mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection, it is so ordered. mr. dodd: mr. president, what is the pending question? the presiding officer: the demint amendment is pending for the dodd-wyden first-degree amendment. mr. dodd: mr. president, i now withdraw the wyden amendment. the presiding officer: the senator has that right. the amendment is withdrawn. mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate now resume consideration of the durbin amendment, number 3989 and the thune amendment number 3987, that the durbin amendment be modified with the changes at the desk, that the amendment be debated concurrently for a total of ten minutes, with the time equally divided and controlled in the usual form, with no amendment be in order, any of the amendments to this agreement prior to a vote, that upon the use or y

mr. dodd: mr. president, before our colleague from new jersey leaves, let me thank him. he is a mesm our committee and a very balanced member of the banking committee. he's been tremendously helpful. we've worked during my 37 or 38 months as chairman of the committee. we've worked very closely on the housing issues, on the credit card legislation -- there have been some 42 measures that have come through the banking committee in the last 38 months, 37 of which have become the law of the land. that's a pretty good record out of our committee, and it reflectz the tremendous effort of members that have committee to help pull together sound pieces of legislation. senator menendez has been critical on some of those efforts. i want to thank him for that. we're hoping we can get as many of these amendments up and debate them. i thank him for his contribution already. i yield the floor. mr. cochran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from mississippi. mr. cochran: mr. president, i was sadden

mr. dodd: mr. president, the senate's not in order. the presiding officer: the senator is correct. the senate is not in order. the senator from tennessee is recognized. mr. corker: mr. president, i think everybody in this body knows that the core of this last financial kraoeufgs was there were -- crisis was there were a lot of loans written in this country people couldn't pay back. the dodd bill deals with a lot of things, but it doesn't deal with that basic core issue of loan underwriting. this is an opportunity for people on both sides of the aisle that is a commonsense amendment that requires a 5% down payment, fully documented credit income including credit history and employment history, which i think all of us would like to see and a method of determining borrower's ability to repay, put in place by bank regulators -- this -- mr. dodd: the senator cannot be heard. i can't hear. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. mr. corker: -- this commonsense amendment which should be supp

mr. dodd: mr. president, i would ask consent before you -- hold on that unanimous consent. the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: mr. president, i just can't thank our friend and colleague from colorado enough. he's done just a great job. this is a terrific idea and one that's long overdue. the presiding officer is a member of our banking committee, and we know we've talked a lot about these issues over the last couple of years, and we've had hearings, in fact we've had some legislation dealing with credit scores. a lot of people have had their good names in a sense stolen from them as a result of some thievery that goes on with credit cards and the like and people's credit scores have been manipulated and so forth. it's very difficult to find out where you are in all of this. you don't know. it's ironic in a way that here we are citizens of our country and other people are determining whether or not we're credit worthy for buying an automobile, purchasing a home, a student

mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: i would ask concept that the senator from colorado -- let me read this. the presiding officer: can we have order in the senate. mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the following be the next amendments in order: senator bennett of colorado, amendment 3928, to be followed by the corker amendme amendment, number corker's number 3955, and the merkley-klobuchar amendment 3552, side-by-side to the cork hcorkeramendment. that when the senate resumes consideration of the bill, senator bennett of colorado be recognized to call up his amendment, that after his statement, the amendment be set ai'd anaside, and senator corkee recognized to call up his amendment, and that immediately after reporting of the number, senator merkley and klobuchar be recognized to call up their amendment. mr. shelby: reserving the right to object. i w

mr. dodd: senator shelby has time too. mr. gregg: i would ask for four minutes off of senator shelby's time. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. gregg: senator vitter's amendment, unfortunately, has as its basic purposes the disas sepl pwhrelg of -- disassembling of independent. it would have the congress the authority through the g.a.o. to go in and investigate what happens with the open market community. that is clearly going to create consequences which would be inappropriate in the decision-making process of the federal reserve. it would influence their ability to make decisions in the sense that they would be concerned about congress coming in and investigating. it would open up activities which, if they are not done in some level of confidence, inevitably end upl disrupting the markets -- up disrupting the markets. so it is critical market not be allowed to go into the market committee and audit that part of the federal reserve committee. absolutely critical if we are going to maintain the integrity of the doll

mr. dodd: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut is recognized. mr. dodd: mr. president, i just spoke with senator shelby on the phone, and we have an agreement regarding the title -- the presiding officer: the quorum call -- mr. dodd: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. dodd: as most of our colleagues are aware, senator shelby and i have been working to reach an agreement on the so-called too big to fail sections of the bill, and i just spoke with him on the phone, and while he will be coming over shortly and we'll have a vote on this early this afternoon, the leaders will have to set the time, but i presume shortly after the chairman's lunch and the steering committee's lunch, we'll be able to have a vote on this, boxer amendment and this and other matters. i will leave it up to the leaders. i won't ask for any unanimous consent requests here. i want to describe briefly to

mr. dodd: mr. president, i'll -- i'm looking at my floor staff. i'll note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: i ask unanimous consent that the call of the quorum be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to a period of morning business with senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dodd: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent that the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar 296, hfer 714, virgin islands national park. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: calendar number 296, h.r. 714, an act to authorize the secretary of the interior to lease certain lands in virgin islands national park and for other purposes. the presiding officer: without objection, the senate shall proceed to the measure. mr

mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from new hampshire. dodd -- mr. gregg: i wanted to rise in support of the saxby-chambliss amendment, senator chambliss of georgia, and express my concern, my very serious concerns about the language which has been brought forward by the chairman of the committee, both the agriculture committee and banking committee, relative to derivatives. let's begin with what our purpose should be here. let's remember that derivatives, as has been said before on this floor numerous times before -- i think the senator from alabama said it extraordinarily well. our critical part of how main street maintains its economic vitality. credit is what makes america work. i mean, one of the great geniuses of our society is that we are able to produce credit in a fairly ready manner, which is reasonably priced and which people who wish to take risk can take advantage of in order to create economic activity and jobs. the oil that basically keeps the credit active i

mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: mr. president, at some point fairly soon, i hope to be able to, at the request of the authors of the amendment, propose two attempts that i hope can be accepted -- in fact i know will be accepted on a voice vote. some language is being worked on. that will come before we adjourn this evening. then we have also laid down, i believe, nine amendments tomorrow both -- i think equally divided between the majority and the minority, including the amendment just -- you just heard proposed by my good friend from alabama, senator sessions. along with others. so it'll be a busy day tomorrow. we've done today -- i hope we've done eight amendments by the time we're done, which is a good day's work. obviously, more needs to be done. but six of those, i think -- or five of them were done by recorded votes and three by voice votes. we hope they'll be by voice votes. i want to take a minute or so, if i can -- a couple of minutes

mr. dodd: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that on tuesday, may 11, after any leader time, the senate resume consideration -- the presiding officer: the controller is in progress, senator. mr. dodd: madam president, i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. dodd: madam president, i ask unanimous consent that on tuesday, may 11, the senate resume srgs of s. 3217 and debate concurrently the pending sanders amendment numbered 3738 and the vitter amendment 3760. that prior to a vote in relation to each amendment, there be a total debate limit of 80 minutes, with 20 minutes each under the control of senators sanders, vitter, shelby, and dodd or their designees. that upon the use or yielding back of all time, the senate proceed to a vote in relation to the sanders amendment, followed by a vote in relation to the vitter amendment, with no amendment in order to eith

mr. dodd: i move to reconsider the vote and lay it on the table. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. dodd: mr. president, i have seven unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. and i ask conse that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. dodd: and i'll note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: is not frr connecticut. mr. dodd: i ask unanimous consent that the call for the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. dodd: let me just say that the next amendments up deal with the mccain amendment, and while we don't have an agreement yet, i'm hopeful one will be agreed to right after the -- we come back after the respectiv

mr. dodd mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: first let me thank my friend and colleague from virginia. he is exactly right. under the constitution of the united states, all revenue-originating measures must originate in the other body the house of representatives. the senator from virginia, despite his amendment which i agree with, it's what they call a blue slip. an amendment is offered here that would impact on the revenue code and it's originated over here, it's subject to an objection, what they call a blue slip. it doesn't go to the merits of the amendment. it just goes to the question of the constitutionality of such a proposal where revenue is affected those matters must begin in the house. i -- i would just say to my colleague from virginia that there will be opportunities i'm sure with revenue measures that will be coming from the house for our consideration at the appropriate time to raise this amendment again. i, for one am attracted very mu

mr. dodd: mr. president, how much time stphraeupls. the presiding officer: 12 minutes and 50 seconds. mr. dodd: i'll just take a few minutes. i spoke last evening about my friend's amendment. it wasn't to a packed chamber, i can tell you, about 8:00 last night. i'm sure you all received copies of it and listened to it intently as you were dozing off last evening. let me, first of all, thank jeff sessions, my good pal from alabama. we worked to together on a numbr of issues. i see bob corker on the floor as well. as many -- in many ways bob corker and mark warner of virginia spent a lot of hours putting this together. here's the quandary. one of the things we tried to avoid was getting back to too big to fail. the issue was -- and the presumption of our bill is bankruptcy. we want to get people in bankruptcy who want to be there. if they deserve to fail, they ought to fail. the question is if you end up with large, highly complex entities, that pushing them into bankruptcy can have the unintended co

mr. dodd: mr. president, i thank our colleague. let me if i can, mr. president, -- i have four unanimous consent requests which have been agreed to by the majority and minority leaders. four unanimous consent requests for committees to meet during today's session of the senate. they have the approval of the majority and minority leaders. i ask unanimous consent that these requests be agreed to and that these requests be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. the senator from virginia is recognized. mr. warner: i want to commend my colleague, the senator from california, for her amendment. as one of the people that was charged by the chairman to work on this section of how we make sure that we put appropriate barriers to firms getting too large and barriers to firms too big to fail, and then should they fail, making sure that taxpayers are never on the hook again. i think the senator from california's amendment does add that emphasis. we took the chairman's char

mr. dodd: mr. president, let me briefly express my gratitude to my great pal and friend from new jersey, bob menendez. once again, we look around, there are a hundred of us here. i don't often acknowledge these things, but if i had to pick one of my colleagues to be in my corner as an advocate, i would pick bob menendez every time. when he is as focused on matters such as this one, there is no better advocate than him. he has been a great help the last number of years as we have worked on bills coming out of the committee. his understanding of this issue is exactly right. i say there are ideas people can offer for which they can make a case that they strengthen our particular provisions here, but i say respectfully this is such a step backwards. it's even hard to imagine someone could conjure up an amendment that would step this further away from even the status quo. i thought i might get another strike and just leave the world as it is. senator thune made that somehow this isn't broke, leave it al

mr. dodd: mr. pre consicticut is recognized. mr. dodd: well, mr. president, let me first of all thank the distinguished majority leader. he has shown remarkable endurance as well as patience over the last two years. the health care debate went on for almost a year -- more than a year actually, when you consider the beginning of it until we finally ended up passing the legislation -- a lot of other matters to deal with, obviously the economic crisis, and we're a he now on the financial reform bill. and my hope is here -- and again this is not -- i'm not making any procedural requests here, but based on conversations we've had late last evening and again early this morning, my hope is -- and i think senator shelby shares this hope with me, and i say "hope" -- we're working os w-- we're working as we speak here -- we might be able to have a vote on senator boxer's amendment at 11:00, 11:30. and a vote son senator shelby's amendment maybe around 12:30. and not to have to vote on them. i think they'd be agreed to to unanimously. senator snowe had a coup

mr. dodd: let me say, first of all, mr. president, i appreciate my colleague from north dakota's inquiry. all i'm trying to do in this -- and, again, everyone can do that. i suppose there are about 60 amendments and we can have everybody's amendment called up and so we end up with 60 amendments pending around the place. it adds to the difficulty of sorting it out because obviously it takes consent to withdraw amendments, modify amendments, do all sorts of things. it seems harmless enough to do so; it just complicates the job when you try to sequence events because obviously then it takes consent to do different things, at which point all sorts of different reasons, people can have motivations on why not to give consent, including people may oppose the amendment for reasons they want the amendment pending. so i'll be very candid with my friend from north dakota, it complicates my job, but obviously i don't want to cause anyone diskph-frbt in the process. -- discomfort in the process. they all have amendments they want to bri

mr. doddmadam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mrs. hutchison: madam president, i was going to suggest that we allocate the time that is being used up against both sides. that would be be my motion, madam president. the presiding officer: without objection. mrs. hutchison: and i suggest the absence of a quorum. mr. dodd: no, i want to say something. mrs. hutchison: excuse me. mr. dodd: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: let me commend our two colleagues, senator tester and senator hutchison, for this proposal. as i said several times yesterday, i think this is a very sound contribution to this bill, and for the very reasons that have been outlined this morning by senator hutchison and senator tester earlier, reducing the cost to our community banks at a time when obviously they're all feeling tremendous pressures under this economy. so i'm a strong and ardent supporter of their proposal and hopefully confident it will

mr. dodd: mr.esident, i'd note the observes o absence of . the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: is not snrr connecticut. mr. dodd: i ask consent that the call of the quorum be reunderstand ised. the presiding ofcer: without objection. mr. dodd: mr. president, i want to share a few thoughts if i may in a minute or so on the pending matter buffs. before i do that, and at a later time i'll speak at greater length about this, but i wanted to express my greets over the decision made in utah over the -- my regrets over the decision made in utah over the weekend about our colleague, bob bennett. i have served with him for 18 years. we've been on the banking committee during that time. obviously we have differences of opinion on a lot of policy questions. in fact, the majority of policy questions we've had our differences. but at critical moments, bob bennett was always someone you could talk to, always someone you could approach

mr. dodd: i see my friend from arizona. could i ask my -- did you lay down your amendment, senator? i'm unclear. mr. mccain: i have not laid down the amendment because i understand that the senator from connecticut would move to table, and there are numerous members that want to talk on this issue, this multitrillion dollar issue. so no, i have not -- but i can also assure the senator from connecticut if i propose the amendment and it is tabled without proper debate, there will be another amendment just like it. mr. dodd: let me say to my -- my friend, he is my friend from arizona, i have no intention of immediately tabling anyone's amendment. i have not done that at all in the process. i think most members appreciate, i have been trying to make sure everybody has a chance to be heard and to work out amendments where we can so we can move along. you can also understand my dilemma in a sense that we have 100 members here that basically all have amendments they want to get heard on. everyone thi

dodd: mr.efly, let me say to our colleague from colorado that i appreciate his efforts in this regard and where you and senator lugar and others have worked on this. you're absolutely right; people have a right to know what their credit scores are. they're critical when it comes to that home mortgage, the interest rates that you pay, the down payment you're required to meet are all linked to what that credit score is. we've seen in the past how credit scores can actually be very different from what they should be, when people have had to fight for years to get a credit score restored because of either identity theft, all sorts of things that can happen. we had a hearing not too many years ago on this issue, where the theft of identity caused an individual to have a person who just ran wild with some credit cards. the individual who had his credit cards stolen then spent years trying to rehabilitate his own name and reputation because of what had happened and could never get access to his credit

mr. dodd: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. dodd: mr. president, first let me thank our -- my colleague from illinois for his predictable eloquence. and he's not a member of the banking committee but i began to think he was listening to him talk. he had a wonderful awareness and knowledge of the legislation, and i appreciate very much that because it's obviously a complicated area of law. and the fact that he has spent as much time analyzing what's in the bill and the important work that's been done over the many, many months we've been involved in this debate is something i appreciate very, very much. and i thank him for his comments. and i know my friend from kentucky is here as well. i will not take long, i say to senator bunning. just a couple of comments, if i can. i am one who is supportive of the -- of the boxer amendment when it will be offered tomorrow. its a fairly straightforward, and the senator from illinois has read the amendment. what i think is important is that -- is that you, at the very first language, it says, "at the

reid, senator connecticut, mr. dodd, the senator from massachusetts, mr. kerry, the senator from north dakota, mr. dorgan, the senator from new jersey, mr. menendez, the senator from alaska, the senator from texas, mr. cornyn, and the senator from texas, ms. hutchinson. the speaker: members of the escort committee will exit the chamber through the lobby doors. >> madam speaker, the acting dean of the diplomatic corps. >> madam speaker, the president's cabinet. >> madam speaker, the president of mexico. the speaker: members of congress, i have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you his excellency, cal cal, the president of -- felipe calderon hinojosa, the president of mexico. president calderon thank you. president calderon: thank you very much. madam speaker, mr. vice president, honorable members of congress, and as we say in mexico, amigas, amigos. it's a great honor to stand before you today. i would like to thank congress and the american people for this invitation. i want to express my gratitude to all of you here who have supported

mr. dodd: mr. president, first let me thank our -- my colleague from illinois for his predictable eloquence. and he's not a member of the banking committee but i began to think he was listening to him talk. he had a wonderful awareness and knowledge of the legislation, and i appreciate very much that because it's obviously a complicated area of law. and the fact that he has spent as much time analyzing what's in the bill and the important work that's been done over the many, many months we've been involved in this debate is something i appreciate very, very much. and i thank him for his comments. and i know my friend from kentucky is here as well. i will not take long, i say to senator bunning. just a couple of comments, if i can. i am one who is supportive of the -- of the boxer amendment when it will be offered tomorrow. its a fairly straightforward, and the senator from illinois has read the amendment. what i think is important is that -- is that you, at the very first language, it says, "at the

dodd. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think the witnesses for their presence here today.t me just say, as far as the chairman does, this has been of longstanding issue for senator kerrey. he has done a remarkable job on it. but also dick lugar, wife had the pleasure of serving with on this committee -- who i have had the pleasure of serving with on this committee for 30 years. the story of mankind putting its common good over in stings, the name of dick luga willr -- dick lugar will figure prominently. and i think the three of you as well. this is difficult work and you have done a remarkable job getting it done. i have two questions. one relates to the non-lugar opposes. i wonder if any analysis has been done in light of this new start accord? obviously it is a very valuable tool over the years, as senator lugar has just affirmed. secretary clinton, admiral mullin? >> actually, sir, i am not sure. from my perspective, i think we should look at it. >> secondly, you've answered this, madam secretary clinton, but i wonder if you might just go a little further. congratulatio

dodd never wanted it. that was the agriculture committee chairman mrs. lyndon. >> can i suggest, i actually was very impressed with al franken in this case. i thought this was actually a tremendously insightful and thoughtful approach to this. the idea -- >> i agree. >> the idea being that these banks have been abusing in some cases the rating agencies. and what this does is create effectively a clearinghouse for the rating agencies themselves so that they can't be shopped. so that you effectively, if you have something you need to get rated, you actually go to an agency that effectively will be like the sec and they will say you are getting it from moody's today or s&p tomorrow. and will you still pay them but there is nob competing to say i will give you the aaa, you know, the other guy will only give you aa. and that's very important. >> it's a great idea which is why it won't happen. neither wall street nor the rating agencies want this. and the administration does not want it either. it oppose this idea. i know this because i once proposed it myself

dodd. senator corker. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank each of you for your service and what you do on behalf of our country. madam secretary, what recourse do each of the countries have against each other if there is violations in the treaty? >> senator, there are several approaches. one, there is a bilateral commission that exists to iron out differences, solve problems to which each country may eke recourse if there is some kind of violation or perceived violation. >> what kind of recourse? >> well, we have had this -- we have a long history with these treaties where presenting information that we believe might violate the spirit or the letter of the treaty leads to changes. this treaty is not a static document. it goes into effect like the previous start treaty and others, and then it begins to be implemented. if we believe under the treaty we are not getting access to what we have signed up for under the treaty, we raise that and we get the access. so it's a constant effort to make sure that both sides are complying with their

mr. king: reclaiming. in scowering the financial reform package in the barney frank bill or the chris dodd bill and setting up the word search and chasing it through there, mr. speaker, i don't find anything in either one of those bills that addresses the necessary form for fannie mae and freddie mac. they are completely insulated and i recall the debate here on the floor of the house in october 26, 2005, that the chairman of the financial services committee, mr. frank, was very much engaged in. he came to the floor to vigorously oppose an amendment that was offered by mr. leech of iowa that would have established higher levels of collateralization for fannie mae and freddie mac, higher stads -- standards for underwriting in the secondary market and higher standards for capitalization for fannie and freddie. the vigorous opposition that mr. frank flowed out on that day and the gentleman from texas remembers the exchange that took place on the thursday before easter in 2009, here on this floor, the gentleman from texas was there. the gentleman from massachusetts there. i think me up there somewhere. as we t

dodd county it brought forth on behalf of mr. russell haq after working for the department was forced to retire at the age of 71. there was no evidence he was having any performance problems comment intended to continue to work for several more years but the county told him it was creating a stress test to determine workers over the age of 70 could meet the physical requirements of their job for current the county never administer the test and instead he was forced to leave his job based on their assumption that he would not be able to pass the test. as mr. gros will testify today the u.s. supreme court decision had created new hurdles which age victims must now overcome cheese. >> must now prove that the defendant employer read not have taken a challenge of employment action but for his or her age. . . the case is causing concrete hardships for workers, although it appears to be an abstract set of principles. the hardships are real. and it is expressed in decisions left little under a year since the gross case was decided where

mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from montana is recognized. a senator: thank you. before i begin, i would like to thank chairman dodd for his exemplary work on this wall street reform bill. it is the result of months of tireless work and many hours of negotiation by chairman dodd and his staff. this wall street reform bill will vastly improve the regry structure -- regulatory structure currently on the books. it creates a strong consumer watchdog on the fed, that will put consumers first ahead of wall street profits. this bill brings derivatives out of the shadows an on to exchanges so that wall street's bets upon bets never again threaten to bring down our entire economy. this bill accomplishes many things and brings us a long way toward robust reform. but there is one area that we need to make stronger. we need to go further in addressing the rampant problems plaguing the credit rating industry. and that is why i intend to introduce an amendment to change the way the initial credit ratings are assigned and encourage competition within the rating industry, the credit rating industry. currently wall street firms tha

dodd and bald corker .. ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed. the presiding officer: without objection. mrnator from virginia and i worked on a number of issues together in order to create the bill we think is solid to stand the test of time we hope that spirit continues on. one of the things many members have been talking about on the floor is the size of the institutions we have in this country. there has been some movement to arbitrarily decide what the institution ought to be. i think everybody is frustrated by what occurred a couple of years ago a lot of ideas to try to prevent the same types of things that occurred a couple of years ago even one year ago from happening again. what i help people keep in mind is the reason our large financial institutions are the size that they are is because we have companies in this country that need a large institutions in order to be competitive pressure are like to start with the fact that obviously would you are a large company in this country what you want to ensure is you have a financial institution that covers the entire geographic map of our

mr. lender. guest: ok, both the republican and democratic parties endorsed their candidates for u.s. senate in november. the seat that is vacated by christopher doddly nominated richard blumenthal, the

purpose of the dodd bill and our bill is to elevate consumers and give them protection from these kinds of schemes that brought our economy to its knees and resulted in 700,000 jobs a month, mr. president, being lost and the wealth of the average american who had even a 401(k) was down 20%, 30%, 40%, maybe 50%, and as a result of that, the lack of consumer confidence that followed. and we know that our economy is based on consumer confidence. 70% of our economy is attached to consumer spending. and when people see the stock market going down, they see their wealth going down, they see their neighbors losing their home, they see their neighbors losing their job, they feel threatened, they pull back, and rightly soavment and it startedm deregulation on steroids on wall street where the regulators didn't even use the powers they had to protect consumers. so this bill, an essential part of this bill is putting a cop on the beat for consumers. finally, whether you're a consumer in credit cards -- of credit cards or you're a consumer in terms of the housing market or you're a consumer in terms of the stock market or the commodities market, you're finally going to have a watchdog.