Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank my colleague from Alabama for the work he has done in trying to craft a bankruptcy title that more fully suits financial institutions. This body is an interesting body because you don't have the chance to do anything but vote yes or no on particular pieces of legislation. Just last week, the Republicans--all Republicans--had a filibuster while they waited for the leaders on each side of the Banking Committee to reach a compromise, and it was supported, I think, 94 or 96 to 1. That compromise was on title II, the orderly liquidation title. So here we have an amendment that basically is to strike something this body, in essence, adopted 96 to 0. I spent a lot of time on that title myself working with Mark Warner. I appreciate greatly the partnership we had working on a resolution title. I thank Senator Shelby and Senator Dodd for the work they did to try to improve that title, and we held out on this side until that occurred. So now we have a vote, the Sessions vote, that would strike that. I wish to say, I am at the point in this bill where I am under no illusion that the bill is going to get any better. I know there are a lot of messaging amendments that will begin to take place, and many of us will have the opportunity, through our votes, to express how we may feel about certain aspects of this bill. When Senator Warner and I were working on the resolution, it was with the intent that bankruptcy be the default.…”