I don't know if there has ever been a perfect law. Maybe the law that was written on stone tablets and brought down the mountain by Senator Moses was a perfect law. Ever since then, human beings have tried to write laws that are good and…

I rise today to honor the memories of St. Vincent DePaul and St. Louise de Marillac and to note their legacy on DePaul University in Chicago. This year DePaul is marking the 350th anniversary of the deaths of St. Vincent and St. Louise…

I think we made some progress in the law we passed, but we made one critical error: we gave the credit card companies a long grace period to adjust to the changes. If you will notice, over the last year or so you received notices--I got…

I thank my colleagues for raising this important issue pending on the floor of the Senate, this major piece of legislation, the Financial Stability Act. Of all the many amendments that will be offered, this is clearly a game changer. I am…

let me basically set the stage on what we are doing in the Senate today and why it is so important. This bill, which Senator Dodd of Connecticut has worked on for months with his staff--1,407 pages--is basically a bill that has been…

I rise to congratulate Scott Thoele (``Taylee'') of the Illinois Army National Guard on his promotion to brigadier general. General Thoele, as a colonel, led the Illinois Army National Guard during its deployment last year to Afghanistan…

We are inviting our Republican colleagues from states like Arizona, where the law enforcement officials have invited them to join us in this effort, to step forward, show the political courage to join us and work with us.

Are you going to name names in this?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...literally, the Government guarantors of mortgages, on a wholesale basis across America.

I might just say, in followup to that, if I understand the logic behind this, TARP carries with it a negative connotation in the financial sector.

Mortgages would not be made today, but for the fact that Fannie and Freddie are standing behind those mortgages.

I couldn't agree with you more.

To my regret, the Senate did not provide homeowners with a meaningful chance to save their homes through the bankruptcy process.

it's important to look at the broad dimensions of the program, still.

We cannot solve the financial crisis without dealing with the root of the problem: the millions of American families who are at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Senator Alexander has raised this issue on the floor, and made several speeches on it.

we're going to continue to work to make sure that we can reach a larger fraction of homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

I respect them, I've worked with them, and I've been told, you know, by many people, 'They're not the problem.'

Foreclosure prevention is not just the right way to alleviate suffering, but it is the lynchpin around which all other efforts to achieve financial stability revolve.

But, you're absolutely right, that only a fraction of those trial mods have, so far, been converted into permanent modifications.

Tell me about China in your country.

The Chinese are expanding their reach into the global economy in every corner of the world.

One of the things we've found... it was virtually impossible to figure out who was holding the mortgage...

Treasury must do a better job of holding servicers accountable.

I just want to say, too, that, even when all the information is in... they're still making the wrong decisions.