We passed Wall Street Reform to prevent systemic failures and to ensure that taxpayers are never again asked to bail out our financial institutions.

Certainly MF Global is a stark reminder of the consequences if we play politics with agency resources, because, ultimately, we are talking about customers' money and hard working people.

I think we need to prepare for the worst.

We need a consistent set of rules, not conflicting or duplicative regulations.

This is about, again, customers. This is about American citizens, farmers, ranchers, retirees in Michigan...

It does matter how many investigators, how many cops there are on the beat, even on the Wall Street beat.

The crisis in Europe is a reminder of how important it is to get these rules done and to get them done right.

The MF Global bankruptcy underscores the importance of having effective oversight in all of our financial markets.

I have serious concerns that our system of audits and reviews is inadequate to identify and address the kinds of problems that are exemplified by MF Global.

Thank you, Madam President. First I wish to thank my colleague for raising issues of great importance to all of us. Financial regulatory reform is critically important for our country moving forward. Senator Crapo and I spoke earlier about…

As I have told my colleague, I will continue to work with him on these important issues. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Idaho.

first, I wish to thank my good friend and colleague from Rhode Island for his important words on the floor and for indicating that millions and millions of middle-class families and small businesses in this country expect us to figure out…

first of all, I completely agree with Senator Sessions. We need to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse in the supplemental food program, as in every Federal program. I wish to commend the USDA now for having less than a 4-percent error rate…

let me just indicate that the House and Senate Agriculture Committee leaders have come together in a bipartisan, bicameral basis to recommend reforms in our farm commodity programs that will, frankly, make this amendment a moot point. I…

I appreciate the courtesy very much. I wanted to take a brief moment to indicate to my friend from Alabama I couldn't agree more that we need to make sure the food assistance programs--every farm program and every program in the Federal…

I rise to speak in opposition to the Coburn amendment No. 791, and I am pleased to be joined on the floor by my good friend and colleague and ranking member, Senator Roberts. Let me start by saying that in the context of addressing a very…

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Amendment No. 791

That is correct and I thank the Senator for all his efforts in support of children's dental coverage as well and for this opportunity to clarify the intentions of my amendment. I offered this amendment to allow competition in the…

Yes, I completely agree, Senator Bingaman. In fact our colleagues on the Finance Committee also overwhelmingly agreed that children must have access to oral health care, which is so critical to their overall well-being. We talked about the…

That is correct, Senator Bingaman, and I thank you for this opportunity to clarify my intentions. The amendment ensured that stand-alone dental policies may fulfill the requirements of the essential health benefits package when paired with…

I want to speak for a few moments about what has been happening all week here in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. First of all, this year we have seen a terrible string of natural disasters that have shut down businesses and…

I intended for standalone dental plans to fully comply with the same level of relevant consumer protections that are required of qualified health plans with respect to this essential benefit.

. . . standalone dental plans must . . . comply with any relevant consumer protections required for participation in the Exchange.

I rise to speak about the need to have a disaster assistance effort to support those in New York, your State, as well as across the country and the tremendous needs we have as a result of what has happened regarding the weather. This year…

Senator Roberts and I are working very closely to make sure that does not happen in the future.