WASHINGTON, July 17 (UPI) -- House GOP leaders Wednesday embraced major components of an accounting reform bill already passed by the Senate after those House leaders had panned that bill for days.
Their signal of approval -- in the face of jittery financial markets and an overwhelming 97-0 vote in favor of the Senate bill -- makes it more likely Congress will swiftly pass final legislation to oversee accounting firms and punish white-collar criminals.
Lawmakers have vowed to jump-start proceedings to combine House and Senate versions immediately, possibly sending a bill to President George W. Bush's desk as early as next week.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, Wednesday said the House and Senate versions "have many similarities" to rely on when negotiators meet in conference to combine them. "We begin a conference based on quite a bit of common ground," Oxley said.
As late as Tuesday, Oxley said, "The Senate bill is not a good bill and has major flaws." The Washington Post said House Speaker Dennis Hastert had rejected the Senate bill and quoted Oxley as saying that "everything is going to be on the table" during the conference proceedings.
"I said all along there were some similarities," Oxley said Wednesday about the Senate and House versions of the legislation. He said he would try to add some things in conference, including a requirement for companies to disclose some financial information more promptly and a provision to return funds to investors who have lost money as a result of corporate malfeasance.
Consumer groups have generally supported the Senate version as constructive and blasted the House version as window dressing that would do little to prevent future accounting scandals.
The Senate legislation, shepherded along by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., would set up an independent board to oversee accounting firms, set new penalties for white collar criminals and bar accountants from also performing some consulting services for their clients.
Oxley's bill passed a divided House back in April. At the time it did not contain provisions to crack down on white-collar criminals and while it would set up a board to oversee accounting firms, consumer groups complained that it would be staffed by other accountants and not be suitably independent.
For days, Democrats have hammered on House Republicans to accept the Senate measure and pass it wholesale because it is considered more robust and because that would be the quickest route to the president's desk -- and hopefully send a positive signal to jittery markets.
Democrats predicted that the accounting scandal, combined with the overwhelming vote in the Senate would convince House GOP leaders to accept the Senate's lead. Some House Republicans have signaled over the past few days that they agree.
"I guess our message is, sooner or later we are going to win," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said early Wednesday, when House Republicans were still signaling they might buck the Senate bill. "Why don't you (House Republicans) let us win sooner?"
