Bernie Sanders

I think the issue that we have to focus on is that everybody on your NRC... has to do everything that we can to make certain that the people of the United States of America understand that nuclear power in this country is as safe as it…

I think there are two issues. No. 1, obviously the issue that is of concern to the people of the United States of America is that we make sure that our nuclear plants are as safe as they possibly can be.

My background is one that focused largely on research and development. I don't see myself as a voice or representative of the industry by any stretch.

According to the Huffington Post, you have been involved in a 'coup' to get rid of Mr. Jaczko.

I think you and your staff have asked reporters to look at some situations, information on global warming that many of us think are beyond comprehension.

I am not comfortable with the direction in which this questioning is going.

I think in general we need more transparency.

That is not a personality difference. That is a point of view in terms of whether you are going to be aggressive, in my view, on safety or you are not.

That is not a personality difference, that is a philosophical difference, that is a political difference.

I think many of us are not happy about what we are reading in terms of what is going on with the NRC.

That is OK. It does not mean that the Commission does not function.

I wanted to thank the Senator from Maryland not only for his important remarks now but for, year after year, the strong work he is doing in trying to create jobs in America in sustainable energy. I would like to yield to the Senator from…

I think we need to put our resources to reduce the cost of electricity from offshore wind.

Which takes me to my next question and that is an issue I know that you have been working on, we worked with you on, but the concept of the smart grid and sustainable energy.

Do you believe with new technology and new research that we can continue the decline of price in solar to make it competitive?

I happen to believe that from a global warming perspective, and energy independence perspective, and a job creating perspective there is huge potential in terms of transforming our energy system away from fossil fuel to sustainable energy…

We have a nation in which millions of people are working longer hours for lower wages.

Housing was great for a while during the run-up, but it had a catastrophic collapse and a lot of middle-income and lower-income households really got creamed in it.

$7.25 trillion--that is a mind-boggling number if you want to figure out one of the reasons why our economy is not jump starting very well--we lost that much wealth in the housing market, and that is terrible.

What I am saying is that the guarantee in the 30-year fixed, the low downpayment mortgages, when you combine that all into a ball, what we have done is we have really encouraged households to take on more risk than they ordinarily would…

If a consumer sees something and it has terminology like LIBOR in the contract and they have no idea what it is, why did you sign it?

We should be forcing consumers to bear a part of that risk.

We cannot simply balance the budget on their backs.

Thank you, Senator Franken, for all the work you're doing for seniors and for your contributions today.

I think we have to take a very hard look at the morality and the economics of balancing the budget on elderly people and some of the most vulnerable people in our society.