Chris Dodd

The SEC needs to reclaim the SEC's role of providing strong support for the right of investors to seek a private remedy.

Chairman Dodd's leadership has been very helpful in the context of the TARP.

This is one where the barriers that we traditionally see along political lines have to really evaporate and disappear.

I have always felt I was sort of in a small, tiny minority that is attracted to the principle-based system.

The Committee will come to order. Let me thank our witnesses for being here this morning, and colleagues as well.

Opening statement of Chairman Dodd

I personally have said I am agnostic on the question of--I do not bring any ideological framework whatsoever to this.

I will be interested in hearing from today's witnesses on this topic and how the SEC can improve its efforts to protect our securities markets while also facilitating continued innovation and responsible risk taking.

I think your point, as well--although you would have to make some changes in this thing, or trying to create something altogether new, which has also got its difficulties.

The Fed is under the authority legally, as I understand it, to only provide resources to creditworthy companies.

Thank you very much, Senator Bunning.

We need AIG to be a vital part of our credit markets.

The Fed required AIG to give 80 percent ownership to the government as part of receiving a loan from the Fed in September.

It effectively has the world financial system by the throat.

The Treasury did not have someone here this morning.

We are here in the wake of the fourth plan to rescue AIG, once again committing tens of billions of dollars.

That we find ourselves in this situation at all is, in my mind, and the minds of many of my constituents, quite frankly, sickening.

Public confidence in what we are doing is at stake.

During the fourth quarter of 2008, who represented the government's 80 percent ownership of AIG?

I think all of us wish we were here today instead talking about how to help those struggling to get by.

I mentioned in my opening statement that the Federal Reserve made a decision to pay off at par value sophisticated investors who owned credit derivative swaps underwritten by AIG.

The purpose of CRA has worked quite well.

Lending decisions should not be made by political correctness or by government fiat or by a law or by regulation.

There has been an assumption that the Community Reinvestment Act gave mortgages to a lot of poor people who couldn't afford them.

I just worry about this idea that we are going to exclude the possibility of poorer people becoming home owners.