I rise to recognize Jeanne Atkins, my Oregon State director, who is retiring from team Merkley this month. Jeanne is a long-serving member of my team, and she is an outstanding public servant, an individual who has dedicated her life to…

Today we are at the start of a new Congress, and every new Congress provides the opportunity for a fresh start of the work we do on behalf of the American people. Congratulations to our newly elected Members and congratulations to our…

I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Ohio be allowed to speak directly after the conclusion of my remarks. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Klamath Basin

I rise today to address a key unfinished piece of business that is extremely important to the Klamath Basin of southern Oregon. The Klamath Basin Act has still not been enacted as of the close of this Congress. In that failure, Congress is…

I ask unanimous consent that my intern, Jonathan Merkley, be granted privileges of the floor through Thursday. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

I too rise to share a few comments about my friend Tom Harkin who has contributed so much to this fight and to put rungs on the ladder so ordinary people across America have a fair shot to thrive. When I first came out here as an intern in…

when I came here in 2009, we were in the middle of an enormous meltdown due to high-risk trading inside our major banks. I wondered whether we as an institution were capable of undertaking this challenge of changing the circumstances…

I ask unanimous consent that the substitute amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to; the bill, as amended, be read a third time and passed; and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening…

Thank you, Mr. President. With Senator Mary Landrieu's permission, I want to do a quick interlude to send a bill over to the House. ____________________

I ask unanimous consent that the energy committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 2640 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will…

I wish to add a word to honor my good friend Senator Mark Begich. I think there is a special connection with those of us who were elected on the same day. We share something else in common, which is on that election day in November 2008…

I will just say a couple words before I turn it over to the Chair and to my colleague from West Virginia. When I think of Mary Landrieu, I think of the most tenacious person in the Senate standing here, holding court, fighting for her…

I think we spent about $70 billion on the mortgage interest deduction.

to help empower home ownership among lower-income families.

I am out of time. So many questions, so little time. Thank you all very much.

Yes, fair point, Deborah. But, even with low downpayment loans, the downpayment and the closing costs together can still be a substantial hurdle to undertake.

I would certainly encourage you to actually look at these externalities seriously.

I think the current law is not effective in accomplishing what it set out to accomplish.

People really respond to incentives, and so one of the problems of Government service in an agency like the Federal Reserve is frequently that you get paid by grade and time served and not by your performance.

Does this disturb you? Do you think there needs to be some change in these practices?

Well, this is happening regularly. We have banks that control pipelines.

I just think it--is it not ironic that it took a U.S. Senate investigation by Carl Levin to provide the facts that led to this particular case getting handled?

That is just a fundamental fact of that case that you are presenting as too big to jail.

Is it your recommendation today that the Fed aggressively require divestment of commodities by banks that are also trading in the price of those commodities?

I think it takes Congress to do something like that.