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Senate Overwhelmingly Upholds Strong Rules on Corporate Accountability
Amendment Aiming To Rollback Enron Reforms Soundly Defeated

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 (Washington, DC)—American Association of Justice Chief Executive Officer John Haber issued the following statement today:

“We applaud Senators Chris Dodd, Richard Shelby and other members of the Senate who rejected the DeMint amendment to S. 761 (the America Competes Act) by a 62-35 margin yesterday.

“The failed attempt by corporations to hide from the public the adequacy of their internal financial controls was beaten back by an overwhelming majority. That’s good news. This action preserves the strong standards of Sarbanes-Oxley requiring corporations to disclose to their shareholders the adequacy of internal financial controls.

“We hope that Congress will continue to vigilantly preserve all of the Enron reforms enacted to protect the public from the sort of corporate fraud that cost shareholders, pension-holders and the public billions of dollars.”

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As the world's largest trial bar, AAJ (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) promotes justice and fairness for injured persons, defends the constitutional right to trial by jury, and strengthens the civil justice system through education and disclosure of information critical to public health and safety. Serving members worldwide, AAJ provides attorneys with the information and professional assistance they need to serve clients successfully and protect the democratic values of the civil justice system. Visit http://www.justice.org