Sherrod Brown

I think this is probably for you, Ms. Oakley and Mr. Utkus, but any of the four of you can respond to it.

I am 63 years old. I just have to stay alive another year and a half so I can get health insurance, so I can get Medicare.

What does your company, Mr. Utkus, say about the importance of Social Security?

Let us talk about that. The lowest-income worker is--I mean, some significant number of them have a negative net worth.

They have a higher percentage of defined benefit, DB, plans.

The defined contribution plans, really, right now on the data that is out there, just do not show up as a significant force.

That is your Social Security check for many people.

One of the tragedies of this whole discussion is that the equity people had in their homes 5 years ago or 10 years ago has largely evaporated, or worse.

And the amount suggests more security to many people than it really is.

So the baby boomers born in the 1940s are better off, taking into account age, than baby boomers born in 1958 or 1959?

The annuitized income of Social Security remains a safeguard of retirement security for working-class families.

We know that there is a growing retirement crisis in the United States.

Is implicit in that that they will no longer--I mean, is part of this the whole issue of the unbanked, that they will not go to the payday lender.

For too many, it is the private retirement system that is not working.

We sent a letter to Chinese President Xi Jinping urging him to end the crackdown on rights advocates in China.

It is important we lead, and I urge all of you in positions to do this to move quickly and decisively.

Should a company like yours have the right to go into Guatemala and undertake litigation to weaken their public health laws?

Just a reminder, as my colleagues love to cite Smoot-Hawley and how that caused the Depression--and Senator Hatch did not exactly say that, I understand.

I have written two letters to Ambassador Froman, spoken to him personally, spoken to the President's Chief of Staff about this, regarding my concerns related to tobacco and the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The process is stacked in favor of the banks, that the information is not forthcoming.

How are we going to begin to exercise effective oversight when this information is simply not forthcoming?

Senator Brown, in your opening remarks.

Can you promise us that the Fed will be more forthcoming with this information in more detail?

The Fed's proposal yesterday was a timid step. It was too slow in coming.

The Chinese government must do more to abide by its WTO commitments, protect the rights of workers, and support a clean environment.