Chris Dodd

I can't commend you enough for beginning the conversation.

Senator Brown, who has been one of the great champions in the Senate, and certainly on this committee, of focusing on rare and neglected diseases, will take over the chairmanship at that time.

Both of us will have to leave about 10:30 to go down to the White House for a signing ceremony.

Unfortunately, this legislation does little, if anything--to tackle the tough problems facing the financial sector, nor does it institute real, meaningful and comprehensive reform. This bill is simply an abysmal failure and serves as yet…

The purpose of the Volcker rule is to eliminate excessive risk taking activities by banks and their affiliates while at the same time preserving safe, sound investment activities that serve the public interest. It prohibits proprietary…

I agree with the Chairman's assessment. There is no authority to set margin on end users, only major swap participants and swap dealers. It is also the intent of this bill to distinguish between commercial end users hedging their risk and…

I agree completely with Senator Lincoln's analysis and with the need to address this issue to ensure that uninsured U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks are treated the same as insured depository institutions under the provisions of…

Yes, that is correct. It is intended that a mutual insurance holding company organized and operating under State insurance laws should be considered an insurance company for the purpose of title II of this legislation. I thank the Senator…

I concur with Senator Collins and Senator Shaheen. Section 171 of this legislation came from an amendment that Senator Collins offered on the Senate floor, and I truly appreciate the constructive contribution she has made to this…

The Senator from Massachusetts is correct. Size and involvement in providing credit or liquidity alone should not be determining factors. The Banking Committee intends that only a limited number of high-risk, nonbank financial companies…

The conference report specifically cites the Barnett Bank of Marion County, N.A. v. Nelson, Florida Insurance Commissioner, 517 U.S. 25(1996) case. There should be no doubt that the legislation codifies the preemption standard stated by…

I thank the Senator. As the Senator knows, his amendment received strong bipartisan support on the Senate floor and passed by a vote of 80 to 18. It was therefore a Senate priority to retain his provision in our negotiations with the House…

Yes, I do not believe that the council should decide to designate an insurer simply based on whether the insurer would meet bank capital requirements.

The council must consider a number of factors, including, for example, the extent of leverage, the extent and nature of off-balance-sheet exposures, and the nature, scope, size, scale, concentration, interconnectedness, and mix of the…

I would be glad to clarify the nature of trust companies subject to the moratorium under section 603(a). The moratorium applies to an institution that is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by a commercial firm that functions solely…

The language is not intended to reduce such charitable and educational activities that are legally required for tax-exempt, not-for-profit organizations that are so important to communities across the country.

I thank the Senator, and I strongly concur with the intentions and interpretations set forth by the principal authors of these provisions, Senators Merkley and Levin, as reflecting the legislative intent of the conference committee. I…

In fact, it is not only repaying 100 percent but with interest. There is an interest requirement, that if we borrow from the taxpayers in order to wind down substantially risky firms, then not only do you get paid back, but the interest on…

I thank him for his work going back to 20-some-odd months ago when we were involved in the critical weeks and days in September and October. Judd Gregg was invaluable putting together a moment here while, not terribly popular, I think…

I am very grateful to Senator Shaheen and Senator Snowe and others who supported their efforts to strengthen the role of our community banks that play such a critical role. As the Senator from New Hampshire pointed out, they were never a…

I will make, in my waning hours here, as strong a plea as I can to not succumb to the temptation to change the institution because of the current frustrations people feel. There is a reason this institution exists and has the rules it…

I mentioned yesterday, as a relatively junior member of the Banking Committee, there was no Member of this Chamber who added as much to the bill as the Senator from Virginia. There are not words nor time for me to adequately express my…

The final result depends on the votes of my colleagues and whether they decide it is better for us to move forward with these reforms as we have crafted them or to do nothing, in effect, and say that after all this time and effort, we have…

I just want to compliment our colleague from Oregon--as well as other members of the committee--for his work on this historic piece of legislation. This was a long time in putting together a comprehensive, complicated piece of legislation…

We thank you, and Senator Cardin, thank you very much for coming by this morning.