Ed Markey: “I think many observers would have thought it was impossible that we could have had such a historic overhaul of…”

“I think many observers would have thought it was impossible that we could have had such a historic overhaul of securities laws. At the beginning we were on different planets in terms of how we viewed these issues. But back in March, the gentleman from Texas, Jack Fields, and I, we went to his office for 2 hours, sat down and went through each and every issue trying to find the common ground in each and every one of them. The agreement in principle that we reached that night is the core of this legislation. It is altogether fitting that it be the last bill before the continuing resolution that we in fact take up here, because when the history of this Congress is written, there is no question that this securities overhaul and the telecommunications overhaul will be at the top of the list in terms of constructive, productive use of this Congress.”