I want to see us be as bold and aggressive in assisting working American families as we have been in assisting major financial institutions.

I have proposed and the administration has proposed recapitalizing banks in order to enable them to do more lending to small businesses to enable those firms, the small businesses, to recharge the economy.

I am wholeheartedly behind taking funds and moving them to support our community banks.

If our community banks are not recapitalized and they cannot lend to small businesses, our small businesses are not going to thrive.

I rise today to talk about the challenge of putting our economy back on track and the type of leadership we need to take us forward. Much of this last year we have been absorbed in addressing the challenge of major financial institutions…

bond holders have received $60 billion over the last 3 years in excess mortgage payments from homeowners trapped in high interest rate loans.

When I sought to refinance my house, the mortgage agent sent me a HARP refinancing...

So the challenge of drawing that line between what is customized and providing that opportunity, if you will, to address it, also, then, the challenge that I think this is--I think this is what you are saying, but I will just repeat it and…

A quick question, then. You referred earlier to the fact that you didn't feel in the AIG situation that you all had much leverage in terms of asking institutions to take a haircut.

You can either sign up for a line of credit and have your overdraft covered by a line of credit.

How can that be fair?

How can that be fair?

So, harassment of gay, lesbian, and transgender people are legal in States that do not have protection against discrimination.

It is time for Congress to pass this important civil rights legislation.

Once you establish a principle of equality under the law, of equal opportunity, people get it, and their behavior changes.

I appreciate your taking the baton and moving the ball forward.

Thank goodness you were in a State that did. It's too bad it took so long and interrupted your life.

In terms of the Fortune 500 companies, if we turned the clock back just 6 years, 360 of the 500 companies provided protection, and now it's up to 425, only 75 that don't--a diminishing number.

Thank you, especially, Senator Merkley, for this invitation and for your continued commitment to workplace protections.

It's about time that we protect all American citizens, giving them both the chance to have a job that they would like to apply for--without discrimination hiring.

This law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations and other areas.

Thank you very much, Chairman. Thank you for convening this hearing, and thank you for your excellent remarks reviewing the challenges we face, the issues we face, and their importance.

I'd just like to invite anyone else to speak, who has been part of this conversation over the years, on the type of transitions that have occurred between 2002, when we last held a hearing, and 2009.

Passage of ENDA would be a major step in the right direction by ensuring that current protections are extended to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

All men are created equal, endowed by their creator, with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.