Political Quotes

“In closing on all of these amendments, I want to touch on something we haven't had a chance to talk about here today. There are a lot of people in here who are apparently very proud of the Bank. They are happy with the way the Bank is run. They don't think that, but for some token reforms and changes, the Bank needs to change very much at all. The last 6 years have been 75 years of combined prison time because of wrongdoing at the Bank. There were 90 criminal indictments and complaints, 49 criminal judgments, and more than $223 million--a quarter of a billion dollars--in court-ordered fines and restitution because of wrongdoing at the Bank. We are proud of that? That is something that doesn't need serious overhaul? That is something we can just tweak around the edges because we have done it for so long? Maybe that is part of the problem. Maybe it has been a really, really long time since we have looked at this Bank under the microscope like we should. Maybe we should not have rubberstamped it for the past 16 administrations. Maybe the Bank should have followed the law that we passed in 2012 to reform itself. What does it say about an institution, Mr. Chairman, that ignores the law that this Chamber passes, the Senate passes, and the President signs? You combine that which can only be described as bureaucratic arrogance with this--prison time, criminal indictments, judgments, fines and restitutions--and you have an institution that is in sad need of reform, Mr.…”