On the recordApril 28, 2010
I rise for a few minutes to talk about S. 3217, the financial regulatory reform bill. I focus, if I could, my comments today on why the cloture vote on financial reform is such an important key vote. My colleagues from the other side have talked about this vote, and it is often referred to as a procedural vote to begin debate. Almost in the same sentence, I think both sides of the aisle recognize that notwithstanding the good work that has been done by Chairman Dodd and Ranking Member Shelby, there is still much to be done on this bill, and there are still some significant flaws within the bill. The argument goes on to say: Don't worry, these problems can be worked out on the Senate floor. We will have a robust debate, and we will have floor amendments. So get the bill to the floor--the argument goes--and the promises made to fix it will then happen. But that is where the logic goes into the ditch. Once this bill does get to the floor of the Senate, we all recognize it is going to be very difficult to change it. Look at the health care bill to see how difficult it was to make changes. Let me make that comparison because I think it is a fair comparison. During the health care debate, let me remind my colleagues, there were 488 amendments that were filed. Of those 488 amendments, only 28 received a vote--28 out of 488. Of those 28 amendments, only 11 amendments passed. This being said, only 2 percent of all the health care amendments filed actually got passed.
