Political Quotes

“I thank both of my colleagues, not only for their work on this particular amendment but for the way they have approached the bill. They have been tremendously constructive in offering very solid ideas. This is one amendment that does a great deal of service to the legislation. As the Senator from Maine pointed out, it was certainly always our intent not to include retailers and merchants under the auspices of the consumer financial product safety commission. The language they have now offered and on which they worked so hard makes that abundantly clear. The word 'significantly' clearly is an opaque word. No matter how much I tried to make clear what my intentions were with that language, this amendment strengthens it tremendously. As I have said, this was never intended to affect Main Street merchants. I am delighted that the National Federation of Independent Business, along with the American Dental Association and the American Association of Orthodontists, is now in support, because they were two groups about which it was unclear whether they would be included. As a result of what we have been able to craft, with the leadership of Senators Snowe and Landrieu, we now have their support. I thank them.”