[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5722-5723]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. REID. Following leader remarks, the Senate will be in a period of 
morning business until 3 p.m. today, with Senators allowed to speak for 
up to 10 minutes each during that time. Following the closing of 
morning business, the Senate will turn to executive session to debate 
the nomination of Lael Brainard to be Under Secretary of the Treasury. 
At 5 p.m. today, there will be a cloture vote on that nomination.
  Last week, I filed cloture on five nominations. It is my hope we will 
be able to work out time agreements on each of these nominations. If we 
are unable to do so, we will be in session around the clock until we 
have votes on all these nominations, with speeches and votes taking 
place during that time. Upon disposition of the nominations, we will 
turn to the legislation to reform Wall Street.


                            Financial Reform

  Holding these huge banks accountable for the enormous economic crisis 
of recent years is about more than dollars and cents. It is about 
fairness and justice. It is also about learning lessons from the 
mistakes of the past so we are not bound to repeat them.
  Those who cared only to boost their own holdings and accounts must be 
held accountable. To those who gamed the system, the game is over. Wall 
Street's ability to recklessly risk a family's future must be a thing 
of the past. Those who dealt in deception and benefited from the cover 
of darkness must be called out and brought into the daylight. That is 
why the bill we will bring to the floor includes the strongest 
protections ever against Wall Street greed. It will also give families 
more control than ever over their own finances and give consumers more 
clarity so they can make the right financial decisions.
  Our bill will not end taxpayer bailouts--that is what some say, but 
the fact is, that is what it is all about. It will end taxpayer 
bailouts. It will hold Wall Street accountable for its excess and the 
harm it does and make sure banks fully disclose what they are betting 
on and, for once, make it more clear what people are allowing these 
banks to do.
  Our bill creates an independent agency to protect consumers, and it 
stops banks from taking excessive risks with families' hard-earned 
savings. We are cracking down on the subprime mortgage scams and 
forcing big banks and credit card companies to deal more honestly with 
their consumers.
  It is a good bill. I support it because I support transparency, 
accountability, and economic security. Those opposed to it favor 
secrecy, irresponsibility, and reckless risk taking. I am sure my 
counterpart, the distinguished Republican leader, has some thoughts to 
share on this reform as well.
  When the Senate hears from him, I assume he will continue to make the 
case, the very weak case he has made for the past week or so in the 
Chamber and out over the airwaves. This bill is about accountability 
and honesty, so let's hold the legislators to the same standard when 
they talk about it. Before my Republican friends repeat more false 
claims, let's acknowledge some basic facts. The bill that will come on 
the floor will protect taxpayers, will not leave taxpayers with the 
tab, as the other side pretends. This bill is not a bailout. 
Republicans know that, although they refuse to say it, and the 
Presiding Officer has done remarkably good work in going toward that 
end.
  After all, if this were such a good deal for Wall Street bankers, why 
are they lobbying so hard against it? This is a bipartisan product and 
includes many Republican ideas that were proposed during months--I 
repeat, months--of negotiations with Republican Senators. Chairman Dodd 
has worked for months with Ranking Member Shelby and Senator Corker. 
Senator Dodd has led bipartisan working groups and held bipartisan 
meetings. All these meetings produced solid, bipartisan ideas that will 
be in the legislation we bring to the floor.
  Last November, Senator Shelby said Democrats and Republicans agreed 
on nearly 70 percent of the bill. Last month, Senator Shelby said 
negotiators agreed on nearly 80 percent. Senator Corker said the 
negotiations were constructive and said consensus is in sight.
  So the Republican leadership's claim that this is a one-sided effort 
doesn't

[[Page 5723]]

pass the laugh test. This plan is not partisan, as the other side 
pretends. Republicans know that, although again they refuse to say it. 
They also refuse to admit whose side they are on. Earlier this month, 
the Republican leader and the head of the Republican Senate Campaign 
Committee went to Wall Street. They met with the bankers and hedge fund 
managers who benefited more than anyone from the broken system and, of 
course, are trying harder than any to stop us from fixing it; that is, 
the hedge fund managers and the bankers. So every time Republicans make 
false claims, at this late stage of the process, they are saying they 
want to protect their special interest friends on Wall Street.
  Rather than stand for taxpayers and shareholders, they want to stand 
with the same bankers who cost 8 million American workers their jobs, 
devastated so many families' economic security, and jeopardized our 
Nation's economic stability. Every time Republicans repeat their tired 
talking points, what they are saying is they want to stop reform.
  The American people who bore the burden of Wall Street's greed 
couldn't disagree more. We learned recently that the SEC is 
investigating Goldman-Sachs for its role in the financial meltdown. I 
am glad the Government is looking at Goldman and other firms involved 
in this disaster, but this is not just about executives or the traders. 
It is not just about familiar faces and bold names. This is about our 
ability to trust in the financial system. It is about families keeping 
their homes and knowing their savings will be safe. It is about right 
and wrong. Again, it is our job to get to the root of the problem. The 
culprits are shortsightedness and selfishness. They are greed, 
deception, and irresponsibility. Wall Street looked out for only their 
immediate, fleeting gain. So far, the same is guiding our Republican 
colleagues. Wall Street adjourned itself with short-term success rather 
than to think about what is right for our economy in the long run.
  So far, Republicans in the Senate have shown they share that same 
concern, that callous concern. Wall Street dealt in myths and 
misinformation and with disregard for hard-working families. So far, 
Republican Senators are following the same game plan. Wall Street sees 
no need to ensure this kind of crisis never happens again. So far, 
neither do our Republican friends. Wall Street ran wild because there 
was no transparency.
  The Senate Republican strategy has been transparent as can be; all 
they want is to stop necessary reform in its tracks. I agree with Paul 
Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist, who last week called Republican 
tactics ``a shameless performance.''
  We have seen them run these plays before on health care and other 
issues. They didn't work then and they will not work now. The system is 
broken. Consumers need better protection, taxpayers need our guarantee 
that they will never again be called on to bail out a big bank. That is 
plain to see. You can draw a straight line from the lax oversight and 
excess greed on Wall Street to the collapse of the housing market on 
Main Street, throughout Nevada and across America. Here is the 
difference. We want to change the rules. Republicans want to change the 
subject.


                         Executive Nominations

  As I indicated, we now have five nominations before us. I wish I 
could say Wall Street reform is the only arena in which Republicans are 
playing partisan games, but that is not true. It is a matter of fact, 
not opinion, that Democrats treated President Bush's nominations far 
better than Senate Republicans are treating President Obama's. In fact, 
no President has been treated such as President Obama has been treated 
as far as his nominations--no President.
  President Obama has 99 administration nominees awaiting confirmation 
by the full Senate. At this point in President Bush's first term--take 
that as an example--the Senate had confirmed all but five. We have 
confirmed all but 99, 99 to 5. Many Americans have never heard these 
nominees' names before, but that doesn't make their jobs any less 
critical to our country. This is about one party deciding government 
should not work and deciding they should not have to work either. They 
are preventing people from going to work to make our country better. 
They are outright abdicating their constitutional responsibility to 
confirm or deny the President's nominees. Their decisions are grounded 
in reflexive partisanship, not principled argument. Republicans are 
treating judicial nominees the same way. President Obama had 22 
judicial nominees awaiting confirmation--22 are awaiting it right now. 
At this point in President Bush's first term, the Senate had confirmed 
all but 7, 22 to 7. That means Republicans have stalled more judicial 
nominations than they have allowed us to vote on. Many of these 
nominations reported by the Judiciary Committee, many without dissent, 
have been pending for months and months. Every time Republicans stand 
in the way of our judicial system's ability to do its job, the public 
pays the price.
  This is not how the Senate is meant to operate nor how it has 
operated in the past. This is unique. This is unprecedented and 
indefensible.

                          ____________________