The American public is sitting there in sort of stunned disbelief. Here we all acknowledge this huge problem that needs to be addressed for the 8.5 million people who have lost their job, the 7 million who have lost their homes, their…

How in the world the minority leader can come up with that argument does not make any sense at all. He quoted, of course, from the infamous Frank Luntz memo. The memo, of course, by Frank Luntz was written before the bill was written…

This institution suffers. We operate on unanimous consent. That is the way it works. And inherent in unanimous consent is trust. It is the only way this institution has ever operated. There has been, I think we would all have to…

I have great affection for my friend from Nebraska and I appreciate his comments about the bill. He wants to fix the bill. That is a noble goal. And the way to fix the bill, of course, is to begin debating the bill. So I am delighted to…

let me first begin by saying if Harry Truman were here tonight, he would be very proud of his successor sitting in that chair in the back of this Chamber. I wish to thank my colleague from Missouri for her passion, her eloquence, and her…

I thank my colleague from New Hampshire. We are great friends and have worked together on a number of issues over the years together. In a matter of months, both of us will be former Members of this institution. Let me express my gratitude…

Let me briefly express, first of all, my thanks to Richard Shelby, my colleague from Alabama. For many months--going back more than a year, actually--we have been working together now on this. Over the last 38 or 39 months that I have been…

I spent a lot of time and started the Children's Caucus with Arlen Specter in the Senate.

For over two centuries, the Senate has been the bulwark within our democratic political process of Minority rights and the freedom of speech.

I worry deeply that we may change that in such a way that the Senate would lose the essence of its existence.

Education begins at birth, not when children show up in your schools.

I wrote the Family and Medical Leave Act, which took 7 years, several vetoes.

that fence is the United States Senate.

the Founders intended the Senate as a continuing body that allows for open and unlimited debate, and the protection of Minority rights.

I wish to take a few minutes this afternoon, if I may, to discuss further the efforts in financial regulatory reform. I would be remiss if I did not note the contribution of the Presiding Officer to this effort. I thank him personally once…

I'm delighted to be here this afternoon and to introduce, along with obviously Joe, my great pal and friend here.

I think would be unwise to change the current filibuster rule threshold and limit the rights of the Minority.

I will try and be brief with my colleagues.

I want to congratulate President Obama for this excellent nomination.

If you get that wrong, it doesn't make any difference what you do on the other end.

My hope is that before that occurs, we can reach some understanding that will allow us to have a strong bill that ends too big to fail, that protects consumers, and that builds the kind of architecture for financial services that will…

I rise with a heavy heart today to mark the passing of Marine LCpl Tyler Griffin. Lance Corporal Griffin was just 19 years old when he died serving our country in Afghanistan. He was born and raised in Voluntown, a small, close-knit…

So it is pretty much as plain as the nose on your face. I am even surprised we have to make the case. So I thank my colleague from California. I will try to complete these remarks. I know others have other matters they want to be heard. I…

Who would object to that? Who is objecting to this? I mentioned earlier, it was not my idea. This was brought to me by the Republicans. Sounds to me like the people who have to put up that money are probably the ones objecting to it. These…

I note, you only have to ask yourself--look, you do not have to have a Ph.D. in banking. Ask yourself this question: The idea of requiring these institutions to put up money in advance, so that if they fail they end up paying for the cost…