This Friday will be Dr. Gottlieb’s last day as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. I will miss him greatly and want to express my gratitude for his service to our country and for the example he has set.

Benchmarking - tracking and comparing revenues, costs, earnings and other performance metrics - is a mission critical function for many participants in our capital markets, including companies and investors.

These benchmarking efforts improve results across our markets and facilitating these benchmarking efforts is a key driver of the SEC’s commitment to transparency.

In carrying out my responsibilities as Chairman of the SEC, I have looked internally and externally for benchmarks – ways to measure the effectiveness of our efforts and identify opportunities for improvement. For the past two years, I have often looked to Dr. Gottlieb as a shining standard for agency leadership.

Dr. Gottlieb, thank you for your service, and for the example you have set.