Dick Durbin

We thank you for your appearance today and thank Senator Collins.

It has now cost over $400 million since work began almost 5 years ago. But it has only delivered only about 15 percent of the full capability intended.

What about answering the phone at the IRS? You reduced your performance goal from providing telephone assistance from 82 percent last year to 77 percent this year.

If we can't sell the notion of a usury cap, shouldn't we prevail upon institutions?

I put in a bill to put the usury rates at 36 percent because I thought that was so high that we would be just fine.

This really is a classic constitutional confrontation here, the building of courthouses, where we literally have three branches of Government involved in it and obviously going in different directions.

Federal agencies reported a total of $78 billion in Federal prime contract dollars went to small businesses in 2006.

We have embarked on a revision of our training program.

I would like to ask a question or two.

The key to technology projects, the way get them done, is you have leaders--not just technology leaders, but the people who run agencies--focus on them and drive toward those results.

Can you tell us, when we are so short on money and we do appropriate the money and nothing happens for 4 or 5 years, you can understand why that gives us a fair degree of angst.

The judicial branch picks its priorities.

This is a matter of fundamental fairness and the deterrent effect, and people need to know that the U.S. Government is on the job.

I just want to second Senator Durbin's concern in that area.

Two weeks ago, I got the best e-mail that I could possibly imagine. It was from the IRS!

Can you give me a general impression of whether or not this has created dislocations in other parts of the Treasury Department which need to be addressed and whether the repayment or the payback on these TARP funds is some indication that…

We recently enacted or passed in the Senate an historic credit card reform bill

What is the expected return on investment for taxpayers?

We are going to allow you to leave, of course, and go about your business of saving the American economy, or lunch.

Of course, Senator Collins, your questions will be submitted for the Secretary, along with others, for him to consider.

Shouldn't we be talking about making credit available to the poor people who are lured into these payday loans?

I was glad the President announced the support for the concept of a Financial Product Safety Commission.

I have repeatedly asked the credit card industry and the banks to demonstrate that the rates that they've established are legitimate to process the card transactions and unfortunately they have not been able to provide any data or…

I would just say that I have asked this question of your predecessor; in perhaps a little different form, and still remain skeptical that the voluntary approach to mortgage renegotiation is going to save us from this crisis that we are…

I think, until we get an honest approach that really results in substantial renegotiation of mortgages, that the real estate industry and the housing industry are going to continue to be weak.