Political Quotes

“Mr. President, let me start off by thanking Senator Corker for all the time and energy he and Courtney and others on his staff have put into this issue, both in committee and as we come to the floor. Last week, Senator Corker and I and about 11 other Republicans and a number of Democrats joined to offer the amendment he is offering at this time. When it became clear to me that we were not going to be able to muster the 60 votes to prevail on what was our amendment, we began working with Senator Dodd and his staff--I hope we kept our colleagues in the loop, as we went through the negotiations--to come up with legislation that enables us to get a half a loaf. I think we probably got more than half a loaf. Time will tell. History will judge. I wish to back up a little bit and say what I think the authors of the legislation had in mind in the bill as it came to the floor. The idea is to create a new unit I call the consumer bureau. Their job is to promulgate the rules and regulations with respect to consumer protections, not only for national banks or State-chartered banks, not just for credit unions or nonbank banks but for all of the above. That is a big part of the job. The job of the new consumer bureau is to promulgate rules and regulations going forward to protect consumers. Does that entity have an enforcement responsibility as well? Yes, they do.…”