Chris Dodd

But, whether such a temptation is motivated by a noble desire to speed up the legislative process or by pure political expedience, I believe such changes would be unwise. To my fellow Senators who have never served a day in the minority, I…

In fact, it was the uncertainty inherent in a nontransparent and reckless financial system that made Dodd-Frank necessary in the first place.

The truth is that the catastrophe was years in the making caused by regulatory negligence and Wall Street gambling.

I rise today to express my strong support for the nomination of Judge Robert Chatigny to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Judge Chatigny is an individual of outstanding character, keen intellect, and extensive…

President Clinton, to his eternal credit in my view, just does not quit on this issue.

It's far more complicated than a common language.

I'll tell you, one of the things I feel very good about is that there are people like Bob Menendez, who care about these issues.

I frankly don't see the sovereignty issue as playing a role as an impediment as much as the sheer ability of the cartels to corrupt.

I had hoped we'd get in the lame duck session to the ratification of the Colombian Free Trade Agreement and the Panamanian Free Trade Agreement.

There's nothing wrong with enlightened self-interest.

Maybe we ought to be spending a little more time looking at the relationships at that level.

Brazil aspires to a place on the U.N. Security Council, as a member of the so-called BRICs, sees itself as the wave of the future.

All politics is local.

There has been a very constructive and positive role that Brazil has played regionally as well, and very exciting.

Claims to the contrary will only ring hollow.

You've got to have a resettlement policy that says, if you're in a particular category, this is what the future holds.

Sovereignty is a critically important issue in Latin America.

I would just make one observation: 75 percent of the population of Latin America are living in urban settings; 50 percent of the population living is under the age of 18.

Well, they're going to have quite a stage now, with the World Cup and the Olympics coming up in the next few years.

We must be consistent on human rights at home and in foreign policy, and we must demonstrate that Latin America matters to our future.

I thank all of you. You've been terrific, and again I thank you.

That's not an illegitimate concern.

We shouldn't forget that there are many countries in the hemisphere.

I appreciate my colleague's kind comments about my imminent departure after 30 years on this committee and in the Senate.