WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, today released the following statement on the Securities & Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rule that would require businesses to provide new climate change disclosures:
“Because Democrats don’t have the votes in the Senate to pass their Green New Deal agenda, they are using the SEC to impose sweeping climate and energy policy regulations that far exceed the SEC’s authority. This is yet another step in their effort to ‘transform America,’ forcing an upheaval in our energy markets that threatens America’s economic and national security, from higher gas prices to competing with Communist China while once again increasing our nation’s dependence on others. Though consumers and investors will be saddled with higher prices, job losses, and lower returns as a result of increased compliance costs, the large accounting and law firms see a money-making bonanza ahead. The same high-ranking SEC officials that authored these rules will inevitably be hired by these firms on the back end to reap the vast compliance fees required by the regulations they just wrote. This is the Washington Swamp in action—working together and against the interests of the American worker. The SEC must take immediate action to prevent this revolving door.”
On Friday, Hagerty sent a letter to SEC Chair Gary Gensler urging him to reform the agency’s rules and regulations to address conflicts of interest and prevent individuals from taking advantage of the revolving door between public service and private profit.
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