WASHINGTON, Jan. 23 (UPI) -- While it's hard to know where to start with the collapse of the Enron Corporation, and who might be criminally, civilly or politically culpable, the lawmakers on Capitol Hill will embark in earnest on Thursday with what promises to be a lengthening list of ongoing hearings.
The company -- the world's largest energy trading firm -- filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 2, the largest such filing in U.S. history, putting thousands of its own employees out of work and wiping out the retirement savings of both employees and many outside investors.
The House side kicks off Thursday with the harder hitting of the initial hearings. A subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will focus on the destruction of Enron financial documents and has subpoenaed officials at Arthur Andersen, the former accountant of Enron.
Wednesday committee chairman Billy Tauzin, R-La., signed subpoenas for Andersen chief executive Joseph F. Berardino, along with Andersen attorney Nancy Temple and risk manager Michael Odom, and for fired Andersen auditor David B. Duncan, who was the lead auditor for Enron. Duncan was fired by Andersen last week, and will plead the Fifth Amendment to avoid self-incrimination, NBC and other news organizations reported.
The subpoenas require the appearance by this group before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation.
This hearing is to be followed by two days of hearings before the full Energy Committee further focusing on the company's relationship with Enron to be held Tuesday, Jan. 29 and Wednesday, Jan. 30.
On the Senate side, the Governmental Affairs Committee, headed by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., is holding a Thursday hearing to look at whether various government agencies could have done more to protect the thousands of Americans and the many U.S. businesses hurt by the what is the largest bankruptcy in American history.
Lieberman -- widely reported to be considering a 2004 Presidential bid -- will walk a difficult line between the non-partisan official investigation he insists he is engaged in and the political witch-hunt some Republicans fear.
"The untimely and wholly unexpected failure of a corporate giant like Enron is an alarm call to all of us in government to make sure that we are doing all we can to protect the integrity of our markets and the savings and investments of the American people," said Lieberman in a statement.
He noted that around 60 percent of American citizens own stock in corporations as part of their retirement nest egg, and the safety of these investments is at the "heart of the committee's interest in Enron."
Lieberman and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who chairs the committee's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, have said that investigations into the sudden implosion of Enron would be a priority in hearings for this year.
"The collapse of Enron has had enormous consequences for Enron stockholders and employees, the overall investing community, and the U.S. economy as a whole," said Sen. Levin in a statement. "Our role in Congress is to understand what went wrong and why so we can make sure this does not happen again."
Thursday's Senate hearing will feature experts on the regulations of the financial markets, pension funds and retirement savings along with experts on regulation of energy and derivatives trading, and experts on investing. At question is potential reform of a range of federal agencies, to protect investors, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Also on the Senate side, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing Jan. 29 to examine the implications for consumers and energy markets of the Enron bankruptcy. On Feb. 4, a subcommittee of the Senate Commerce Committee will hold a hearing to look at the issues of consumer fraud and whether Enron's lobbying affected the deregulation of U.S. markets, which in part resulted in runaway energy prices in California during the winter 2001.
And on Feb. 7 the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will focus on Enron's handling of its 401(k) plan, which invested heavily in company stock, leaving most Enron rank-and-file staff with decimated retirement funds following the bankruptcy.
Similarly, on the House side, the Education and Work Force Committee will examine Enron's benefit plan and the company's compliance with regulatory laws on employer-sponsored pension plans.
Also expected is a hearing by the House Financial Services Committee on regulation of the accounting industry, though a date has not been set yet.
It is widely expected that these hearings are just the start of a congressional investigative effort likely to last several months at least.
They come on the heels of a formal FBI probe into Enron, which began Wednesday with their arrival at Enron's headquarters in Houston to investigate and stop possible further document shredding at the company.
In addition, the company faces ongoing probes from the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
