CtW Challenges U.S. Chamber's Attack On Corporate Reform

Chamber President Tom Donohue calls CtW report on his conflicted leadership "frightening"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 26, 2009

CONTACT: Michael Garland, 212-471-1317

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Change to Win (CtW) Chair Anna Burger has called upon Congress to reject amendments supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to weaken key accounting provisions of the Sarbanes Oxley Act, the cornerstone of post-Enron reform.  In a letter to members of the House Financial Services committee, Burger cited Change to Win’s report, entitled “Preaching Principle, Enabling Excess,” to highlight how Chamber President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue has transformed the Chamber from a respected voice for corporate America into an aggressive defender of corporate executive privilege.

Yesterday Donohue reacted to the newly-released Change to Win report for the first time in the Los Angeles Times.  According to the October 25th front page story, “White House confronts the U.S. Chamber of Commerce”:

Though dismissing the White House criticism, Donohue expressed dismay at a report produced by the labor-backed Change to Win organization titled "Preaching Principle, Enabling Excess: How Tom Donohue Compromised the Credibility of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce."

The report alleges that Donohue ‘hijacked the chamber's agenda away from serving the interests of the business community to serving corporate CEOs,’ using the chamber's name to aid specific corporate donors and opposing changes focused on executive compensation and corporate governance.

The report looks at Donohue's service on several corporate boards, some of which had compensation and governance problems. Donohue called the document frightening because of the personal nature of the criticism, which he said was false.

The Change to Win report details how Donohue has served as director of corporations that have engaged in the very practices that have caused the demand for greater accountability, a record that further compromises the Chamber’s credibility under his leadership. 

The report can be downloaded at http://www.changetowin.org/chamber.  Anna Burger’s letter to Congress can be downloaded at http://www.changetowin.org/fileadmin/pdf/chamber/10262009ABLtr.pdf.

For comment or additional information, contact Michael Garland at (212) 471-1317.