To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, it's not a $1,000 payroll tax reduction, just as was quoted by my colleague who just spoke. The Senate bill is 2 months. It is $160. So let's be clear and honest with the American people…

today I voted to prevent a tax increase on the middle class and to continue jobless benefits for millions of Americans and thousands of Rhode Islanders. Unfortunately, despite my and many of my colleagues' best efforts, this bill is deeply…

as chairman of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee, I would like to take a few moments to highlight some of the provisions of the Interior division of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for fiscal year 2012. The…

I rise today to urge my colleagues to immediately extend the payroll tax cut and to fully continue jobless benefits for millions of Americans. In less than 3 weeks 160 million Americans face an automatic tax increase and millions of…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 14, 2011, at 10 a.m., to hold a European Affairs subcommittee hearing entitled, ``The State of Human Rights…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 14, 2011, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 14, 2011, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``Examining Investor Risks in…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 14, 2011. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Committee on Finance

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 14, 2011, at 9:45 a.m., in room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Alternative…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 14, 2011, at 10 a.m. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 14, 2011, at 10 a.m., in room SD- 430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. The…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 14, 2011, at 10 a.m. in room SR- 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building. The…

Your testimony has provided us critical insights as we grapple with what we recognize as a common challenge, which is to grow jobs here in this country, and to use our securities laws to help facilitate job growth without endangering…

If they are doing their review, find potential criminal activity, potential failure to disclose material facts that would be subject to reporting by the SEC, are they required to inform you and the SEC of their discoveries?

Wouldn't it be very similar to the process you went through screening the proposed firms that were selected by the company being reviewed?

Doesn't that sound somewhat discordant in terms of your ability or capacity?

Following up on this issue of the independence of these consultants, is there any prohibition on future work that these companies can do with the party that they are independently supervising?

Ultimately, we believe these collective efforts will help address concerns about the foreclosure process.

Do they have the obligation, rather than you have the expectation?

May I ask, why was that not done earlier, when you were designing the program, thinking about how you would structure the selection of independent consultants, how you would screen the consultants, how you would communicate with consumers?

the independent foreclosure review actually contains two components.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act has been on the books since 1940, and I am pleased from what you said, that you are going to have 100 percent review of every--I want to make sure I heard you correctly--of every file involving a…

Are you confident now that, going forward, servicers will, in fact, know if an individual is subject to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act going forward?

If they find proprietary information that is potentially material to investors in terms of the behavior of these servicers, are they obligated to inform you and the Securities and Exchange Commission of their findings?

I wish to thank the chairman for his leadership on this important issue and so many others before the Banking Committee. Since September 2008, we have learned many hard lessons about the factors that contributed to the financial crisis. To…