His dad's name is attached to one of the most comprehensive regulatory reforms in the nation's history -- the Sarbanes-Oxley package approved by Congress in the wake of the Enron and other corporate scandals that cost investors and employes billions when share prices collapsed. It seems like only yesterday! SarbOx passed in 2002, and it did a lot to restore public confidence in the nation's securities markets. Now a member of the House, John Sarbanes is serving his first term and running for re-election. Yesterday he voted for the Bush administration's bailout plan, as ammended during the last week. Here is his full statement:

"I voted to approve what I believe was a much improved version of the original financial stabilization plan proposed by Secretary Paulson. As the markets continue to exhibit volatility, it is my hope that we can move quickly to make necessary adjustments to ensure passage of a bipartisan solution.
“Today’s vote was a difficult one.  A part of me would like to see these bad actors on Wall Street suffer the full consequences of their conduct without the benefit of government (and taxpayer) intervention.  But over the last few days, I became increasingly convinced that if we did not do something to restore confidence in the financial markets, the real victims would be America’s working families.  If the failure of large financial institutions cause credit markets to seize up, the consequences for Main Street will be severe.  A further tightening of commercial credit would make it more difficult for businesses to meet payroll and ultimately lead to worker lay-offs.  A shortage of consumer credit would make it tougher for families to meet many of their most basic needs.  For these reasons, I was convinced and remain convinced that delaying or avoiding action is not a prudent course.”