"We have begun the early stages of gathering the facts on the Global Crossing bankruptcy," said Ken Johnson, spokesman for House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana Republican.
"It's inevitable we're going to do something. It's just too early to tell what," Johnson said.
Separately, the investigative arm of Congress, the General Accounting Office (news - web sites), was asked to include Enron and Global Crossing in an upcoming report on accounting and auditing issues.
The GAO request came from Michigan Rep. John Dingell, the ranking Democrat on Tauzin's panel, and Senate Banking Committee Chairman Paul Sarbanes, a Maryland Democrat.
Hamilton Bermuda-based Global Crossing filed last month for bankruptcy protection from creditors, the fourth largest corporate insolvency in U.S. history.
A former employee has alleged that Global used improper accounting methods to artificially inflate revenues. The FBI (news - web sites) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating.
Enron made the biggest U.S. bankruptcy filing ever on Dec. 2, after investors lost confidence amid a slew of questions about partnerships that an internal company investigation has since said were used to hide debts and inflate profits.
Ten congressional panels plus the SEC and U.S. Justice Department are probing Enron's demise. "
only ten?