Senate rejects attempt to weaken Sarbanes-Oxley

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The U.S. Senate on Tuesday defeated a Republican attempt to weaken 2002's post-Enron Sarbanes-Oxley laws by making it optional for many corporations to comply with a controversial section on internal controls.

By a vote of 62-35, the Senate set aside an amendment to make compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley's Section 404 optional for companies with total market value of less than $700 million.

The amendment was offered by South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint, who tried to attach it to a bill on the Senate floor that was focused chiefly on boosting investment in research, and improving science, engineering and math education.

In response to the amendment, defenders of Sarbanes-Oxley proposed and won passage, by a vote of 97-0, of a symbolic Senate statement expressing support for efforts already under way by federal regulators to fine-tune Section 404.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/24/AR2007042402661.html?nav=ft_