U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., today applauded the first meeting of the newly created, 10-member Financial Crisis Commission that he helped create and urged its members to focus on investigating the causes of the current economic crisis rather than on Congressional efforts to overhaul financial regulations.

Isakson also urged Congress and the Administration to avoid a rush to judgment on pushing for new financial regulation to fix the mistakes that led to our economic collapse. Instead, Isakson said the Financial Crisis Commission should be allowed to complete its year-long audit and investigation of all the factors leading up to the collapse and then to make recommendations on how to prevent it from happening again.

“I hope members of Congress and the President will give this Commission time to act. It does not make any sense to pass new laws before we get an objective evaluation to find out what went right, what went wrong and what we must do to prevent it from happening again,” Isakson said. “I trust members of the commission understand the importance of making sure we don’t miss the mark, that we stay focused and we get the answers to what caused this financial collapse. It’s what the American people deserve.”

The panel held its first meeting on Sept. 17, 2009. Phil Angelides, who served as the elected California State Treasurer from 1999 to 2007, is chairman of the Commission. Former House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas is vice chairman.

Isakson originally introduced legislation to examine the causes of the current economic crisis in January 2009. On April 22, the Senate overwhelmingly passed an amendment by Isakson to the Senate’s version of the financial fraud bill to create the Financial Crisis Commission. President Obama signed the legislation into law on May 20.