Mark Warner

This bill is a right step towards reforming the housing finance system and pays special attention to smaller lenders.

So a long-term conservatorship for Fannie and Freddie is not a valid option.

I appreciate that you and the Ranking Member both support this new legislation, holding this hearing.

ICBA is grateful to Senators Warner, Corker, Tester, and Johanns for introducing S.1217, the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act.

I think one of the comments you made--and I think we all agree with this--pricing equality based upon access to a secondary market.

How would First National in Omaha in that system ever be able to compete with Wells Fargo or JPMorgan?

I would just say, Mr. Chairman, thank you very much for doing this hearing. I would say under the current old system we can safely say that housing finance was not broken, it was fixed.

To address FHA's short-term challenges, Ranking Member Crapo and I released details this week of bipartisan legislation to get FHA back on stable footing and strengthen a program important to many Americans.

It is important that we help, not hurt, young Americans' prospects and why it is so important that Congress finds a reasonable solution to the recent increase in student loan rates.

With consumer price inflation low and the unemployment rate unacceptably high, the Fed must continue to take action to support employment.

Chairman Bernanke, I thank you for your years of service and leadership at the Federal Reserve during a challenging period in our Nation's history.

My understanding is we are going to actually come in lower than that.

I think you ought to be out there trumpeting this program and not simply saying it is simply one little side program.

I really appreciate you raising this issue. It is not something that would immediately come to mind.

I think you are dead on on an issue and it is not something I have considered.

I encourage your favorable consideration of her candidacy and favorable consideration on the floor.

We care about courts in Virginia. We proudly claim probably the greatest jurist in American history, John Marshall.

This is an extraordinarily talented individual who would be a great credit to the court.

I am honored to join with my good friend and colleague, Senator Kaine, to introduce a fellow Virginian, President Obama's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, Patricia Millett.

Presenting Patricia Ann Millett, Nominee to be Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit

The good news is that a broad consensus has emerged on the direction that our next steps must take us.

I believe we're at a unique moment in the history of how housing finance is carried out in our country.

I was among the first to realize that which is why Representative Brad Miller and I became the first to introduce anti-predatory lending legislation.

I am confident that, if given the opportunity, Jason will prove to be an outstanding Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and I urge all my colleagues to support his nomination.

I view such a partnership as a necessary evil rather than a desirable state of affairs.