Dublin students. Her contributions to the central Ohio school system will never be forgotten, and I am proud to recognize and honor this accomplished and devoted educator for a lifetime of service.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the Columbus Downtown Lions Club for its dedication to the improvement of the Columbus area. The Columbus Downtown Lions Club, which was officially re-chartered by Lions Club International on December 9, 2009, is committed to building a safer, healthier, and stronger community through volunteerism and support for local initiatives.

The Lions Club International was founded in 1917 and today is the world's largest service club organization. The club, originally known for fighting blindness, continues that legacy today by conducting vision screenings, equipping hospitals and clinics, distributing medicine and raising awareness of eye disease. Lions Club International also supports community projects for children and schools through scholarships, recreation programs and mentoring.

The Columbus Downtown Lions Club was originally chartered on June 17, 1920, and served the local community for over eighty years until it was disbanded in 2007 due to insufficient membership. I am proud of the individuals who have restarted this organization and committed themselves to continuing its legacy of volunteerism and generosity. I am excited and thankful in anticipation of the valuable service that this club will provide to our community.

In the long-standing tradition of Lions Club involvement in central Ohio, the Columbus Downtown Lions Club has already begun to build relationships that will foster future volunteer activities. This Saturday, during the Downtown club's official charter celebration, the Downtown club will make a contribution to Honor Flight, an organization that pays for and organizes trips for our World War II veterans so that they can see firsthand our Nation's capital and their monuments. The members of the Columbus Downtown Lions Club are building a valuable network of service-minded individuals who will serve as role models and leaders in our community for decades to come.

With the re-chartering of the Columbus Downtown Lions Club, the Lions community has once again demonstrated its generosity, compassion, and commitment to making a difference in the city of Columbus. I am proud to recognize and honor this organization and all of its dedicated volunteers for their exemplary record of service and their future contributions to the betterment of central Ohio.

Mr. Speaker, in my household, just like the households of my neighbors and people in my community in Central Ohio, when we want to spend money, we have to figure out whether it fits within our budget. And as a local official, we also needed to make sure that our budgets were balanced and that we had the right kind of priorities in our budgets as we decided our spending plan. That's why passing pay-as- you-go legislation is so important.

It worked during the Clinton administration. We had to decide, Congress had to decide what the important priorities were, and it left a budget surplus at the end of the Clinton administration. During the Bush years, we saw the PAYGO legislation expire, and we saw that instead of making sure that we paid attention to the right kind of priorities, millions were given in tax cuts to the wealthiest, and our President was left with a budget deficit to confront.

Right now, if we pass PAYGO legislation, it will make sure that we can afford to fund America's most important priorities: Education, clean energy, jobs. And I hope that our colleagues across the aisle will join us in pay-as-you-go legislation.

Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.

I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in support of my amendment to H.R. 4061, the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2009, to expand outreach to high school and community colleges to help train and recruit the next generation of our Nation's cybersecurity and information technology workforce. One of the most important aspects of the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act is the establishment of the Scholarship for Service program currently administered by the National Science Foundation. The program would operate with the goal of recruiting and training our Nation's future cybersecurity professionals through scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students in cybersecurity fields, government internship opportunities for scholarship recipients, and competitive, merit-based grants for faculty development, institutional partnerships, and the development of cybersecurity courses at institutions of higher learning.

My amendment will expand the Scholarship for Service program by making merit-based grants available for outreach to high schools and community colleges. Reaching out to high schools will help raise awareness of this program, steering students at an earlier age toward academic and professional careers in information technology and cybersecurity that they might not otherwise have considered. Young people are way ahead of us in terms of information technology and the use of computers but they still need the encouragement and guidance to pursue a cybersecurity career path. That guidance can be made possible through these kind of competitive grants.

My amendment also will expand outreach to community colleges. Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting small businesses, schools, and State and local institutions that lack the capabilities to adequately defend themselves against sophisticated cyberattacks. Encouraging students at community colleges to consider degrees in cybersecurity-related fields will help ensure that we have a workforce capable of defending our Nation's computer systems and networks at the State, local, and national level.

As a member of the Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology, I strongly support the efforts of H.R. 4061 to build our Nation's cybersecurity workforce, develop a strategic research plan for cybersecurity, and to secure our communications and information technology infrastructure.

I reserve the balance of my time.

I thank my colleague from Texas, who also serves with me on the Homeland Security Committee. I want to commend Chairman Gordon; Ranking Member Hall; Subcommittee Chair Lipinski, the sponsor of this legislation; and the Committee on Science and Technology for their hard work on H.R. 4061, to help build a strong cybersecurity workforce to protect and serve our Nation's communications and IT infrastructure. I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to ensure that the Nation's essential infrastructure is protected, and I urge my colleagues to support my amendment expanding cybersecurity outreach to high schools and community colleges as part of the Scholarship for Service program.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mid-City Electric for fifty years of dedicated service to central Ohio. Mid-City Electric is a family-owned electrical contracting company that is known for its high-quality craftsmanship, exceptional customer service, and tradition of giving back to the surrounding community.

Mid-City Electric began operation in 1960. Mid-City Chairman and Founder Jim Dew built his company on the core values of responsibility, hard-work, and loyalty to customers. His children Brian, Dennis, Steve, and Mary, work alongside the company's award-winning electricians to ensure the quality of their services. Their craftsmanship is displayed through numerous major projects in central Ohio, specifically in the 15th Congressional District, including Mt. Carmel West Hospital, Hilliard Bradley High School, Nationwide Children's Hospital, and Grant Medical Center.

Since the company was founded in 1960, Mid-City Electric has generously supported a number of industry and community causes. The company is an active member of the Builders Exchange of Central Ohio, which fosters communication, respect, and cooperation between building industry members. In 2006, the Mid-City Electric Company Scholarship was started in honor of Jim Dew's contributions to the construction industry in central Ohio. This scholarship recognizes and supports students who exhibit a strong commitment to a career in construction. The company also has sponsored charitable events, such as the annual Katie Fischer Golf Scramble, which raises funds for scholarships to Madison-Plains High School students.

For fifty years, this family-run business has provided top-quality, reliable service to central Ohio. The leadership, generosity, and commitment to excellence displayed by Jim Dew, his family, and his company have left a lasting legacy in our community. I am proud to recognize and honor Mid-City Electric for its decades of service to Columbus area businesses and families.

Madam Speaker, on the legislative day of Tuesday, December 15, 2009, I was unable to cast a vote on rollcall vote 971. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote 971.

Madam Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.

Madam Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

It's been a little over a year since the weight of predatory lending, credit default swaps, murky accounting, and risky bets finally gave way and the American taxpayer was forced to bail out Wall Street and the same financial institutions that set our Nation's economy into the worst crisis since the Depression.

The greed and recklessness of Wall Street has cost Main Street dearly. Millions of jobs, hard-earned life savings were lost, and today American families are still recovering.

We know that we need to take action so that American taxpayers are not put in that position again. And over the past year, Chairman Frank has held countless hearings, markups, and meetings to help bring to the floor today the most sweeping reform of our Nation's financial regulatory system since the New Deal, and he has done so in a transparent and equitable manner.

H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009, will restore and strengthen our Nation's financial system and provide Americans the confidence that there are rules in place that work for them and protect them, not protect the big banks and hedge funds and mortgage industry, that there will be the oversight, the regulation that should keep this kind of crisis from happening again, that should see an end to the risky practices that led to the taxpayer bailout of Wall Street.

But it will also end the ``too big to fail'' problem by implementing a mechanism for the orderly and controlled liquidation of a failed financial institution. And it's very clear that this is going to be funded by the financial institutions themselves. Not by another bailout, not by the taxpayers, no more TARP.

But sometimes increased clarity and added emphasis is called for. By adding one word only to the language regarding the use of assessments, we promise and we reassure our taxpayers that they will not be bailing out Wall Street again. The dissolution fund will only be funded by those financial institutions and their assessments, not our hardworking taxpayers from our cities and towns and farms.

I urge passage of this amendment.

Madam Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank), chairman of our committee.

I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Massachusetts.

For 8 years the Bush administration and its Republican allies looked the other way as Wall

Street and the finance industry engaged in risky practices, risky practices which resulted a little more than a year ago in the whole house of cards tumbling down, and the American taxpayers had to pick up the pieces.

We can't let that happen again. And we know Wall Street won't police itself. We need tough new laws and regulations. H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, will rein in those abusive practices. A new consumer agency will be established to protect consumers from fine print gimmickry and prevent fraud and abuse. It will end the ``too big to fail'' problem by creating a mechanism for the controlled dissolution of failed financial institutions, a financial death panel, so to speak, paid for, not by American taxpayers, but by the financial industry itself.

This bill will help protect Main Street and make sure that Wall Street plays by the rules.

Madam Chairman, NRSROs, the credit rating agencies, have played a huge role in the collapse of our markets a year ago. In fact, they bragged that they could rate anything, even a cow. And they continue to play a critical role in millions of financial transactions as pension funds, mutual fund managers, and others rely on the ratings from Moody's, Standard & Poor's, and Fitch as they make their investment decisions. The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, H.R. 4173, will provide for greater scrutiny and more responsibility from the credit rating agencies protecting these investors.

But the amendment from the gentleman from California would weaken credit rating agency reforms. It would continue an exemption under SEC rule 436(g) that the agency should not retain.

At the core of the Securities Act of 1933 is the idea that a company should provide investors with basic information about the securities it is issuing. It requires the issues to publicly disclose significant information about themselves and terms of the securities. Those who make material misstatements of fact or omissions in a registration statement can be held accountable under section 11 of the Act.

This provision now covers many experts in the financial world, such as accountants, lawyers, investment bankers, directors, officers, and executives of the issuers. Rating agencies that are not NRSROs fall under it, and there are about a hundred of those. And formerly the NRSROs were held liable under previous rulings of the SEC.

Amazingly enough, though, today, Moody's, Standard and Poor's, and other NRSROs are exempt from section 11 liability by SEC rule. It is a very uneven playing field. H.R. 4173 in its current form would correct that.

This reform should remain in the bill, and the amendment should be rejected. The highest standard of accountability is the central recommendation of the July 2009 report.

This is a central recommendation of the July 2009 report of the Investors Working Group, an independent task force chaired by former SEC Chair Arthur Levitt, who was appointed by President Clinton, and co-chaired by President Bush's appointee, William Donaldson. As they stated, this change would make rating agencies more diligent about the ratings process and ultimately more accountable for its sloppy performance.

Unfortunately, Mr. McCarthy's amendment would remove this much-needed accountability for credit rating agencies, and I strongly urge its defeat.