On the recordNovember 30, 2010
I have on many occasions spoken of my affection for my friend Chris Dodd. At the caucus today--the Presiding Officer was there--I indicated very few people have had the opportunity and the challenges in a single Congress as Chris Dodd. He found himself chairman of the Banking Committee at a time when the country was collapsing, the banks were collapsing. Yet he led the way to working with the Republican President to do the so-called TARP. It was something that was done on a bipartisan basis. There was never a better example in my entire government career of a more cooperative group of Senators, Democrats and Republicans, House and the Senate, working together to create something that was badly needed. Then we had, of course, many other issues beginning with Wall Street reform. Then, to complicate his life and to add to the challenges in his life--the best friend a man could ever have was Chris Dodd's best friend, Ted Kennedy--Ted Kennedy was stricken very ill. Senator Dodd knew he would not be back to the Senate. Very few people knew that, but he knew that. He, in effect, was chairing two major committees at the same time, the HELP Committee and the Banking Committee. He did it in a way that is so commendable, so exemplary. I have so much, I repeat, affection for Chris Dodd that I am not capable of expressing how deeply I feel about this good man.
