Rep. Oxley To Retire In 2007

His retirement coincides with the time when he would have had to step down as chair of the House Financial Services Committee under House Republican leadership policies limiting committee chairs to three terms.

The consensus of industry lobbyists is that Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., who has been in Congress since 1993, has the votes in the Republican caucus to succeed him. Rep. Bachus heads the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the Financial Services panel.

Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., the former favorite, has lost support within the Republican caucus, these lobbyists say, because Rep. Bachus has been more energetic raising money for Republican House candidates than has Rep. Baker.

Rep. Bachus this year chaired the President's Dinner, held by the National Republican Congressional Committee–the fund-raising arm of the House Republican Conference. The dinner raised $9 million for Republican congressional candidates.

Rep. Baker has been in Congress since 1987, and currently heads the Capital Markets, Insurance and Government-Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee.

The other candidates include Rep. Deborah Pryce, also R-Ohio, who chairs the Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology Subcommittee of the Financial Services panel. Rep. Pryce is a member of the House Republican leadership. The senior entry is Rep. David Drier, R-Calif., who heads the House Rules Committee and has also been in Congress since 1987.

However, industry lobbyists and congressional staffers believe it is likely that Speaker of the House Rep. Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., will agree to waive the rules and allow Rep. Drier to retain his spot as chair of the Rules Committee to ease tensions within the Republican caucus.

Another industry source confirmed that Rep. Drier is likely to be given a waiver by the speaker to remain as chairman of the House Rules Committee, but cautioned that the race between Reps. Bachus and Baker remains close. "It is far too early to say that this contest is anything but neck and neck," the source said. "They have different strengths."

Rep. Oxley has served in Congress since 1981, and was the first chairman of the House Financial Services Committee when the Republicans reorganized House committees in 2001 to combine all financial services oversight in one committee.

Before that, banking regulation and oversight was handled by the House Banking Committee, while securities and insurance regulation and oversight was under the Commerce Committee.

Rep. Oxley won the job for his role in shepherding the Gramm-Leach-Bliley bill through Congress in 1999. That legislation repealed the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 and substantially revised securities industry regulation. While allowing banks full access to the sale of securities, it reaffirmed the McCarran-Ferguson Act as the sole law regulating insurance, explicitly reaffirming state oversight of insurance.

He also played a key role in shepherding the landmark 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act into law. The legislation makes clear that top officials of U.S. public companies are responsible for the accuracy of the financial information they provide to investors.

"What the law really does is enshrine the principles of honesty and accountability that I learned growing up in Ohio," Rep. Oxley said in announcing his retirement from the seat of his district in Akron, Ohio.

Insurance industry trade groups had high praise for Rep. Oxley, citing his knowledge of financial services, leadership skills and ability to get major legislation passed.