I rise today to comment on the developments of the past few weeks which, in my view, have been incredibly tragic but maybe, on the other hand, reassuring. On the one hand, it is tragic that our own government launched an attack on first…

I have not run into a single person since I joined the Senate 3-plus years ago that came up to me and said, 'You know, Mike, thanks for your efforts back in Washington. I now have confidence in Fannie and Freddie.'

To me, that is not a confidence builder. The average taxpayer is out there saying, are you kidding me?

How much today would the taxpayers be on the hook for when it comes to Fannie and Freddie? Everything, right?

These were significant errors that had real impacts, cost families real money, caused some families to lose their homes.

I come to the floor today to talk about an issue of paramount importance to our country--the issue of religious freedom. Our great Nation was founded on religious freedom. This liberty is at the very core of our government. It has been a…

I appreciate the comments that have been offered by my colleagues from South Dakota and North Dakota. They absolutely have it right in terms of the importance of constructing this pipeline. There is no question that we are in a dire…

I cannot imagine how anybody could maintain under the circumstances that your appointment and your service is valid.

I worry about the costs to our economy and to our financial institutions of complying with rules and supervisions undertaken by the Bureau.

I am very pleased today to rise in support of a man who has proven himself worthy to serve as a Federal judge on the U.S. district court. Justice John Gerrard has experience, integrity, and respect for the Constitution--all of which are…

never in the history--never in the history--has client money ever gone missing.

Now, $1.2 billion, I think by everybody's definition, especially somebody else's money, is a massive amount of money.

Wouldn't there be some process or some person who had sufficient integrity in this organization to say, 'Oh, my Lord, clients' money is disappearing.'

Doesn't that strike you as incredible?

I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the leader's comment and his question. The leader is absolutely right. The people of Nebraska, through their elected officials, have worked with the company building this pipeline in that they…

Well, in response to the leader's question, the Canadian Government has already indicated that if the United States is not a reliable purchaser and transporter of this commodity, they will have to look to other parts of the world, for…

I have worked on this issue for a number of months-- actually, a couple of years. Here is the situation: Unions are ready to go to work. I talk to the locals in Nebraska on a regular basis, and they talk about unemployment numbers that are…

This is the second time that you have appeared, before me at least, since MF Global hit the front pages.

If you have money from customers in this account and you have your own account over here or the company's account, you do not mix the two, and you do not appropriate money from customers to do your own risky trading.

It looks to me like you are trying to avoid the heat.

I rise today to honor a great American military leader from Nebraska, Colonel Randall L. Koehlmoos, U.S. Army. Colonel Koehlmoos died in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he was the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at our U.S. Embassy…

I have been sitting here...the amount of experience is remarkable, and it is encouraging because you face some tough problems.

I think we have got to pay attention to what is happening out in our more rural States.

I thank Senator Grassley for this explanation of what this law is doing and the impact it is having. Today, of course, we are starting our discussion with the article from the Des Moines Register which talked about the regulatory impact…

I ask unanimous consent to enter into a colloquy with my Republican colleagues, Senator Grassley of Iowa and Senator Coburn of Oklahoma, for up to 30 minutes. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered…