Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 121.djvu/737

 121 STAT. 716

PUBLIC LAW 110–69—AUG. 9, 2007

(5) the Securities and Exchange Commission (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Commission’’) and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (referred to in this section as the ‘‘PCAOB’’) have both determined that the current auditing standard implementing section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 has imposed unnecessary and unintended cost burdens on small and mid-sized public companies; (6) the Commission and the PCAOB are now near completion of a 2-year process intended to revise the auditing standard in order to provide more efficient and effective regulation; and (7) the Chairman of the Commission recently has said, with respect to section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, that, ‘‘We don’t need to change the law, we need to change the way the law is implemented. It is the implementation of the law that has caused the excessive burden, not the law itself. That’s an important distinction. I don’t believe these important investor protections, which are even now only a few years old, should be opened up for amendment, or that they need to be.’’. (b) SENSE OF THE SENATE.—It is the sense of the Senate that the Commission and the PCAOB should complete promulgation of the final rules implementing section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7262). Deadline. Reports.

SEC.

8003.

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE ACTIVITIES, GRANTS, AND PROGRAMS.

REVIEW

OF

Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall submit a report to Congress that— (1) assesses and evaluates the effectiveness of a representative sample of the new or expanded programs and activities (including programs and activities carried out under grants) required to be carried out under this Act; and (2) includes such recommendations as the Comptroller General determines are appropriate to ensure effectiveness of, or improvements to, the programs and activities, including termination of programs or activities. SEC. 8004. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING ANTI-COMPETITIVE TAX POLICY.

It is the sense of the Senate that Federal funds should not be provided to any organization or entity that advocates against a United States tax policy that is internationally competitive. SEC. 8005. STUDY OF THE PROVISION OF ONLINE DEGREE PROGRAMS.

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Deadline. Contracts. Reports.

VerDate Aug 31 2005

13:52 Jan 23, 2009

(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall enter into an arrangement with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study and provide a report to the Secretary, the Secretary of Commerce, and Congress. The study shall consider the mechanisms and supports needed for an institution of higher education (as defined in section 7001) or nonprofit organization to develop and maintain a program to provide free access to online educational content as part of a degree program, especially in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or foreign languages, without using Federal funds, including funds provided under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) The study shall consider whether such a program could be developed

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