he replaces chris dodd who is retiring. senator dodd spoke earlier on the senate floor about his time in the senate. we will also hear from senator dodd's colleagues. mr. blumenthal will be sworn in. in january. >> -- the speech you gave whenit you first arrived there after remarks you may have. i can't recall what my speech was even about 36 years ago in reprentative the house of representatives,hat except i do recall very vividly there was no one else in the chamber when i gave it. it was an empty hall, early oner colleague, johnny debt. for those old enough to remember johnnie from pennsylvania was rr sitting in the chair.pennsyania he wore dark glasses forever, even all during the day, and hee said there patiently and listened to me as i gave my hand shaking speech in the house ofkn representatives.e house midway through the speech hemidu walked up to me as those who who envision the chamber of the house speaking frommb the well d walked up to me and said quietly so that was my speech in the senate and i am deeply honore

chris dodd. that the caucus today, the presiding officer was there, i indicated that very few people have had the opportunity and the challenges in a single congress as chris dodd has. he found himself chairman of the banking committee at a time when the country was collapsing and the banks were collapsing but yet he led the way, to working with a republican president to do the so-called tarp. it was something that was done on a bipartisan basis. there was never a better example in my entire government career of a more cooperative group of senators, democrats and republicans, house and the senate working together to create something that was badly needed. and then we had -- of course there are many other issues dealing with wall street reform -- and then to complicate his life and add to the challenges in his life, the best friend a man could ever have was chris dodd's best friend, ted kennedy. and ted kennedy was stricken very ill. senator dodd knew that he wouldn't be back to the senate. very f

and chris dodd is now retiring. brewing in the background right now as majority rule means nothing and washington spends another day falling apart is this idea that maybe it is time to fix the thing that's most broken in washington. maybe it's time to fix the senate. there are very few problems in american politics that can be fixed with one vote on one day on one issue. but on the first day of the new congress, if 51 senators vote to change the rules of the senate, then the senate can be unbroken. they can stop the "it automatically takes 60 votes to pass anything" situation that has held true for the past four years in that institution. they can only make the rules change on the first day of the congress. they've got one shot at it. on one day. there is a very small and specific window for getting it done. there are three weeks between now and the date on which they would have to vote, january 5th. the only date on which they'd be allowed to vote on the single biggest problem in american politics. only 21 days lef

chris dodd's father. francis walter, jack kennedy was an anticommunist on some of these committees. so i hear this and i am thinking what does he really believed? and how close was he to obama? august 2nd, 2008. davis was a constant figure in obama's early life. he was an important influence to obama to look to as a father, a mentor, for advice on living. obama in dreams from my father. i was intrigued by old frank with his books and was the breath and the hand of harder and knowledge behind the hooded are. he gave me advice on college, women, life. all these examples. he started looking in different documents and among the things that i found, frank marshall davis was called to testify before the senate in 1956 for communist association. he pleaded the fifth amendment. these are in the book. i gave back work copies of 2564257. next year in 1967, a senate report, actually listed frank marshall davis as an identified member of communist party usa. congress didn't just go and say somebody was a member of the communist party. they would say things like this person has association with

the people working in chris dodd's office were buying financial stocks the time they were buying the then you wonder why there's one political party that wants to burn the place to the ground and a bunch of people are totally disengaged because they fund mentally believe this is nothing more than a bunch of crap. when they see these stories, this is a corrupt republic run by rich people paying each other off and i'm not going to believe stupid dylan ratigan's nonsense about how this is the democracy because it's not. >> there's another fun little connection. the judge has admitted that becky donatelli was the one -- it's bad all around. one thing good i will say just for the merits itself, clearly, i agree with rick. should have recused himself. however, what i think is important for the merits of the case, it does appear that even some conservative judges disagree with his legal martial rational and i think that's why the white house and department of justice has decided to file because it's important there are legal reasons why his rationale was not sound. not just that if politics

as my friend chris dodd said, our friend chris dodd said in his valedictory speech the senate was designed to be different. not simply for the sake of priority but because of the framers believed the senate could and should be the venue in which statesmen woodcliff america up to meet these unique statements -- challenges. that is the word we need to focus on, statement. too often in recent months the american people signaled that in the last election, said it has been unable to lift america up to meet its challenges. too often we became one of those challenges. rather than cooperating or compromising, we saw a blockade after blockade, an inability to address a number of issues. as senator dodd said, what determines whether this institution works in is whether the 100 of us can work together. with the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty we have the opportunity to do just that. not only to demonstrate our leadership to the world's, i would say to my colleagues just a few days ago the foreign relations committee had the privilege of welcoming the entire united nations security council which came here to wa

chris dodd father, thomas dodd, right? frances walter, representative i court, jack candy was an anti-communist -- jack kennedy was an anti-communist. i hear this and i'm thinking okay, what did he really believe, what does david really believe, and how close was he to obama? august 2, 2008, ap east, davis was a constant figure in obama's early life. he was an important influence who obama looked to like a father, a mentor, for advice on living and other things. obama, in "dreams from my father," i was intrigued by old frank with his books and whiskey breath and a hint of hard earned knowledge behind the hooded eyes. the hind the hooded eyes. frank gave me advice on college, women, on life, all these different examples. so i started looking into different documents and among the things that i found, frank marshall davis was called to testify before the senate in 1956 economists association. he pleaded the fifth amendment. these are in the book. i give the actual copies of actual pages, i think that you page 256, pleaded th

i also want to thank the sponsor of the senate bill, senator chris dodd, for his leadership in bringing this important legislation to the house as well as senators daniel inway, daniel akaka and jeff binghamton and chairman tom harkin for helping to ensure that help is available for victims of sexual and domestic assault anywhere in america. finally, i want to thank mr. kline for working with us on working this legislation. mr. speaker, i ask my colleagues to re-authorize the child abuse and prevention and treatment act. i reserve the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. for what purpose does the gentleman from kentucky rise? mr. guthrie: mr. speaker, i yield myself such time as i may consume. i rise in support of senate bill 3817, the child abuse prevention and treatment act re-authorization of 2010. this bill re-authorizes the child abuse prevention and treatment act, the family violence and services prevention act and the adoption opportunities act. this is a narrowly tailored and responsibility re-authorization for these laws, to update and improve th

chris dodd's father, thomas dodd, representative eye court, jack kennedy was an anticommunist on some of these committees. i'm hearing this and thinking what does davis really believe, and how close was he to obama? august 2, 2008, "ap" piece. davis was a constant figure in obama's early life. he was an important influence who obama looked to like a father, a mentor for advice on living other things. obama in "dreams by my father," i was intrigued by his hard earned knowledge behind the hooded eyes, all right, behind the hooded eyes. he gave me advice on women, on life, all these examples. i started looking into different documents, and among the things i found, he was called to testify before the senate in 1956 for communist associations. he pleaded the 5th amendment. these are in the book, and i think it's page 256 or 257. next year in 1957, a senate report actually listed frank marshall davis as an identified member of the communist party of the usa. that's -- congress just didn't go and say that somebody was a member of a communist party. they would say this person has association

as my friend chris dodd said -- our friend chris dodd said in his valedictory speech, "the senate was designed to be different, not simply for the sake of variety, but because the framers believed that the senate could and should be the venue in which statesmen would lift america up to meet its unique challenges -- challenges. "statesmen. that's the word we need to focus on in these next days. too often in recent months, the american people signaled that in the last election the senate has been unable to lift america up to meet its challenges. too often, we became one of those challenges. and rather than cooperating or compromising, we saw blockade after blockade and an inability to be able to address a number of issues. as senator dodd said, what determines whether this institution works is whether the 100 of us can work together. so with the new start treaty, we have got the opportunity to do just that, and not only to demonstrate our leadership to the world -- and i would say to my colleagues that just two days ago, the foreign relations committee had the privilege of welcoming the

chris dodd chairs the banking committee. this is 50 minutes. >> [inaudible] >> all federal credit unions -- this hearing is an important opportunity to explore the health of the credit union industry as we emerge from deep financial crisis and recover and grow. i want to welcome and thank chairman debbie matz for being here today. they have taken unprecedented steps to stabilize the credit union system. the system has also shared many of the same challenges as the fdic. these steps have made a significant impact on thousands of credit unions across the country. we can have a serious conversation about the current state of the credit union industry and the impact of the increased assessments on credit unions that serve millions of americans across this country. i have certainly heard concerns from my constituents in south dakota about this matter. this is not the first and certainly not the last hearing on this financial condition of the specific sectors of our financial services and history. the financial crisis took a toll.

my friend, chris dodd, with whom i'd worked on many children and family issues and who worked with uson the hava act, told me he never wanted to see the picture of that dog again. so i autographed the picture and gave it to him. i trust he still has it in his trusted memory box. right now, we're engaged on the senate floor in passing a bill that will stop historic tax increases from hitting most american families and the entire economy next year. i truly hope the house will be able to pass the bill for signature by president obama so we can begin getting the economy to work again and preventing even more job losses. assuming we can do it, the new congress has to put our economy back on a sound footing. we must end the recent trend of the push for government overspending and passing a burdensome mandates on states and the private sector. excessive regulations that go beyond reasonable safety and environmental restrictions are costing us jobs, delaying in agriculture, energy, many othe others -- many other areas of the economy, and stopping badly needed developments that we in this coun

our w chris dodd with whom i'veo worked on many children's family issues and who work with us on the hot bat told me that he nevere wanted to see a picture f a t dog again. so i autographed picture and gave it to them. i trust he still has it in his w trusted memory, box. in p right now, wearing cage on thetp senate floor in passing a bill that looks at historic tax truly increases. house a truly hope the house will be looked to pass the bill for signature by president obama so we can begin getting the economy to look again in preventing eveg more job w losses.ck assuming we can do it, the new congress has to put our economys back on a sountd footing.ent we must and the recent trend of the push for government overspending and passing a burdensome mandates on states and s the other.e safety excessive regulations that gos beyond reasonable safety and environmentalco restrictions are agriculture, energy, and many other areas of the economy and y stopping badly needed developments that we in thiscomn country need.or and the size of the debt has been increasingly concerned and others acro

one need look no further than the chris dodd bill to see that too big to fail is in the laws of the bail. we continue to bail out with more expected, and the list goes on. the taxpayer-funded bailout are known substitute for real growth. -- no substitute for real growth. and the freedom to succeed must include the freedom to fail. the free market is what made america's economy the greatest in the world, and we can not falter on our willingness to stand. i believe we can restore our economy, but it will take courage and a new division. everything starts with fiscal responsibility in washington, d.c. the good news is with the impending advent of a new republican majority in the house, there is no shortage of plants or energy to restore responsibility. we have the president's debt commission, and we have had thoughtful proposals, blueprints. mr. bryan's note were they looper and represents leadership. i code-authored a spending amendment -- spending limit it limits federal spending to 20% of the economy, believing that would create a framework to which this and future congresses could live

my colleague, senator chris dodd, hit the nail on the head when he said -- quote -- "it is whether each one of the 100 senators can work together, living up to the incredible honor that comes with the title and the awesome responsibility that comes with the office. we do have a symbiotic relationship, and i'm encouraged that more and more of my colleagues understand that. i was quite impressed with the fact that 60% of the senate representation on the national commission on fiscal responsibility and reform supported the recommendations of the chairman, including tom coburn, mike crapo, judd gregg, kent conrad and dick durbin. as far as i'm concerned, there are -- they are true patriots. as our colleague tom coburn said just before the commission vote -- and i quote -- "the time for action is now. we can't afford to wait until the next election to begin this process. long before the skyrocketing costs of entitlements costs tax traoeuts double, our -- tax rates to double our economy may collapse. we are near precipice. in the near future we can experience collapse in the value of our doll

he replaces chris dodd who is retiring. senator dodd spoke earlier on the senate floor about his time in the senate. we will also hear from senator dodd's colleagues. mr. blumenthal will be sworn in in january. when you >> this bg did when you first arrive in the senate and then of course in the closing remarks c you may have.ay i can't recall what my speech my the house of representatives. except i do recall vividly ther was no one else in the chamber g when i gave it to me it was an h empty hall early one evening except one colleague, johnny depp for those old enough to olh remember from pennsylvania he was sitting in the chair. from he wore dark glasses even dark altering the day and he sat there patiently listened to me as i gave my knee rattling, handshaking.the housof midway through the speech heouge walked up to me and those who wo envision the chamber of thevisi house speaking from the well and walked up to me and said quietly you know it's not on the level of doing. [laughter] that was my speech in the senaty so i

dodd as my friend, chris dodd said, d our friend said in his victory speech, the senate was designed to be different, not simply for the framers believed that theate senate could and should be the venue in which statesmen would s lift america up to meet its unique challenges. statesman. that is the word that we need to focus on in these next days. too often in recent months the american people signaled that it the last election that the senate has been unable to lift america up to meet its challenges. too often we became one of thosr challenges. rather than cooperating or compromising we saw a blockadece after blockade and an inability to be able to address a number of issues. as senator dodd said, whatitutii determiness whether this institution works is whether the 100 of us can work together. so with the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty we have the opportunity demonstrate our to the worldnd d i would say to my colleagues day that just two days ago the prive foreign relations committee have entire united nations securitytn council, which came here to washington with our ambassador,e dr. susan

to be honest, the most poignant farewell for me will be the departure of my dear friend, senator chris dodd of connecticut. chris and i have a lot in common. we're both proud of our irish roots. we were both elected to the house of representatives at the same time: 1974. chris moved over here in 1980 and i followed four years later. and we both ran for president with similarly unambiguous results. over the years we've collaborated on many legislative initiatives, including most recently the historic patient protection and affordable care act, the health reform bill. as we all know, chris dodd is almost literally a son of the senate. with good reason, he is enormously proud of his father, former senator thomas j. dodd, lead prosecutor at the nuremberg trials and served two terms in the senate from 1959 to 1971. chris worked as a senate page at age 16, was elected to the senate at age 36. for three decades chris embodied everything that is good about this body. a passion for public service, a sincere desire to reach out across the aisle, a great talent for forging coalitions and bringing peop