Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05) today joined Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) in introducing the Corporate Crime Database Act, bicameral legislation that would require the Department of Justice (DOJ) to collect, aggregate, analyze, and publish comprehensive data on federal corporate criminal enforcement actions.
"While the Department of Justice regularly collects data on nearly every type of street-level crime, there is very little reporting of corporate and white-collar crimes, with the last thorough DOJ report on corporate crime being in 1979," said Rep. Scanlon. "Without data or transparency, lawmakers, journalists, and the public are left in the dark about the size and scope of corporate crime in America and the effectiveness of the federal government's response. I'm proud to join Senators Durbin and Blumenthal in introducing the Corporate Crime Database Act to improve corporate crime enforcement by the DOJ and ensure that our justice system is fair and equal for all.”
Last year, Scanlon, Durbin, and Blumenthal sent a letter to Attorney General Garland urging him to begin collecting, analyzing, and publishing Department-wide data on corporate criminal enforcement actions. In May, the DOJ announced a new corporate crime section on its public website with a searchable corporate crime database. While this database represents a significant step towards improved data collection and transparency in federal corporate criminal enforcement, more robust, complete tracking and analysis of corporate crime, as required by the Corporate Crime Database Act, is necessary to provide full disclosure to the public and accountability for bad actors.
“We believe that comprehensive, national data collection and a searchable public database of the results of federal enforcement actions against corporations and individual actors engaging in corporate misconduct would provide better oversight, inform DOJ’s corporate criminal prosecution practices, and demonstrate the effectiveness of corporate sanctions—which is exactly what our bill aims to do,” Durbin said. “I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to support this common sense legislation to curtail corporate crime.”
“This legislation will aid efforts to fight criminal corporate conduct,” said Senator Blumenthal. “Collecting and reporting data on enforcement actions against white-collar criminals are essential to holding wrongdoers accountable. By providing this critical information, the Corporate Crime Database Act will deter future crimes and protect victims.”
The bill is cosponsored in the House by Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Becca Balint (VT-AL), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Joe Neguse (CO-02), and Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC).
Find more information on the bill, including a list of endorsing organizations, in a one-pager here.
Find the full bill text here.
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