There are some in the Senate now who want us to be taken out of this process. They do not want these questions to be asked, and I think that is wrong.

I insisted that it bring these two agencies together into one Appropriations subcommittee because they parallel one another in their regulatory responsibilities.

When I first visited the Board of Trade and Mercantile Exchange over 25 years ago, they were still clinging to their early image as protectors of the agriculture sector in terms of the trading that was going on on the floor.

There reaches a tipping point where perhaps they cannot be absorbed effectively.

In the wake of the massive Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernie Madoff, the SEC has undertaken an array of reforms to reduce similar frauds.

What kind of challenges does this present to your agency to have this kind of mix which is moving toward much different objects that are at the soul and heart of the futures trading markets?

I am happy to welcome my colleague, a little tired I am sure from yesterday, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who is my ranking Republican on this subcommittee, my friend.

I applaud your last line of questioning and believe that you have really touched on something that is absolutely essential.

Thanks a lot, Mr. Chairman.

There are substantially greater investments in the resources that your agency and the SEC have to work with.

One other aspect of this is how much of this is being made available to the public to review your work and the activities that are not proprietary, obviously, of the exchanges which you monitor.

Make no mistake. I still have confidence in your leadership, but we have a responsibility on our side of the table.

I have joined a lot of other people in just finishing Michael Lewis' book, 'The Big Short', and it is really an eye-opener of what was going on at the time that this real estate bubble was created.

Chairman Gensler, this whole conversation we are having about the future of derivatives, what will be regulated, what will not be regulated, what is standard, what will be custom--do you have any projection if we move into this new world…

I think it calls for substantially more oversight from our side of the table because there is a certain level of absorption.

Are those going to be so unique by contract that they are going to put a special burden on your regulators to try to understand the real heart and nature of the transaction?

Some of the credit ratings that were given were misleading, to say the least.

Both Chairmen have invested countless hours in helping to craft a more reliable regulatory foundation to guide us in the future.

I am pleased to convene this hearing and apologize for being a few minutes late.

This is a hearing to consider the fiscal year 2011 funding request of two of our most important Federal regulatory agencies.

I am pleased today to join the Illinois chapter of the American Association of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, AAIDD, in recognizing the recipients of the Illinois Direct Support Professional Award 2010. These individuals are…

I commend the Senator from New Mexico for drawing our attention to Earth Day. It has certainly become a national, if not global, observance that calls to mind the relationship we have with this Earth that we live on and our…

It is just physically impossible.

The inability to appoint conferees by unanimous consent was always done. The leader picked the name.

If you do not care if they hate you, you can get an awful lot done in the Senate.