investigation to determine whether federal, separate federal civil rights action should be instituted against george zimmerman for violating civil rights laws. i believe that such an investigation into federal criminal civil rights violations is well-warranted. i urge the justice department to move forward expeditiously and thoroughly and to take the actions that are indicated. i thank you. >> jose serrano. >> thank you so much. first of all thank you to my colleagues for putting this press conference together. if this was the only time, or the first time that something like this had happened, perhaps you wouldn't see the outpouring of emotion that you see not only at this press conference but throughout our nation. but it happens too often. it happens too often where people that look like us are stopped and asked questions. and it doesn't matter whether you're a member congress or not.

some people still see us as a problem. and this is what we have to look at. and this is why i'm here today. i support the justice department's decision to look into that investigation which they opened before, which they stepped aside as i recall to allow the trial to take place and to find out if indeed mr. martin's civil rights were violated. this is what's important. but let no one be fooled. while we respect law and order, while we respect our system, we respect our system to continue to finks and to grow, we know that trayvon martin was singled out by mr. zimmerman because he was black. because he was black, he figured that he was a problem and therefore had to be dealt with in some special way. then there is the other side to this story which is, states throughout this nation continuing to believe that everybody has to be armed and everybody has to be a local

sheriff. we have police departments that handle these kind of situations. we don't need to have individuals who are maybe hired by someone to do a special job to go after people simply because they don't look like they belong in that neighborhood. what neighborhood is that? we stand here to say that we belong in those neighborhoods and they belong in these neighborhoods too. everybody belongs in every neighborhood. no one should be killed because they don't belong in a certain neighborhood. i join my colleagues in asking the justice department to continue this. and i asked people throughout this nation to rethink these laws that allow people to carry a gun and to be their own law enforcement agency. that is not with we have. that is not what we should have. thank you. >> miss velasquez. >> thanks so very much, hakeem and the members of the delegation for being here today.

as a woman i can't help but think about the safety of children of color. you know, july 13th will be remembered as a shameful day of our legal system. something is very wrong in america's legal system when a stalker of a teenager is found not guilty and this young man is killed for not good reason. our nation need to have a larger conversation about the role of race. seriously. new york city has to have a real

conversation about stop and frisk. it is wrong! it doesn't serve any purpose. and we are here with one voice to demand from the department of justice to continue its investigation and to look into the civil rights violations of mr. martin. it's a sad day for america but as an american i am proud to see how many people are demanding justice. all i ask is, do it in a respectful and dignified way. that's what america deserves. and are here as members of congress because we have a responsibility when it comes to civil rights of the people in this country. we have a responsibility to

demand that there is equal laws for everyone in this country, no matter color, religion, or political affiliation. there's no closure for the martin family. it is our responsibility to make sure that we get the intervention of the department of justice to determine whether or not the civil rights of mr. martin were in violation, or were violated. that is what the family deserves. that is what this country deserves. there can be, there can be, it

just so difficult. just, when i watch the verdict yesterday, the day before, after watching the proceedings, it just, it was so clear in my mind, based on the fact, look, last year, this is what i'm saying. something is wrong with our legal system. this man walked out free. last year, a woman in florida shot a bullet against a wall, a warning shot to her husband, an abusive husband, a 31-year-old african-american wife. she got 20 years in prison. against a wall. no one died. if the justice system can not

understand the outrage that people feel in this country, join all, white, brown, purple, yellow! it's unfair. there is no way that you can justify this. maybe law and instructions given to the jury didn't give them any way out but to declare this man not guilty but the department of justice has a responsibility to make sure that the civil rights of mr. martin were not violated. thank you. >> let me just acknowledge the presence of councilmember udonis rodriguez and councilmember robert jackson? >> congressman wrangle, how do you respond to the criticism of the lawyers of george zimmerman

cross over and join you on any -- [inaudible] this is the wrong issue. >> to their lawyers? >> [inaudible] >> we wanted to make it abundantly clear we were looking at what role that we can play. our roles on the city council, state legislators, more on the spiritual leaders. we are members of the congress, a legislative body of the country and we're making a plea to our attorney general and indeed to the president, to continue and to conclude the ongoing investigation on this case as soon as possible. i think i speak for the group is that, we can do all, a lot of different things but we have come together to target where we think we can do the most good. >> can i answer that? can i answer that, please? i would add one other thing to that. trayvon martin was walking down

the street, minding his own business and was dead because of the actions of george zimmerman. his civil rights were clearly violated. it is up to the justice department now to see if they can make the evidence that they were criminally violated, and then to convene a grand jury if that is the case. >> in light of the doj, in light of the fact that they have opened an investigation and you have all emphasized a need for them to follow through, do you have concerns that they won't follow through with an investigation? and what do you think will be the biggest obstacle? >> well, it is important to make sure that this investigation proceeds in a complete and comprehensive manner, and we're here today, as guardians of the nation's civil rights laws, to emphasize the fact that this investigation should not be perceived as an afterthought. the state had its opportunity to make its case based on its laws, which included by the way, a

stand your ground defense. , that many of us believe is inappropriate in a democratic society. but we respect the state process. now, there's a federal process, and we'rewe're here to emphasize that it has got to proceed in a comprehensive fashion. and at least i believe result in the commencement of a grand jury so that there can be a decision made as to whether trayvon martin's civil rights were violated. >> let me just say this also. as representatives of congress, we have a duty to make sure all americans civil rights are protected. we have a duty to speak up when we think some of their rights have been violated and it becomes clear in this case we believe that trayvon martin's civil rights have been violated and therefore we have an obligation not to sit on the sidelines silently, we have a obligation to speak up and let people know as the people walking the streets throughout

america, that they believed that mr. martin's rights were violated. had only mr. zimmerman stayed in the car, and listened to what the law enforcement authorities told him to do, the people who are trained to protect the law, if he had just stayed in his vehicle, and stated on the phone with them, mr. martin would be alive today. that fact, in my estimation shows that civil rights being violated and thus needs to be a grand jury, a grand jury needs to be held and a trial needs to be held as mr. jeffries had said and let justice be had. >> [inaudible] >> well, we have a dual system of justice and, in this particular instance state legislature in florida and the governor had an opportunity to

decide what they felt was an appropriate standard of law to be put into place which gave mr. zimmerman this defense and a jury drew its conclusion presumably based on the standard of law that existed under florida statute. we now have an opportunity for the civil rights investigation to proceed in the absence of the stand your ground defense being available. along the lines of similar prosecutions that were commenced, as i indicated, in the rodney king matter, in the limerick nelson matter, and as well as in the francis levote matter. we're here to emphasize the importance of that separate, sovereign investigation proceeding and coming to a conclusion. thank you very much. >> thank you.

>> attorney general eric holder also spoke about the trayvon martin case yesterday at the delta sigma theta national convention in washington. this is part of what he said. >> now, of course as this celebration unfolds we are also mindful of the pain felt by our nation surrounding the tragic, unnecessary shooting death of trayvon martin in sanford, florida, last year. [applause] and we are cognizant of the state trial reached its conclusion over the weekend. as parents, as engaged citizens, and as leaders who stand vigilant against violence in communities across the country, the deltas are deeply and rightly concerned about this case. the justice department shares your concerns.

i share your concerns. [applause] and as we first acknowledged last spring, we have opened an investigation into this matter. now -- [applause] independent of the legal determination that will be made i believe that this tragedy provides yet another opportunity for our nation to speak honestly about the complicated and emotionally-charged issues that this case has raised. we must not, as we have too often in the past, let this opportunity pass. i hope that we will approach this necessarily difficult dialogue with same dignity that those who have lost the most, trayvon's parents, that they have demonstrated throughout the last year, and especially over the past few days. they suffered a pain that no

parent should have to endure and one that i as a father can not begin to conceive. even as we embrace their example and hold them in our prayers, we must not forgo this opportunity to better understand one another and to make better this nation that we cherish. moreover, i want to assure you that the department will continue to act in a manner consistent with facts and the law. we are committed standing with the people of sanford, with individual and families affected by this incident and with our state and local partners, local partners in order to alleviate tensions, to address community concerns and to promote healing. .

[applause] [cheers and applause] [applause] >> well, good afternoon,

everybody, and on behalf of michelle and myself, welcome to the white house. twenty-three years ago, president george hw bush began a tradition knowing across the country every day americans were finding ways to serve each other and give back to their communities. often, with very few resources and very little recognition. president bush knew that their good works were valuable to the people they helped, but beyond that, he knew that their spirit of service was vital to our national character so he created an award, the daily point of light award, to recognize americans who serve their neighbors and communities in innovative ways that inspire us all, and for the rest of his presidency, nearly every single day, president bush gave someone a daily point of white award, and after he left the white house, he kept going and going

and going, in between sky dives and other activities, he kept going. [laughter] which should come as no surprise since we're talking about somebody who has served his country in such extraordinary ways, and, you know, when you parachute at the age of 85, not just a parachute jump, but another one, i believe, his seventh, this is somebody who is not going to slow down any time soon, so today we are extraordinarily honored to be joined by the family that helped build the points of light. president bush, mrs. bush, neil bush, we want to welcome and you and recognize michelle, the ceo of the points of lights. that's worth applause.

[applause] this is not the first time president bush and i came together for an event like this. four years ago i went to texas a&m where president bush has his library to celebrate the 20th anniversary of points of light, and i appreciated the warm welcome by which i mean the extremely loud "howdy" that i received. [laughter] i was impressed how the students are invested in community service, but i was moved by how much they love president bush, and now we've come together to mark another milestone. as of this minute, 4999 points of light awards have been presented to individuals and

organizations across this country, and now i have the honor in presenting president bush with number 5,000. number 5,000. [applause] ten years ago, kathy hamilton and lloyd were ready to retire. they had been farming for years. they earned a break. they planned to sail around the world, and then their friend told them about a special place they should visit along the way in a village in tanzania, a volunteer mission was renovating an hiv/aids clinic. lloyd and kathy thought it was a worthwhile detour. when they arrived in tans tanza, this was the third year of the brutal drought, people starving and dying, many were children, and having seen this, they had

to do something about it, and so their vision of a leisurely retirement was replaced by a new mission fighting global hunger. today, the nonprofit they created, outreach, contributed meals to children in the united states and 15 countries worldwide. to date, more than 233 million meals. they've gotten to see many of the kids they met in tanzania grow up healthy and strong, and this work, they say, is the most rewarding thing they've done. i can say being to tanzania, we can attest how important the work is and changes lives. it's fitting later this week on july 18th, people will celebrate the legacy of nelson mandela performing acts of public and community service. as people look for examples outreach provides an

extraordinary demonstration how demonstration lifts people's lives. if the purpose of the award is to celebrate americans who work to make our country and world a better place for their own advantage or ulterior motives, but just to serve pure and simple, i can't think of anyone more deserving than kathy and lloyd. before we present the award, i would be remiss if i didn't honor the man who makes it possible. he hates this. i'll do it anyway. [laughter] much has been said about president bush's own extraordinary life of service, but i'm not sure everybody fully appreciates how much he's strengthened our country's tradition of service. in addition to this award, he created the first office dedicated to promoting volunteerism and championed and signed the national community act. by washington standards, a modest law, involved money, and

president bush signed it with little fanfare, but looking back, it sparked a national movement by laying the ground work for the corporation for national and community service and americorp and seniorcorp giving millions of americans the opportunity to serve. thanks to those programs and others like them and to the passion of the leaders like president bush and citizens who found that passion over the years, volunteerism went from something some people do some of the time to something a lot of people do as a regular part of their lives. since 1989, the number of americans who volunteer has grown by more than 25 million. service is up across age groups and regions. it's now a graduation requirement in many high schools and colleges. it's embedded in the culture of businesses, large and small. speaking from my family, volunteering brought joy and meaning to michelle, me, and our daughters over the years, and i know that's the case for many of

your families too. this national tradition may seem perfectly ordinary to many americans, especially those who have grown up during this period, but, in fact, it reflects tremendous progress, and today we can say that our country is a better and stronger force for good in the world because more and more, we are a people that serve. for that, we have to thank president bush and his better half, barbara, just as committed as her husband to service dedicated her life to it as well. [applause] the president who followed president bush had the good sense to continue the work, and not just because one of him

calls him dad. [laughter] even after leaving office, president clinton and both president bushes have come together to help people affected by natural disasters, here at home and around the world, a reminder that service is not a democratic or a republican value, but core part of being an american, and at the white house today, we're proud to carry forward that legacy. i created the office of social innovation and civic participation to find new ways to use innovation to strengthen service. we expanded the office of bathe-based and neighborhood partnerships, originally created by president george w. bush, working closely with religious and community organizations across the country to help americans in need, and, today, i want to announce a new task force with representatives from cabinet agencies and other departments across the government to take a fresh look at how to better support national service. in particular, on some of the most important national priorities, improving schools,

recovering from disasters, and mentoring our kids. this is led at the white house as well as wednesday di spencer, the ceo of the national corporation of service who led the volunteer commission in florida for governor jeb bush. we have a family thing working. [laughter] you know, in times of tight budgets and tough problems, we know the greatest resource we have is to limit energy and ingenuity of the citizens, and when we harness the energy and create opportunity for americans to serve, we pay tribute to the extraordinary example set by president bush, and just to close on a personal not, mr. president, i'm one of millions of people inspired by your passion and your commitment. you have helped so many americans discover they, too, have something to contribute and make a difference. you described the thousand points of light, all the people in the organization spread out across the country like stars brightening the lives of those

around them, but begin the humility that defined your life, it's harder for you to see something that cleared everybody else around you, and that's how bright a light you shine, how your vision and example illuminated the past of others, your love of service is kindled in a similar love in the hearts of millions here at home and around the world, and, frankly, the fact you're such a gentleman, a good and kind person, i think, helps reenforce that spirit of service. on behalf of all of us, let me just say we are surely a kinder and gent leer nation -- gentler nation because of you, and we can't thank you enough. [applause]

♪ so it is now my great pleasure to join president bush and all of you in presenting this extraordinary award to an extraordinary couple who have done so much for so many people. we are very grateful to them. lloyd and kathy, will you please step up to receive your award? [applause]

[laughter] [applause] >> thank you for this incredible award. we are humbled and honored to be chosen as the 5,000th daily point of light. not in our wildest dreams did we ever plan to be here or even imagined receiving this award. in fact, after being in business for 34 years, floyd was dreaming of relaxing, even sailing around the world, but in 2003, he was

asked to build an 8th hospice in an old help sigh hospital in a village in tanzania, and that changed everything. when we got there, we saw children dying of starvation. there was no food and no money. three little boys who were schavaging for food ate something that was poisennous and they died. we left for home overwhelmed by the need and for our need to do something about it. we knew we had to send food to help the people of the village. we packed our first 2,000 meals with volunteers in our little town of union, iowa, and we does covered that people loved to help and to give and to pack

meals. we started and organization called outreach. each day we took another step towards a bigger operation. one day, we had one -- we had no intention of building, but which we were compelled to expand. we had to help, and others were eager to help us. each labor day, volunteers all over iowa helped pack 4 million meals. in the united states and canada, tens of thousands of volunteers of all ages and nationalities so far helped us to pack a total of 232 million meals so far. [applause]

as we've seen time and time again, when people give of themselves, when they share the burden, and they share the task of solving it, life shines. love grows. all overred world and here at home. thank you so much. [applause] [applause] >> now i think we'll have neil come up. to we have the mic?

here we go. >> i have to find something nice to say about neil. [laughter] it's not hard to do. he's active in this concept, volunteering, helping out, and privilege to introduce neil, and, of course, first, thank president obama and ms. obama for this wonderful hospitality. it's like coming home for barbara and me, and the rest of you coming to this magnificent house, greeted by this superb hospitality, knows no bounds. thank you, all, very much, and now neil. [applause] >> [inaudible] [laughter]

as dad is being moved to his seat, he may not be parachuting anymore, but he's taken up a new hobby, and that is he's trying to be a style setter. i don't know if you noticed the socks here, but gq we call him rather than 4 is 1. [laughter] dad, you said, if onements to pursue a life of meaning and adventure, the way to do so is to find dignity and goodness in every person, to help others in need and to become part of something bigger than ourselves. you and mom had lived an incredible meaningful and adventurous life.

thank you for inspiring so many to become points of light. that's an applause line. [applause] on behalf of the entire bush family, a special thanks to you, mr. president, and michelle for inviting us to this most special place, and for your outstanding work to promote the service movement as a national priority. you understand, and you've spoke of the fact that service is one of the things that truly brings our nation together. it transcends politics. it addresses problems that government alone can cannot sol. we are so blessed in america to have two occupants points of life -- light in their own ways, and we thank you for your leadership in this area. [applause]

today, we celebrate the 5,000 daily points of light who represent the 65 million americans who engage themselves in the lives of others every year. these points of light are what my dad called the soul of america. years ago, dad asked us to imagine what would happen if all the point points of light winners left their hometowns and moved together in one place in america. imagine if one who taught 50 years and used her retirement fund to start brilliant bus and taught all the children computer skills and the profootball player got them all reading books and kathy and floyd helped feed and nur nurture the young people, and the pastor mobilized the forces to intervene troubled youth, and corporations, faith, youth, and senior groups organized volunteers to work

with charities to tutor, to clean, to feed, to mentor, and receiver as points of light. regardless of its problems, a community like this, one where every person, every group, every institution gave even a small part of their time and service to others would be truly, utterly transformed. that is our mission. to turn every place in america into a community of light, to deep p the culture of service that drives change. that is the power of the daily point of light program. dad, before you left the white house, you spoke to all of the award winners, and you said, if i could leave but one legacy to this country, brought up the " l" word which he never did in private -- [laughter] it would not be in treaties signed or wars won. it would be a return to the moral compass that must guide america through the next century.

thyme talking about a respect for the goodness that makes this country great, a rekindling of that light lit from within to reveal america as it is, a country of millions of points of light. thanks to all of you in this room. i could call you out by name, but mom add mon ired me in church yesterday, and dad told me to keep it short, so i won't. [laughter] thanks to all of you in this room who are points of light and everyone across the country, those that we recognize with the daily point of light award and the millions more who have not found recognition, but kohl solving the biggest charges facing our nation. to all of them, we say thank you. [applause] mom's looking at me.

stop the applause. [laughter] now it is my pleasure as chair of the points of light, and i'm truly honored to serve with such an outstanding board to introduce the ceo of points of light, a true leader of the national service movement. [applause] >> thank you, neil, for your boundless optimism and your incredibly gracious spirit and leadership. i think we share a number of things in common. one is we have no nonsense mothers, and my mother, also, only guidance was keep it short, as well. thank you president and mrs. bush for your lives of service. you bring us here together today. we are so proud to carry on your legacy and proud to continue to give out this award that you created to showcase the power of

people to create change. the daily appointments of light gathered here today, i think, are a beautiful tribute to your lives and your work. thank you to president and mrs. obama for sustaining and dramatically growing national and community service. you carried on the tradition of presidential leadership calling americans to put our compassion, our ingenuity, our perseverance to work to lift up our neighbors, to build our communities, and to serve our nation. over the past three decades, our presidents shown us how to work together through service. they have literally rolled up their sleeves, and they've called the nation to volunteer. from building houses with habitat for humanity to rebuilding after disasters to joining hands to support our veterans, and i believe it is in these humble acts of serving others that our president, the most powerful individuals on earth, have demonstrated

america's true strengths. they've made it clear that when there are people in need, americans come together across all that divides us to help. when there's a job to do, to clean up the mississippi river or rebuild after superstorm sannie, we don't ask about political parties or faiths or income. when it comes to ensuring people get food and shelter and a helping hand, we get together, and we get busy. the daily points of light award calls the nation back to an essential understanding of who we are as americans. it was president bush's genius to put a daily spotlight on these individuals and actions that embody the very best of our nation. the award is an antedote to the disspiritting cynicism that too often pervades our news and discourse reminding us that people care and that hope is the story, the true story of

america. for 24 years, 5,000 points of light have shown us that we can create a better future together. i want to introduce you to two daily points of light who represent the next generation of possibilities. josh, can you stand? [applause] a few years ago, he broke his glasses, and while waiting for a new pair, he realized how hard it was to learn anything without being able to see, and he discovered how many kids cannot afford glasses at all so he started sight learning which has collected and distributed more than 350,000 dollars worth of used eyeglasses to students in a half dozen countries around the world. thank you. [applause]

darius, can you stand? [applause] darius transformed personal tragedy into a platform for serving others. he was 4 years old when his father was murdered, spent is # 1 years in foster care without encouragement and advocates, and then in high school, a biology teacher told darius he had great potential, that he believed in him. one caring adult who believed sparked darius to pursue scholarships and grants to attend moorehouse college. not satisfied with his own personal success, darius wrote a book and found his million dollar scholar, and in just one year, he's helped thousands of students get the scholarships that they need, so, darius, congratulations. [applause]

i'd like to invite all the points of light award winners with us here today to stand so we can recognize you, celebrating your contributions. [applause] thank you, all. you and so many others across the nation are examples of america's greatness. you show us that we can create impact at a scale and at a speed that was formally unimaginable. the future of citizen service is brighter than it's ever been. individuals have more power to create change than they ever have, and each new points of light will make that future brighter still. it's for that reason that i'm

thrilled to announce today that disney is making a significant investment to help ensure that we were able to lift up the next thousand points of light. please join me in celebrating that. [applause] president and mrs. bush, we can hardly imagine the transforming changes these next points of light will bring, but i know they are illuminate our path, carry forward your spirit, and they'll reflect on your legacy of service, and they will show and live out your example and your words, president bush. they will show us not only what is best in our heritage, but what all of us are called to become, thank you very much. [applause]

>> well, thank you very much, michelle, for your outstanding work, all the point of light recipients, proud of you, congratulations, and keep up the great work, inspire us, and make us want to do that much more, especially when you see young people who are making such a difference and impact with enormous confidence that america, for all its challenges will always meet them because we got this incredible character, and with that, what i want to do is, once again, thank president and mrs. bush for their outstanding leadership. we are so grateful to you, thank neil for his leadership, and i want to make sure that everybody enjoys a reception, and i suspect the food may be pretty good. [laughter] thank you very much all of you for being here. [applause]

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

[inaudible conversations] >> and a live look at the senate side of the capitol now where members return to session this morning after a joint meeting between republicans and democrats ended late monday evening without an agreement to a proposed set of full buster rules. they are ready to begin votes to cut off debate on a series of seven executive branch nominations. looking at the screen now, vice president biden expected to preside over the chamber to swear in, and you can see the vice president's motorcade arriving there. the vacancy was created for a democratic from massachusetts winning a special election a couple weeks ago after former senator kerry resigned from the senate to be secretary of state

in the obama administration. congressional quarterly writes about today's filibuster action that senate leaders are still talking today after a three and a half hour joint caucus monday evening failing to head off a threat by majority leader harry reid to do away with filibusters on executive branch nominations. professionalism reid insists that republicans agree to the approval of seven nominees in which he filed cloture motions last week before backing away for plans to use the so-called nuclear option to change the rules in a gamet using a simple majority of 51 votes. first vote scheduled this morning to be permanent head of the consumer financial bureau. that vote scheduled for 11 a.m. this morning. for more on last night's meeting and what could happen today, we spoke to a capitol hill reporter. >> todd is joining us on the phone, the take away for public radio international. todd, so, we said the headline

here is no deal was reached after this closed door session. why not? what happened? >> caller: well, nobody knows exactly what happened other than the 1 # 00 senators and small handful of staffers in the room, but, greta, as senators were leaving the room, trickling out last night, you heard a couple different takes op what went on. you heard the standard washington code speak, free and frank and open discussion, words that don't tell you much, but you got a couple of real pieces of information. senators on both sides said they felt like the sides understood each other better, democrats, a couple democrats saying that they thought republicans had a better understanding, that they feel president obama has been disrespected by the senate in his nominees, that he has not received the level of respect and deference others received. republicans, on the other hand, thought that they felt better

understood, and heavy handed tactics by reid kept them out of the process. both sides understand each other better meaning there is a proposal from senator mccain and others to circumvent this nuclear options. senators on both sides, including interestingly some members of the leadership, john cornin, the republican whip, thought avoiding the crisis, the nuclear option, was still possible. today, he thought sides were closer together. there was another piece of news that is significant. senator john thune, republican, who is also in the leadership, said that he thought that one of the most controversial votes this morning, cordray to be in the consumer bureau, he said nay thought republicans would provide the votes to get cordray

through. that's concession, not the key concession because the national labor relations board is the big issue here, more complicated, but it was news last night that thune said he thought that republicans were going to let cordray go today. john mccain said that that was not clear, that all these seven votes we're going to see this morning are interrelated. it depends on what happens with the other votes and the things go piece by piece, but thune saying they would let cordray go is news there. >> so cordray's up first at 11 a.m. eastern time on the senate floor, and, of course, our coverage on c-span2 so if cordray goes through, is each of these no , ma'am -- no , nominees a test vote on the so-called nuclear option and going forward with it? >> caller: well, that's really, really hard to know. if you listen to senator reid and what he said in the speech at the center for american progress yesterday morning, reid answered questions from reporters, and, in fact, the question i asked is it seven or

nothing? stop fill bursterring the nominees or the nuclear option. the question was, look,? -- look, if senator mcconnell and the republicans give you five, is that enough? four, six? what's the wiggle here? reid says seven or nothing. if you take him at his word, then it's seven or nothing. on the other hand, if they let cordray go, the next big issue is the national labor relations board. here's what republicans want. not only did they not like the two nominees in there from president obama, but there's also the huge separation of power issue. republicans believe those nominees were appointed, recessed appointed, illegally. president obama deciding that the senate was out of session when senators thought they were in session, appointed the people because republicans were blocking them, and the national labor relations board can't function without quorum or rule

on other issues. they want the two nominees swapped out for two other nominees they can vote on. democrats refuse. they think it's imperative and the president's imperty. that's more controversial than cordray right now. incidentally, those appointments are in front of the supreme court and justice kennedy may have to rule on that and is scheduled to rule on that. you can see it's really about more than 7 or nothing. it is an ongoing situation. it's unlikely that you're going to see democrats say, today, as these votes progress, no, it's seven, no more talking. nobody coming out of the room last night said that was the dynamic going on. on the other hand, there's no agreement, and senator reid is under enormous pressure from the left and many senators to pull that trigger if they don't get everything they want. we're just going to have to see how the votes play out. the floor votes, greta, are

important, but the behind the scenes negotiates that surely will be going on in senator reid's office and on the phone and in senator mccopp kneel's office is just as important. >> okay. i want names to the nominations you talked about for the national labor relations board, and that would be richard griffin, sharon, and mark. those nominees at issue here; correct? >> caller: you know, they had a problem with the way the national labor relations board functioned, and it's true. they do have a problem with the way it functions. i don't think they expect to outlaw the board in exchange for getting rid of the nominees. it was the way the nominees were recessed appointed, and the nominees themselves. it was the way they were appointed that has republicans crazy right now. incidentally, under the statute, that board needs a bipartisan quorum to function.

if not, it can't function at all, and democrats are concerned about that. >> yeah. >> caller: yeah. >> all right, the closed door negotiations. we heard from senator thune after the meeting last night that now it was in the hands of senator reid and senator mcconnell, and they'd continue talking. do we know that, in fact, those two sat down or over the phone and continued talking through the night, and could it a deal possibly be announced before this morning's first round of votes? >> caller: don't know -- they said that gorks would be going on -- negotiations would be going on during the night. i can't tell you nay were up at 33 # a.m. talk -- 3 a.m. talking or texting. john mccain, also, he's in the middle of this. true that it's up to the leaders, but you have to remember something important, greta. it's, you know, thune said it's up to the leaders, but that's never a hundred percent true. why? reid only -- reid has 54 democrats in his caucus; right? you know, including the independents. if a gang forms here, like it

did in 2005 with the gang of 14, when the gang of 14 formed, that circumvented leaders who were going to do something that the senators didn't want, the nuclear option on judicial nominations. if a bipartisan gang of senators form and refuse to vote for the nuclear option, that totally denews reid of the power and prevents this from going on. not saying that's going to happen, but their negotiation is important, but it's not the only thing. mrk mccain is involved in talking to reid in trying to get some agreement that involves swapping out these nlrb nominees that republicans don't like. it doesn't mean democrats are going to go forth, but that's one of the fulcrums here going forward. the cordray vote is concession. democrats are going to like that. it's going to also make them look pretty good in front of their base after eleven o'clock if cordray goes through.

that's something that liberals and dems want. they'll feel a little bit better about the process after they get that. maybe that greases up negotiations a bit. >> okay. does senator reid have all 51 votes? i mean, how many votes does he need if he goes forward with the nuclear option, and does he have all democrats and two independents on board with him? >> not all democrats. senator levin is not for it, an institutionalist, and says changing the rules is a bad for it in 2005 or all along. prior of arkansas not for it, there's another senator -- one other, blanking on the third, but anyway, the question is does reid have 54? no, he doesn't. does he have 51? he says he does. the question there is does vice president joe biden show up? if biden shows up, reid needs 50 because the vice president can break a tie in the senate on a ruling like this. the white house would not touch

the question yesterday of whether senators joe biden, would show up and preside over this. they want to keep an arm's length from this and let it be a senate issue if biden has to show up to settle it, maybe he would, but that gives reid a leeway of one more vote if he loses it. >> so we're going to take you inside now where the senate has just gaveled in. we expect vice president joe biden to begin the day by swearing in the former house member from massachusetts who won a special election a couple weeks ago. live coverage now of the u.s. senate now on c-span2. alone are omnipotent. shine your light upon the challenging path which our lawmakers must walk, dispelling

the shadows of doubt and division. lord, use our senators as instruments of your glory, keeping their faith strong as they trust you to order their steps and choreograph their destinies. may their labors bring solace to the needy, the marginalized, the lost, the lonely, and the least. help them to remember that they are your servants, called to serve your purposes in their generation. and, lord, we ask your special blessings on our new lawmaker, senator markey, as he is sworn in today.

we pray in your sacred name. amen. the president pro tempore: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. mr. durbin: mr. president? the president pro tempore: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: mr. president, the majority leader will be on the floor very briefly, and at this point i suggest the absence of a quorum. the president pro tempore: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: we're in a quorum call, is that true? the vice president: that's correct. mr. reid: i ask that it be virkted. the vice president: without objection, it is vitiated. mr. reid: mr. president, what is the business before the senate? the vice president: the swearing in of the senator from massachusetts. the chair laser before the senate a certificate of election to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of senator john f. kerry of massachusetts. the certificate the chair is advised is in the form suggested by the senate. if there's no objection, the reading of the certificate will be waived and will be printed in full in the record. if the senator-elect will now present himself -- mr. reid: mr. president, reserving the right to object, i know a lot of people want to say

some real nice things about this good man. but they're going to have do it later. we have a lot of things to do here. and as he will learn, the senate is not always as punctual as the house. so all those who have these wonderful things to say about this good man, do it later. the vice president: if the senator-elect will now present himself at the desk, the chair will administer the oath. please raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear that you will support and defend the constitution of the united

states against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that you will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that you take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that you will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which you are about to enter, so help you god? mr. markey: i do. the vice president: vice president congratulations, senator.

mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: what is the business before this body? the presiding officer: the motion to proceed to s. 2138. the majority leader. it is pending. mr. reid: mr. president, i am told that s. 1292 is due for its second reading.

the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 122, a bill to prohibit the funding of the patient protection and affordable care act. mr. reid: mr. president, i object to this. the presiding officer: objection having been heard, the bill will be placed on the calendar under rule 14. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask consent the senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of calendar number 51. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. the clerk will report the nomination. the clerk: nomination: bureau of consumer financial protection. richard cordray of ohio to be director.

mr. reid: mr. president, the time until ... i ask-- mr. president, that the time until 11:00 a.m. be equally dwrieded and controlled. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection, so ordered. mr. reid: so at 11:00 a.m., there will be a cloture vote on the nomination of richard cordray to be director of the consumer financial protection bureau. if cloture is invoked, there will be up to eight hours of debate on the nomination. the presiding officer: who he would i do not see time? -- who yields time? mr. mccain: mr. president? the presiding officer: would the senator withhold that suggestion? the senator from arizona is recognized. mr. mccain: mr. president, we

are, after a required amount of debate, going to move forward with the cordray nomination, which has been held up for some period of time. i would like to thank everybody on both sides of the aisle who have engaged in this debate and discussion. i'd particularly like to thank all of my colleagues last night who engaged in a maybe long, which is our custom, but i think productive discussion of the -- many of the issues that separate us, particularly this impending possible, wham o, what many of s believe to be a crisis in the history of the united states senate. i want to thank senator mcconnell and senator reid and many others who have been actively engaged in the

conversations that have been going on. like forward to the vote as soon as possible on mr. correspondent draivment i thank all of my - colleagues for an evening that i thought was very important in our relations in the united states senate. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: mr. president, we are -- we may have a way forward on this. i feel fairly confident. but, as you know, that's why we need the time. what we're going to do is going into quawrm. i think -- what we're going to do is go into quorum. i think everyone would be well-advised, to speak about substantive matters. we have got i's to dot and t's to cross. i need to speak to the vice president.

we're going to have a phone call with durbin, schumer, and murray. so everything is doing well. so, mr. president, i will say that i hope that everyone learned the lesson last night that it sure helps to sit down and talk to each other, either stand and talk, whatever it was. it was a very, very good meet being. it lasted four hours. people were still as highly engaged at the end of that four hours as they were at the beginning. so i think we see a way forward that will be good for everybody. and i -- there are a lot of accolades to go around to a lot of people. and i certainly appreciate my wonderful caucus. one of my senators told me this morning -- i don't mean this to -- something like this, we have a lot of humility.

that person said to me, don't matter what you ask me to do, i'll do it. so i would hope that -- this is not a time to flex muscles. but it is a time that -- i'm going to tell one person and no one else how much i appreciate their advocacy, their persuasiveness, persistence, and -- i'm trying to think of a word that really describes this man; it's hard to find. i was told by another senator, do you know what this man did you know who he reminds me of? bob kerrey. i hope that's not to disparage john mccain. but john mb can mccain is the rn we're at the point we are. this is all directed toward john

mccain from me. no one was able to break through but for him, and he does it at his own peril. and so everyone, we're going to have caucuses today. we'll explain in more detail the direction we're headed. i think everyone will be happy. everyone will not be -- observation man, we got everything we wanted -- oh, man, we got everything we wanted. but i think it is going to be something that is good for the senate. it is a compromise, and i think we get what we want, they get what they want. not a bad deal. i would note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from wyoming. mr. enzi: mr. president, i'd ask that the quorum call be set aside. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. enzi: mr. president, i want to speak today on the nomination of richard cordray to be the director of the consumer financial protection bureau. i want to speak against this confirmation. why is this nomination important? once the director is approved by congress, by the senate -- not all of congress, just by the senate -- we no longer have any

control over a bureau that collects everyone's financial records in detail and can cancel a loan up to 180 days even if both parties to the loan are happy. mr. cordray was recess appointed. i think it was because the president thought that he wouldn't be approved by congress. so what i'm about to tell you already is under the direction of this nominee. that recess appointment put him in charge of the consumer financial protection bureau. sounds like a good title, but the reason this is of utmost concern to me and has been for the past three years is the lack of congressional oversight and blatant privacy intrusions of the consumer financial protection bureau, the cfpb. the dodd-frank act which created the cfpb has been a hot topic of

conversation since passage in 2010. there are a lot of important discussions about the consequences of the bill we're seeing three years down the road. these are important conversations to have. but today i'm focusing on the consumer financial protection bureau. the bureau, as allowed by the dodd-frank act, could collect up to $600 million every year but is not subject to the congressional appropriations process. the same congressional appropriations process that approves the budgets of other agencies like the security and exchange commission and the federal trade commission. instead, the agency is funded through the revenues from the federal reserve, the federal reserve before the revenues come to the treasury. funds that are supposed to be remitted to the treasury for deficit reduction. some might ask, isn't there a cap to the funding available to cfpb? yes, there is, but here's what it looks like. the cap was 10% of the federal

revenues for fiscal year 2010, 11% for fiscal year 2012 and 12% for fiscal year 2013, with an inflation factor each and every year after that. this means 12% of the combined earnings of the federal reserve system which was $4.98 billion in 2009, at that time 10% would have been $500 million. these numbers are astonishing. and anyone saying that the bureau isn't funded by taxpayers is trying to pull a sleight of hand. the funds may not come directly from the treasury, but taxpayers are going to have to take up the slack for funds there no longer receiving from the federal reserve. not sure how we do that constitutionally, to move somebody outside and still take federal money. in addition, the director of the bureau has unlimited discretion over how the agency's money, these hundreds of millions of dollars i just talked about, is spent. let me repeat that. the director of the bureau has unlimited discretion over how

the agency's money is spent. he doesn't submit a budget. nothing is approved. not only that, the director is allowed to put fines and penalties collected by the bureau into a slush fund that it does not have to return to the treasury like other agencies have to do. you think that might encourage a lot of fines and penalties by this bureau? i think it would. i don't think it ought to be done that way. the same director that has so much unchecked authority doesn't even answer to the offings of management and budget. and only has to submit retune financial information to the -- routine financial information to the office. there's also no inspector general for this bureau. here's one example why that's a problem. the dodd-frank act expressly exempted auto dealers from the oversight per view of the bureau. they listened to this when this bill was passing and found out that loans could be canceled within 180 days by the bureau without the approval of the automobile dealer or the person that bought the automobile. however, the bureau doesn't think auto dealers should be

expement from oversight, so it's found ways to exert itself through the banks. banks are now looking at auto loans made and the bureau has issued its first significant penalty in connection with the visa financing. the bureau has also issue what had it calls a fair lending guidance bulletin directed at institutions that may -- that make indirect automobile loans. in it, the bureau says that indirect lerchedzers will be viewed as participants in any discriminatory pricing by dealers due to their role in the auto loan credit decision process and suggests lenders impose controls on dealer markups and compensation policies. is this revenge for them getting an exemption from the bill? the bureau's interpretation will have wide ramifications. because the bulletin issued is considered guidance -- get that guidance, not a rule -- there's been no opportunity for the

public, including consumers, lend,and dealers, to comment on this policy interpretation that will affect an disli that was exempted from the bureau oversight. the lack of accountability and congressional oversight over the bureau's budget and director are troubling, to say the least. but the picture becomes even more concerning when the lens is shifted to what kinds of oversight power are afforded to and being practiced -- practiced -- by this bureau, this consumer financial protection bureau. sounds like it's for everybody. here's what i said when expressing my concern about this bureau and the dodd-frank act on may 20, 2010. i said this bill was 130e6d to be about regulating wall street. instead, it is creating a google earth on every financial transaction. that's right. the government will be able to see every detail of your finances. your permission not needed. they can look at your

transactions from the 50,000-foot perspective, or they can look right down to the tiny details of the time plainsd where you pulled cash out of an a.t.m. or charged your credit card. unfortunately we're now finding this fear that is become a reality. a recent bloomberg article states that the bureau is demanding records from banks and buying information from companies on at least 10 million american consumers for use in a wide range of policy research projects. this information-gathering from banks includes credit card and checking account overdraft information as well as requirements to provide records on credit card add-on projects like credit monitoring. in addition to the bank records it's collecting. the bureau is collecting data on pay-day loans from debt collection agencies and building a mortgage database of loan and property records with information from ration as and

other financial and property information holders. the cystic fibrosis also says they are now -- the cfpb sayings they are not including any personally identifiable information while compiling all of this information. i made that statement at one of my listening sessions in wyoming. somebody from the audience yelled, "no, they'll just check with the n.s.a." what they are doing is taking all of that consumer data and layering it into consumer profiles show a complete snapshot of each consumer's finances. for example, they can say, here's a consumer at a specified zip code who has $1,500 in the bank be, $,000 in credit card debt, $10,000 in student loan debt, and a $200,000 mortgage. to the american people listening to me speak right now, what happens if you are one of the 10 million customers whose data is

being collected? does this make you angry and uncomfortable? what happens if you don't want all of your financial information compiled and used by the bureau for policy research projects 123? i'm sure you'd like to hear me tell you that you can call or write the bureau and say you don't want the bureau collecting your financial records from your bank, your student loan information from a third-party provider, or your mortgage data or your at.m. data. i'm sorry. you can't -- you can't tell them to stay out of your records. it's not possible. if your data is being collected, you do not have the option to opt out. nor does the cfpb need any kind of permission from you to gather your personal financial information. this is another issue i tried to work with on the dodd-frank act passed. i had an amendment that would simply require a privacy release, a signature from the consumer, before the bureau

could collect the consumer's financial data. unfortunately, my amendment was not accepted and we find ourselves in the situation we're in today: americans cannot tell the government they don't want their personal financial information equity cled and stored -- collected and stored. how is this information raining in wall street? the dodd-frank act was sold as a way to rein in wall street. it's turned out to be the perfect excuse for big brother to worm his way into our lives and privacy. actually, big brother doesn't have to worm his way in. dodd-frank opened the door and invited him in. that's what this lack of oversight is signaling. go ahead and collect millions of consumers' information. don't tell whawrs a using it for. and don't feel the need to tell us much of anything else because this director and this bureau will not be accountable to congress. meanwhile, the message we're

getting from the bureau and some of my colleagues is that congress needs to sit back and butt out of the bureau's business. we're hearing the message that asking for congressional oversight is akin to wanting consumers to be deceived and criminated against. let's get one thing straight. northern of my colleagues that protecting consumers is important. we all want consumers to get a fair share and be able to make informed financial decisions. i never envisioned the federal government making your financial decisions. i have championed financial literacy for much of my time in washington and believe strongly in the value of individuals having the tools they need to make sound financial decisions for themselves and their families. and i repeat, i never envisioned the federal government making your financial decisions. that's not the issue here. the issue here is the need for checks and balances and for consumers to be able to make a

choice as to whether their financial information is collected and used. i cannot support moving forward with the confirmation of a director to the consumer financial protection bureau. the one already in charge of collecting your financial records while doing a dalely speech about his good work. wait until his confirmation and you will a he see more intrusion in your personal life. until it's changed so this man does not have this much power, power beyond anybody else in the federal government. unless we can make some changes that will balance consumer protection with privacy protection and allow a healthy and appropriate level of congressional oversight over an an agency agency that wields this tremendous powered and has its own source of revenue and no oversierkts not even an inspector general, until that, i

have to oppose this nomination and i hope my colleagues will join me. i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new mexico. mr. udall: thank you, mr. president. mr. president, i wanted to talk a little bit today about -- and i ask unanimous consent to speak for five minutes. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. udall: mr. president, i wanted to talk about the rules and what we engaged in yesterday, which i thought was a very productive endeavor to have three hours with most senators in the room in the old senate chamber and be able to exchange our thoughts outside of the limelight. and i believe it was very productive, and we had a lot of ideas come forward. some of those ideas to resolve this situation may end up being adopted here in a little bit. it looks like richard correspondent drairks the attorney general from ohio, will get cloture at this point.

at least that's the way it's looking. then we'll have some debate on that nomination. but a couple of other points. first of all, leader reid has incredible patience when it comes to this whole issue of executive nominations. i've seen him over and over again be beyond the pale when it comes to patience. at this point he realized reaper getting things clogged up. there was too much obstruction and so he needed to fort issue and i'll very proud that he has because i think it's pushed us in the right direction. we're going to get executive nominee nominees i in place. i look back at history when we talk about executive nominees, and i remember my father when he became secretary of interior there in 1961, and i had told

him when i was first sworn in to the senate and came home that we were having a hard time getting executive nominees in place. and he said, tom, the amazing thing, if you highlight the 50 years ago and 50 years later here, is that we have had -- i had my whole team in place in two weeks, my entire team in place in two weeks. well here we are the fifth year into president obama and he doesn't have his team in place. that's real whrait issue is here. and i no he that we're focusing on that and trying to do everything we can to find a solution to how we allow a president who's been reelected and by a pretty good margin to have his team in place. and i'm very, let me say that i'm very confident that the senator john mccain, who i know is working on the compromise, a good friend of the family, somebody who really

cares about moving forward with the issues rather than obstructing, he was a part of the gang of 14, as everybody knows. senator mccain came up with a this compromise with 13 other senators to move us forward. in terms of the gridlock that we were facing with judicial nominations. so hope that the discussions are take place and are going to produce something. but i think it is a big break through -- it is a big breakthrough to see that we are at the point where richard cordray, who has been waiting for two years -- this is a very competent individual; he has served as the attorney general of ohio, one of our biggest states a; a great consumer protection person -- and that he is now going to -- we'll get cloture, we'll have debate, but

my sense is we're going to get him into that consumer agency and it'll make a big difference. just as a final thing here drsdz -- and i see my good friend, senator corker, so i want to make sure he gets to speak before we have this 11:00:00 vote. i want to -- i have a fuller statement here. i would like to with consent put my full statement into the record as if spoken. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. udall: and i would yield the floor. thank you. mr. corker: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from tennessee. mr. corker: mr. president, thank you. and i want to say that i thought last night's meeting meeting way healthy meeting. i appreciate the two leaders sponsoring that and i appreciate the tone with which everyone spoke. i do think that, with a lot of phone calls having been made this morning, that we will move

past the cloture vote on mr. cordray. i've had several conversations with him this morning and others. but i do want to say this is a gesture of good faith. and i know there are still numbers of things, if it occurs, we'll still see -- we'll see what happens here in a moment when the vote takes place. and obviously in this body nothing happens until it happens. but i do hope that members on the other side will note this good-faith effort that's taking place here in a few moments. i hope it is going to hasm i think it maivment but i do hope over the course of the neng nex4 house, 48 hours we can work on things in a little bit more comprehensive manner. i think this would be something to get behind us during this next year and a half and move on to solving our nation's problems. i don't think it's healthy for this body to constantly have

potential rules changes hanging over the issues of our nation. and we have big issues. we have an opportunity potentially to get the immigration issue behind us. i know there's other pieces of legislation we could well deal with. and in the event we do move into this postcloture period, i hope that members on the other side of the aisle will take note of that and will work with us constructively towards a solution that brings this place together instead of pulling it apart. and i thank the senator for his efforts. again, i empathize and sympathize we and his family over the personal loss that just occurred and i look forward to working with him as we move ahead. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order the clerk will report the motion to reconsider to invoke cloture -- report the motion to invoke

cloture. the clerk: the undersigned senators in accordance with rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of richard cordray of ohio to be director of the consumer financial protection bureau signed by 18 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of richard cordray of ohio to be the director of the bureau of consumer financial protection for a term of five years shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: are there any senators wishing to change their votes? on this vote the yeas are 71. the nays are 29. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn having voted in the affirmative, the motion is agreed to. pursuant to senate resolution 15 of the 113th congress, there are now eight hours of postcloture debate on this nomination equally divided in the usual form. mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i hope we don't have to use all of the eight hours, but we'll see. i ask consent the senate recess from 12:30 until 2:15 today to allow for our weekly caucus meetings and the time during the recess count postcloture on the cordray nomination. and i express my appreciation to everyone for the strong vote that this good man got. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president there are ten unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session.

they have my approval and that of senator mcconnell. i ask consent that these requests be agreed to and be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. reid: mr. president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the quorum call be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: what i should have done, and i do now, is that the time during this quorum call be divided equally between both sides. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

quorum call:

mr. merkley: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from oregon. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president of i ask that the quorum call be lifted. officer without objection. mr. merkley: thank you, mr. president. i thought i would just make a couple of comments regarding the activities of this chamber a few minutes ago. we voted 71 votes in favor of closing debate on the nomination of richard cordray as director of the consumer financial protection bureau, the cfpb. now, the cfpb is vested with the responsibility of protecting consumers from predatory financial practices. now, we all discovered in the run-up to the great real estate session, just how important this protection is. we had many, many crazy predatory practices on credit

card. we had fees that came out of nowhere and shifting time periods from month to month in terms of when the payments were due and even shifting destinations of where the credit card payments got mailed to, all so fees could be wracked up on you suspecting consumers. and certainly we found out in mortgages how important financial protection is, because we had starting from 2003 forward a booming industry in predatory teeser rate mortgages where the mortgages were 4% for two years and then they were changed after two years to 9%. now, you would think most would-be homeowners would look at that deal and say, well, that's not a good deal. but here's what happened. they went to a mortgage broker and the mortgage broker said, i am your financial advisor. now, mortgages have gotten very complex and very thick and there's lots of fine print, so you are paying me to sort

through and find the best deal for you. and so our first-time home buyers, they trusted their mortgage brokers, and unbeknownst to the new homeowner, those brokers were being paid kic kickbacks called steering payments. they were being paid special bonuses outside of the framework of the deal in order to steer the cuss americas the unsuspec unsuspecting home buyer into a predatory loan when the first-time customer actually qualified for a prime-rate, fixed-rate mortgage. well, those mortgages, those predatory mortgages proceeded to be put into securities. those securities were bought up by financial institutions across america and beyond because the folks who were buying the

securitiesecurities dwhrood in e d. understood that in a couple years the interest rate would go up and they had a make a lot of money off those securities. so this was a system rigged against the first-time home buyer, against the home buyer who wanted to start their journey to oarng their piece of the -- to owning their piece off the american dream. well, that's predatory practices should never have been allowed. some here will remember, they will remember that the responsibility for consumer protection was vested in the federal reserve. well, what happened in the federal reserve? well, the federal reserve carried on with its responsibility on montanatory policy. but it's put its responsibility for consumer protection down in the basement, down in the pavement of their building. they locked the doors. they threw away the key and they said, let the market be the market. they is