I want to express my regrets over the decision made in Utah over the weekend regarding Bob Bennett, our colleague. I have served with Bob for 18 years. We have been on the Banking Committee together during that time. Obviously, we have…

first of all, if I may, let me acknowledge the contribution of the Presiding Officer, my colleague from New York. Everyone brings value to this Chamber from time to time based on what they have done in their earlier lives. I thank her…

If my colleague would yield quickly, I appreciate everyone wanting to make my bill stronger. We have a pretty good bill here, but every bill could use a little improvement, I admit. I want to compliment the Senator from Oregon, a member of…

If everybody demands more time, everyone suffers. There is not unlimited debate. With 141 amendments equally divided between us, we have to provide time for people. I cannot do that if people insist on unlimited time or more time. We know…

let me commend our two colleagues, Senator Tester and Senator Hutchison, for this proposal. As I said several times yesterday, I think this is a very sound contribution to this bill for the very reasons outlined this morning by Senator…

Let me say to my friend from Arizona--and he is my friend-- I have no intention of immediately tabling anyone's amendment. I have not done that at all in the process. I think most Members appreciate I have been trying to make sure…

But when Senator Sanders gets involved with something, you better believe he does it with a great deal of conviction and passion and purpose. I am a cosponsor of this amendment he has just modified. I think it is absolutely correct. On the…

I join the Senator in opposition to the Brown amendment, but I wish to speak about the Ensign amendment. We talk about rushing things through around here. I have heard that mentioned a lot over the last couple of days. This is going beyond…

I rise in strong support of the amendment offered by our colleague from Maryland, which would protect whistleblowers. We have all learned, over the many months of discussions since the collapse and fall in 2008, of the culpability of the…

I know this sounds like a lot of gibberish, but what is section 1023? What does it say? Section 1023 talks about nondepository institutions subject to consumer laws--just consumer laws. One of the complaints about our underlying…

let me briefly express my gratitude to my great pal and friend from New Jersey, Bob Menendez, once again. We look around. There are 100 of us here. I do not often acknowledge these things, but if I had to pick one of our colleagues to be…

I just wish to say that a lot of work went into this bill on consumer protection. You don't have to wait 10 or 15 years to find out what can happen. We have watched painfully what can happen over the last several years, when the very…

I just want to thank him for all his work. We have spent a lot of time in the last year or so on the health care debate, where we sat next to each other day after day going through all of that. We, obviously, go back a lot longer than…

I hope we can stay away from filibusters and get everybody to have an up-or-down vote. This is a very important bill, and it is also about how this institution functions and whether we trust each other to be able to offer an amendment…

For over a year, Senator Shelby and I have been working on ways to end bailouts. We agree that ought to be done. We have had differences in other areas, but we have shared a commitment to ensure that taxpayers would never again be forced…

This could be a separate bill. It could be a freestanding idea. This would qualify as such an idea. Maybe it doesn't sound like much to people, but to consider the liabilities, that really gives a far more accurate picture of the financial…

let me say this, if I can, while we are waiting to do the wrap-up here. We finished up on the series of votes sometime around 4 o'clock or 3:30 this afternoon. It is now 6:30. Other than some statements made by Members regarding various…

I thank the distinguished majority leader. He has shown remarkable endurance as well as patience over the last 2 years. The health care debate went on for more than a year, considering its beginning, and we finally ended up passing the…

There are four major parts of this very large bill. They are too big to fail, the early warning system, consumer protection, and dealing with exotic instruments. I hope our colleagues will support this amendment as we vote shortly on it…

He has been tremendously helpful as we have worked together, through my 37 or 38 months as chairman of the committee, very closely on the housing issues, on the credit card legislation. There have been some 42 measures that have come…

I accept that argument, but I would not accept the argument there is nothing in the bill about rating agencies.

In title IX of our bill we do cover rating agencies. Again, this is a complex area, and there are different ideas about how to do this. But the legitimate point made by the Senator from Minnesota about rating agencies is something we…

I have known Dave Obey for 36 years. He is a wonderful individual, with deep passions. He was the best ally you ever had if he was on your side, and he was a frightening opponent if he was on the other side. Having been on both sides of an…

I have received about 95 amendments to the bill that people will propose. I believe Members ought to be able to be heard on their amendments. This is something that will have to be self-imposed discipline, to some degree, but if Members…

I will quickly address a few points my friend has raised. One I think all of us acknowledge--I certainly acknowledge--is that the GSE issue needs to be addressed. We reached the conclusion that it is such a huge issue, and there are only…