the mistakes didn't have to be made had Congress done its job, and we failed miserably.

Make the loans, package the loans, sell the loans, collect the money, with a small residual for WaMu in terms of risk.

If I were a shareholder in a bank that I became aware had big problems of fraud in its origination process, I would not want to own the shares of that bank.

We here in Congress are certainly not without blame.

I thought he could stand out as the leading mortgage executive if he could blow a whistle and say, enough is enough.

I would ask unanimous consent for Senator Collins' opening statement to be placed in the record.

But you did see it happening?

In an organization as large as Washington Mutual, with the incentive system constructed as it was, that rewarded growth rather than quality, it was inevitable that certain people would coach borrowers to meet the minimums.

There is no question in what Senator Levin had laid out that there, in several of the offices of WaMu, especially in Downey and Montebello, that there was fraudulent activity going on, correct?

Would you think that would be important to Board members, to understand that 73 percent or 53 percent of the loans didn't qualify even under the loose standards?

In hindsight, it looks like this was systemic activity.