Edwards Urges S.E.C. to Support Enron Victims

From John Edwards for President

May 16, 2007

Chapel Hill, North Carolina - As Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.) Chair Christopher Cox testifies before the U.S. Senate today, Senator John Edwards issued the following statement asking the S.E.C. to weigh in with the Supreme Court on behalf of Enron’s victims.

The S.E.C. is currently considering whether to file an amicus brief that sides with investors, or with Enron’s partners in fraud, in a related case that will set an important precedent for pending Enron litigation. Edwards asked Cox to reassure the public in his Senate testimony that the S.E.C. will not betray the working families who lost billions at the hands of Enron and its bankers.

“I urge the S.E.C. to fulfill its historic mission of protecting investors. Silence, or even worse, siding with fraud participants, would be a betrayal of that mission,” said Edwards.

Union pension plans and other worker retirement funds lost billions as a result of Enron’s fraud. The resolution of the questions now before the Supreme Court will affect their ability to recover billions of dollars lost as a result of fraudulent financial dealings between Enron and their bankers.

“The question for workers is whether they will be able to recover losses from the big banks that enabled the Enron fraud. The question for all Americans is whether their government will stand on the side of those big banks or regular families,” said Edwards.