Congress votes to overturn SEC rule requiring more transparency in natural resources industry News
Congress votes to overturn SEC rule requiring more transparency in natural resources industry

The US Senate voted [rolled] 52-48 to approve a resolution [text, PDF] Thursday that would repeal a Securities and Exchange Commission [official website] rule requiring oil, gas and mineral companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments. The rule, officially known as the Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers [text, PDF], was adopted in June as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act [text, PDF] and was designed to “promote greater transparency” in the resource extraction industry, according to the SEC [press release]. The rule was called a “huge victory” in the fight against corruption when it was first announced, according to a statement [text] released by the global poverty charity Oxfam [advocacy website]. Critics of the rule, including former Exxon CEO and newly-appointed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson [website], said the rule made it more difficult for companies in the US to compete with international businesses that are not required to disclose such payments. The resolution to overturn the rule, which easily passed in the House of Representatives in a 235-187 vote [text] on Wednesday, is expected to be signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The vote to overturn the rule appears to follow Trump’s campaign promise to instruct [press release] Congress and executive agencies to roll back regulations. On Monday the president issued an executive order [JURIST report] that requires two regulations to be eliminated for every new one created. The president stated that this would spur economic growth and the entrepreneurial spirit and we do not need “97 different rules to take care of one element.” A lawsuit [JURIST report] was filed against the EPA on Wednesday accusing the agency of illegally rescinding a rule that reduced the discharge of mercury from dental offices.

THIS DAY @ LAW

38 Santee Sioux hanged by US for rebellion

On December 26, 1862, 38 Santee Sioux men were hanged in a mass execution for their roles in a rebellion against US authorities in Minnesota which left hundreds dead and made refugees of some 40,000 white settlers. Government annuities promised under a treaty with the Sioux had failed to arrive on schedule and credit for purchases was not advanced in the meantime, threatening the tribe with starvation. The Santee Sioux Tribe's members were deported first to South Dakota and ultimately to Nebraska, where they remain today. Learn more about the 1862 Minnesota Sioux Rebellion.

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On December 26, 1792, Romain de Sèze, a defense attorney for deposed King Louis XVI, presented a defense of his client. The former King was on trial before a French Revolutionary court on thirty-three charges, including treason and other crimes against the state. He was convicted on January 15, 1793 executed by guillotine on the following January 21.