Legislative History
The PSLRA was enacted into law by the U.S. Congress over a veto by President Bill Clinton. The U.S. House of Representatives approved the bill by a 319-100 margin, and the U.S. Senate approved it 68-30. Every Republican in the House voted in favor of the legislation, and only four Republicans in the Senate voted against it: William Cohen, John McCain, Richard Shelby, and Arlen Specter. Prominent liberals in the Democratic Party like senators Tom Harkin, Ted Kennedy, Claiborne Pell, and Carol Moseley Braun voted in favor of the legislation while many conservative-to-moderate Democrats such as senators John Breaux, Robert Byrd, Fritz Hollings, and Sam Nunn and representatives such as John Murtha and Gene Taylor voted against it. Only one other time during Bill Clinton's presidency, Congress successfully overrode one of his 37 vetoes to enact a bill into law.
The PSLRA was originally developed as part of Newt Gingrich's Contract With America. Its principal authors in the House were Representatives Thomas Bliley, Jack Fields and Christopher Cox. Senators Chris Dodd and Pete Domenici sponsored the legislation in the Senate.
Read more about this topic: Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
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