Mr. President, I thank the chairman of the committee. I intend to be very brief in my comments tonight. I thank the chairman for his indulgence. I note that Senator Grassley, who is on the floor, and I have prosecuted this cause for more…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the agreement be modified to include the Wyden-Grassley amendment No. 4019 to finally end secret holds and add that amendment to the list of amendments included in the agreement. I point out that…

Mr. President and colleagues, the American people are furious at the way business is done in Washington, DC. Today, on the floor of the Senate, we saw a pretty good reason why. For many months, a large group of Senators on both sides of…

Madam President, I note the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

Madam President, I am going to speak for about 5 minutes on the effort to finally, once and for all, eliminate secret holds in the Senate. Senator Grassley, my partner in this effort for a decade, will also speak. Then, two colleagues on…

Mr. President, thank you very much. Let me particularly express my appreciation to the chairman of the full committee, Senator Dodd. He has been extraordinarily patient, and especially with the large bipartisan coalition that has come…

Will the Senator yield for a question? Again, to save time--the Senator from Connecticut has been very gracious to allow an opportunity to do this--Senator Whitehouse, Senator McCaskill, and Senator Bennet are all going to speak. I think…

I am ready to go to the yeas and nays. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays. Mr. President, I withdraw that request. I thank the chairman of the committee.

The chairman of the full committee has been very patient with us. He has done an extraordinary amount of work. Let us, with that request, hold off on the yeas and nays, and I ask the chairman that it be scheduled with the next group of…

I thank the chairman. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota. Amendment No. 3987

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Secret Holds

Mr. President, I thank my colleague for yielding. Like Senator Feingold, I am an original cosponsor of the DISCLOSE Act, and would like to address the ``stand by your ad'' disclosure provision of that bill and the recent Citizens United…

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second? There is a sufficient second. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. DURBIN. I announce…

Mr. President, today, we have two amendments that address integrity in retail mortgage origination. I am certainly encouraging you to place your vote squarely for the Merkley-Klobuchar amendment. This amendment is critical to end…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be 2 minutes of debate prior to the first vote, equally divided between the two sides. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator…

This week, representatives from employee-owned S corporations from around America will be on Capitol Hill, giving a chance for Members and staff to hear directly from these employee owners how their investment and hard work facilitated by…

Mr. President, I compliment my colleague from Minnesota for the incredibly solid and important work she has done on this topic. It goes right to the heart of building a family's financial foundations. There is a lot of movement that needs…

Mr. President, before I speak on this amendment, I want to applaud my colleague from Connecticut who spoke so passionately and knowledgeably about the challenge that had been faced by subprime underwriting gone astray. If only the letters…