The U-S Senate is considering new restrictions on auditors and accountants in the aftermath of the collapse of energy broker Enron. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s seen the proposal but isn’t yet sure how he’d vote on it. Still, Grassley says more safeguards are needed to enforce the ethics within the profession.The nation’s third-largest retailer, K-Mart, filed Chapter 11 this morning, the largest retailer ever to file for bankruptcy protection. For years, Grassley has advocated tighter restrictions on individuals and businesses declaring bankruptcy, wanting to make it more difficult for companies to “go under” without paying their debts, or paying what can be paid. He says his bill might not have gone anywhere without such a failure as Enron’s.California Senator Barbara Boxer’s bill would ban accounting firms from providing management consulting services for the same companies they audit.Senator Grassley is calling for a full bill to be issued on the sweeps for anthrax contamination and cleanup of the Hart Senate Office Building in Washington D-C. Grassley says the public deserves to know how much it’s paying and what it’s being charged for.Grassley says the early estimate of 14-million dollars is just an “educated guess.”If the final price is 14-million dollars, Grassley says he wants to be sure the money was well spent.
