I am very confident that they possess the crucial qualities necessary to be outstanding Federal judges.

Mr. Brann is an accomplished and very well respected lawyer who possesses the requisite judicial acumen.

I want to take a brief moment to mention how pleased I am to be working closely with you colleague Senator Casey.

I do not think there is an expectation that all of those will make it into the final rule.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you both for being here.

It says we are going to limit systemic risk by controlling everything you can do in great minute detail.

I think they are given an impossible task, and the task is to micromanage the activities of these institutions.

If the court strikes down the validity of this order, do you support reclassifying broadband as a telecommunication service under that act, under Title II?

Consumer trust is very, very important. But there's no one for whom it's more important than the company that's hoping to attract and maintain customers.

Proponents of Federal privacy legislation really should clearly demonstrate the market failure and consumer harm.

I think it's irresponsible for the Federal Government to require companies to radically alter a successful business model that has provided many consumer benefits without knowing all the facts first.

It's not mandated by regulation. It's a voluntary approach, which you're commending and which the industry apparently sees as in its own interest to pursue.

I want to point out, if I could, in closing, the premise here is, of course, that consumers want these privacy features that you're advocating are not available.

Section 5 of the FTC Act does authorize and empower the Commission to make enforcement actions against a company that violates its own stated privacy policy.

Overly restrictive privacy rules and regulations handed down from Washington may threaten this innovation.

I still remain skeptical of the need for Congress to pass privacy legislation.

I believe it's important for us to set our own standard, something that could, in fact, be more flexible and more stakeholder-driven and less punitive than what exists in Europe today, but just as capable of delivering strong privacy…

I think it's premature to begin discussing specific legislative fixes or increased FTC authority when we don't fully know whether or not and to what extent the problem exists.

Senator John McCain and I have agreed on one approach. And I introduced that approach with him more than a year ago.

I have not yet heard a persuasive argument as to why the FTC needs even greater authority.

We've got thousands of families that are out of work, that are facing the possibility of losing existing jobs.

We are taking into account those externalities. They're being addressed through environmental regulations, and are reflected in the fuels we produce and the operations that we run.

Of course, if we did that, we'd also have to take into account the higher food prices that we have as a result of using 40 percent of the corn in gasoline tanks.

I have no problems with the proposal that Senator Menendez has at all.

Stopping homeowners from refinancing into lower cost loans... harms both homeowners, taxpayers, and is crazy in my view as a policy.