Isakson Legislation to Investigate Financial Crisis Signed in to Law

Independent Commission Will Have 18 Months to Find Answers

May 21, 2009

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator and Senate candidate Johnny Isakson praised the president’s signing of his proposal to create an independent commission that would investigate the near collapse of the financial system and recommend action to prevent it from happening again.

Isakson’s amendment to create a Financial Crisis Commission, which passed by an overwhelming 92-4 vote in the Senate, creates a 10-member, bipartisan panel charged with fully investigating the causes of the near collapse of our financial system. The panel will have the authority to refer to the U.S. Attorney General and state attorneys general any evidence that institutions or individuals may have violated existing laws. At the end of its 18-month investigation, the Commission will report to the Congress its recommendations for statutory or regulatory changes necessary to ensure such a financial crisis never happens again.

“This is a great day for the American people, who demand and deserve some answers. I’m pleased the President understood the importance of signing this bill into law quickly so we can get those answers to what caused this financial collapse,” Isakson said. “We need a forensic audit of the damage to the financial markets and our economy so we can find out where mistakes were made and ensure we don’t make them again.”

The bipartisan Financial Crisis Commission will include two appointees each by the Speaker of the House and the Senate Democratic Leader as well as one appointee each from the House Republican Leader, the Senate Republican Leader, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee and the Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee. Members of Congress as well as federal and state employees would be prohibited from serving on the Commission.

Isakson and Senator Kent Conrad, D-N.D., originally introduced legislation in January 2009 to create a commission to investigate the financial crisis.