Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. ELLISON. Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed that the Republican majority did not allow a single amendment on this bill that benefits powerful financial interests. Members obviously have concerns about
elements of this bill--146 members opposed this identical bill last week. A previous version of this bill also earned more than 100 no votes last Congress. The 52 new members who began service last week
were not able to offer an amendment either.

These eleven bills make complex legal changes to our financial markets but no member of this Congress was afforded the opportunity to make a change. I offered three different amendments. All were rejected.

My first amendment had the support of Chairman Issa and Representative Polis. If we had more time, Ranking Member Cummings would have added his name. This amendment strikes Section 7. Section 7
moves us backwards in efforts to increase transparency in our financial markets.

Section 7 would exempt more than 70 percent of public companies from complying with the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) requirement. This exemption would completely undermine progress already made by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Going back to the 19th
century approach, requiring investors, academics, regulators and the public to read reams of filing papers is definitely not what we should be doing. Instead, we should provide the data in structured data sets
available for bulk downloads for comparison and analysis by investors, academics, the regulators and the public.

The SEC has made incredible progress in catching up with more than two dozen other nations that collect information this way. It has also made it easier for firms. A recent study by XBRL.US found that the average cost of submission was only $10,000. In fact, seventy percent of firms in the study reported a cost of less than $10,000.

The costs to individual firms is offset by the benefits those firms will receive because investors have easier access to data to make investment decisions. Society will also benefit by having financial
data more readily available.

My second amendment required the Securities and Exchange Commission to finalize its CEO pay ratio rule within 60 days of the bill's enactment. CEO pay rose an average of 4% last year. The average CEO
earns more than 330 times his or her average employee.

My third amendment highlights what we really need to do to create jobs--end the mindless sequestration cuts which prevent us from making needed investments in infrastructure, housing, basic research, etc. It
also strikes the language that further delays the transition to a safer financial system.

It is wrong that bills that help Wall Street and multi-national corporations get fast-tracked while bills that help working families have been slow-walked for years.

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