Hensarling Opening Statement at SEC Oversight and Budget Hearing
“This Committee is indeed committed to conducting vigorous oversight to make certain the SEC is accountable in fulfilling its three-part mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets, and promoting capital formation.”
Washington,
March 24, 2015 -
Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) delivered the following opening statement at today’s full committee hearing to examine the Securities and Exchange Commission’s FY2016 budget request and agenda:
This morning we welcome Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White back to the Committee.
This Committee is indeed committed to conducting vigorous oversight to make certain the SEC is accountable in fulfilling its three-part mission of protecting investors, maintaining fair, orderly and efficient markets, and promoting capital formation.
By holding today’s hearing, we hope to better understand the progress the Commission is making and its priorities for the remainder of the year.
I have no doubt the hearing will serve as déjà vu all over again for Members who argue that the SEC has inadequate resources within with which to carry on its mission. However, the facts are that the SEC’s budget has grown tremendously over the years. In fact, the SEC’s current budget of $1.5 billion represents an increase of almost 35% since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act not yet five years ago. In fact, over a twenty year period since 1995, the SEC’s budget has increased by nearly 400%. That is three times greater than our national defense budget has grown at a time when we have to fight the international war on terror. This growth in the SEC’s budget considerably outstrips most other government agencies over the similar time period.
Furthermore, as I look to the monitors on my left and right which shows the rapidly rising and unsustainable red ink of our national debt; a debt that threatens to bankrupt our nation, I am reminded that hard-working Texans of the Fifth District that represent, they have not had the privilege of seeing their family budgets increase four-fold. They are the ones who ultimately will have to pay for this unsustainable debt.
Which again underscores that in Washington, it is not always how much money you spend that counts; it’s how you spend money. And that leads to the SEC’s priorities and agenda for 2015.
The bipartisan JOBS Act should be a priority but, regrettably, it does not appear the SEC treats it as such. At a time when the American people continue to struggle with the slowest, weakest recovery of the post-war era, the SEC’s neglect of this makes no sense. Even President Obama, with whom I rarely agree, has called the JOBS Act “a big deal” and a “potential game changer” that will help smaller companies take “a major step towards expanding and hiring more workers.” Surely, we want companies on Main Street to hire more workers. So if the SEC will not finish the work on the JOBS Act, it is incumbent that Congress do it for them.
Likewise, the SEC’s delay in completing its Dodd-Frank mandates, particularly in the derivatives area, has caused unnecessary uncertainty and allowed the CFTC to dictate outcomes that I believe most Members of Congress did not intend.
So as we discuss the SEC’s budget request today, our goal as always is accountability. It is this committee’s duty to ensure SEC resources are used wisely and efficiently and for the benefit of the American people.
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