February 10, 2012
Dear SEC Commissioners,
Please do not give in to industry pressures on Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Act (the Cardin-Lugar Amendment) - and make sure that ALL companies are covered, every country and every project gets reported, and loopholes that would allow large sums of money to go unreported are closed.
My Comment:
Dear SEC, Please follow the language--and the spirit--of the law, rather than cave in to or cooperate with the greedy demands of industry that would thwart it completely if they could. This law not only maintains transparency, and upholds rather than upends America's primacy among leaders, with behavior in foreign countries, particularly "global south" oil-rich countries where most of the population is poverty-stricken, that reflects American values and decency. The money-grubbing priorities of lobbyists and their clients, while part of capitalism, require the necessary checks and restraints that are also an essential part of healthy capitalism--that is your responsibility, SEC--to both the American public that wants our country to be regarded as a positive force in the world, and also to the millions abroad who depend on your vigilance and integrity to help keep their corrupt governments from appropriating all their country's natural assets.
laura scheuer