Jack Reed

But you are not looking at the effect on the market in terms of, for example, the brewers, that the price of aluminum is going up dramatically?

So the public interest aspects of the test sort of go by the wayside, and the concentration is on simply the safety and soundness of the banking institution and risks that they might be taking.

This is a tremendous burden, and this is one of the things that is inhibiting our growth.

One of the issues that becomes so clear from 1999 here to today is that the vision of these integrated companies... is a good vision.

So you are looking at their trading activity, is it in any way related to decisions by their commodities subsidiary in terms of pricing, in terms of access to materials in the marketplace?

We have to be incredibly watchful, and that is why the coincidence of owning physical assets and then participating in trading and other activities has to raise these questions.

The presumption is that the company itself has the managerial capacity to do it well, and that Federal regulators have the managerial capacity to supervise them.

But you do not look at the interaction between holding that physical commodity in some way, shape, or form and the investment portfolio of the banks, the holdings of the banks, and what they are doing?

Yes. That is what you just said, so the public interest test, it is fire and forget.

High energy costs are hurting my constituents. Many of them are struggling just to pay the bills.

A strong Volcker Rule is one of the most important provisions to prevent too-big-to-fail financial institutions, stop conflicts of interest, and support credit in our economy.

Extending unemployment insurance benefits will ensure that the 1.3 million workers whose benefits were cut off on December 28th will get the support that they need.

I know that we are making progress on an agreement to provide a one-year extension of unemployment benefits to people who have been out of work for more than six months in the United States Senate.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:55 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, January 8, 2014, at 10 a.m…

I think it is a terrible trade. It is not just about families with children, it is about many of these working adults who, if they have a preexisting condition, lose their coverage. It is not just a question of children. That I think is…

As President Kennedy said, you know, failure is an orphan, but success has lots of parents.

Without that, you could, either unwittingly or wittingly, signal that there is going to be an erosion of sanctions.

We invite our colleagues to join us in commending Patricia Stonesifer for her distringuished service to the Smithsonian Institution and the American people. We wish her continued success in her future endeavors. ____________________

As regents to the Smithsonian, Senator Leahy, Senator Cochran, and I would like to pay tribute to an individual who has provided exceptional leadership to the Smithsonian Institution as a citizen regent, Patricia Stonesifer. Ms. Stonesifer…

We invite our colleagues to join us in commending Roger Sant, and we wish him continued success in his future endeavors. ____________________

I am joined by fellow regents to the Smithsonian, Senators Leahy and Cochran, in paying tribute to an individual who has provided exceptional leadership to the Smithsonian Institution as a citizen regent, Roger Sant.

I thank the gentleman for that acceptance of the amendment. Mr. Chairman, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Costa), my cosponsor on this amendment.

I do believe that a default on the U.S. debt would be catastrophic.

I want to particularly commend Holly Petraeus and her work.

What we are essentially trying to do is protect servicemembers from interest rates on credit products that are above 36 percent.