These private pools of capital are responsible for huge transfers of capital and risk, and so examining these industries and potential regulation are extremely important to this Subcommittee.

The current financial crisis has reinvigorated my long-held concern that the regulation of hedge funds and other pooled investment vehicles should be improved.

To address this regulatory gap, I recently introduced the Private Fund Transparency Act of 2009.

it seems obvious to me that closer attention needs to be paid to these funds to avoid future Ponzi schemes

Shouldn't private investment funds be required to disclose information to the SEC for the purpose of investigating and enforcing antifraud rules?

Isn't another reason to have this financial product regulator... a way when the next new innovation comes up that there won't be a hole in the regulatory structure?

The present regulatory structure has been an abject failure.

We need a system that rewards products and firms that create wealth for American families, not one that rewards financial engineering.

I am very much for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

It is amazing to me that people say we don't need stronger regulation given that that has happened.

I would argue that if we don't include this in our financial regulation bill, there will be a gaping hole.

It will, as you say, create a level playing field across the board based on the product.

I thought in this country that we sentence individuals, not crimes.

I think that the agency will enable financial innovation to occur based on a level playing field with high standards.

we are pleased that Senator Schumer has indicated that he plans to introduce legislation to remove this arbitrary cap

We are pleased that Senator Schumer has indicated that he plans to introduce legislation to remove this arbitrary cap.

Senator Schumer has indicated his interest in introducing legislation to remove this cap.

If we are going to do NASA, it has got to be done right.

NASA has been starved of funds, and given too much to do with too little.

But I want to say that when we passed the America COMPETES Act, a very bipartisan effort a couple of years ago to increase stem education and more research in our country, we doubled the budget of the National Science Foundation for…

I want to give you a gift, Polly Trottenberg, that is what he said.

Today we have to choose. Either we can invest in building upon our hard-earned world technological leadership or we can abandon this commitment.

The government cannot fund everything that we need to do, but we can inspire and open the door for commercial entrepreneurial entities to become involved.

I ask each of you to join with President Obama, me and the NASA team that I hope to lead with your confirmation in partnership with Lori Garver.

I want to pursue the International Space Station, because Senator Nelson and I, when we were Chairmen and Ranking on the Space Subcommittee, designated the American part of the Space Station as a national laboratory.