Rep. Scott Garrett Holds a Hearing On the Sec Budget

Political Transcript Wire › March 21, 2011

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Rep. Scott Garrett Holds a Hearing On the Sec Budget

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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON FINANCIAL SERVICES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON CAPITAL MARKETS AND GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED ENTERPRISES HOLDS A HEARING ON OVERSIGHT OF THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

MARCH 10, 2011

SPEAKERS: REP. SCOTT GARRETT, R-N.J. CHAIRMAN REP. DAVID SCHWEIKERT, R-ARIZ. REP. JEB HENSARLING, R-TEXAS REP. PETER T. KING, R-N.Y. REP. FRANK D. LUCAS, R-OKLA. REP. DONALD MANZULLO, R-ILL. REP. ED ROYCE, R-CALIF. REP. JUDY BIGGERT, R-ILL. REP. JOHN CAMPBELL, R-CALIF. REP. THADDEUS MCCOTTER, R-MICH. REP. RANDY NEUGEBAUER, R-TEXAS REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CALIF. REP. BILL POSEY, R-FLA. REP. MICHAEL G. FITZPATRICK, R-PA. REP. NAN HAYWORTH, R-N.Y. REP. ROBERT HURT, R-VA. REP. MICHAEL G. GRIMM, R-N.Y. REP. STEVE PEARCE, R-N.M. REP. STEVE STIVERS, R-OHIO REP. KENNY MARCHANT, R-TEXAS REP. SPENCER BACHUS, R-ALA. EX OFFICIO

REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF. RANKING MEMBER REP. GARY L. ACKERMAN, D-N.Y. REP. BRAD SHERMAN, D-CALIF. REP. RUBEN HINOJOSA, D-TEXAS REP. STEPHEN F. LYNCH, D-MASS. REP. BRAD MILLER, D-N.C. REP. CAROLYN B. MALONEY, D-N.Y. REP. GWEN MOORE, D-WIS. REP. ED PERLMUTTER, D-COLO. REP. JOE DONNELLY, D-IND. REP. ANDRE CARSON, D-IND. REP. JIM HIMES, D-CONN. REP. GARY PETERS, D-MICH. REP. AL GREEN, D-TEXAS REP. KEITH ELLISON, D-MINN. REP. BARNEY FRANK, D-MASS. EX OFFICIO

WITNESSES: ROBERT COOK, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF TRADING AND MARKETS, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

MEREDITH CROSS, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF CORPORATION FINANCE, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

ROBERT KHUZAMI, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF ENFORCEMENT, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

CARLO DI FLORIO, DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF COMPLIANCE INSPECTIONS AND EXAMINATIONS, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

EILEEN ROMINGER, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[*] GARRETT: Good morning.

So the Subcommittee on Capital Market and Government-Sponsored Enterprises -- our hearing today entitled "Oversight of Securities and Exchange Commission's Operations, Activities, Challenges, and F.Y. 2012 Budget Request" is hereby called to order.

And we're joining with some -- joined now by some of our colleagues.

And we'll begin with opening statements, and then turn to our panel for your statements followed by questions.

So I will -- breakfast has just been served.

I will yield myself two minutes for opening statements. And I welcomeour witnesses to the committee today. I look forward to what I hope will be an educational hearing, where members, especially some of our freshmen, have a good opportunity to hear what the different divisions of the SEC are working on.

At least some of the focus, I believe, will be focused, of course, on the SEC's budget. And, of course, (inaudible) get into that, there have been press reports about how Republicans are trying to starve the SEC. And on that point, let me just examine the facts for a moment.

Back in 2000, under the last year of the Clinton presidency, the SEC was allocated about $369 million. In F.Y. '11, the SEC has a budget of about $1.14 billion. So in just over a decade, the SEC budget has, in fact, tripled.

So especially in this day and age, when we're running deficits of over about $1.6 trillion, I think it's not fair to say that the SEC is being starved.

In fact (inaudible) sort of that sort of rhetoric that you hear and it only comes out of Washington, D.C., that language -- basically gets unleashed in Washington every time someone around here tries to do, you know, the fiscally responsible thing. So we want to get into that a little bit.

I'm also interested to hear from each of the witnesses about spending priorities that they have for each of their divisions and offices. I'm less interested in this area of hearing about how underfunded the agency is, especially as we await for the study that is about to come out that will, hopefully, provide us with some thoughtful recommendations on how the commission can and must become more efficient, reduce management overhead, and enact other internal (inaudible) reform.

So before we even think about giving the agency ye...

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