Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS -- (Senate - September 26, 2008)

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By Mr. DURBIN (for himself, Mr. LEVIN, and Mr. BROWN):

S. 3622. A bill to establish a grant program to promote the conservation of the Great Lakes and for other purposes; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the Great Lakes Conservation Education Act.

From orbit in space, the Great Lakes are the most recognizable feature of the North American landscape. And no wonder. The Great Lakes are the largest single source of fresh surface water in the world. They hold 90 percent of America's fresh surface water. They hold 20 percent of the world's fresh surface water.

Forty-two million people call the Great Lakes basin home and rely on it for clean, safe water.

What is not evident from space, though, is the trash and other debris that litter the shorelines of the Great Lakes. Debris, in fact, is one of the most pervasive pollution problems affecting America's waterways. Debris detracts from the beauty of our Nation's coasts, threatens freshwater life, poses public health and safety concerns, and interferes with commercial and recreational boats and ships.

Over the weekend, I participated in the Adopt-a-Beach clean-up on Lake Michigan. We started at Montrose Beach, stopped at both North Ave. and the 12th Street Beaches, and worked our way down to the 57th Street Beach. It was heartening to meet so many people who are committed to cleaning up the lake.

The Adopt-a-Beach program is one volunteer effort to clean up the beaches of the Great Lakes and increase public awareness of the seriousness of the litter problem. The program is run by the Alliance for the Great Lakes, a group dedicated to the conservation and restoration of this national treasure.

Adopt-a-Beach began in Illinois in 2002 and has quickly spread to neighboring states. It is a year-round program, but its chief event is a beach clean-up day each September, coordinated with the Ocean Conservancy's annual International Coastal Clean-up.

Citizens, organizations, and businesses are working together on efforts to restore the Great Lakes shorelines clean. We need to expand on these efforts and educate people throughout the Great Lakes about how they can help to cleanup and restore the lakes.

That is why I am introducing the Great Lakes Conservation Education Act. This bill would authorize a new program within the Department of Commerce to provide funding for non-governmental organizations, museums, school, consortiums, and others to support conservation education and outreach programs to restore the Great Lakes.

I am looking forward to working with my colleagues to make this program a reality. We have a long way to go to restore the lakes and this legislation will make it possible for organizations through out the Great Lakes to educate students, teachers, and the general public about the steps they can take to improve the lakes.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

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By Mr. DURBIN:

S. 3629. A bill to create a new Consumer Credit Safety Commission, to provide individual consumers of credit with better information and stronger protections, and to provide sellers of consumer credit with more regulatory certainty; to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, we are in difficult times. The administration has informed us that the financial markets stand on the brink of collapse and that Congress must act quickly to allow the Treasury to intervene in the markets. We must not simply bail out the companies whose subprime mortgage practices put us in this situation in the first place. Many of us are working to include help for homeowners in any stabilization we consider.

But we must also look beyond the immediate crisis and take steps to prevent similar abuses and errors in the future. This crisis started when lenders sold too many faulty mortgages to families who had too little protection against such practices. Once this immediate crisis passes, Congress must act to ensure that this never happens again.

Our financial system requires a fundamental overhaul, so that the needs of American families stand above the interests of Wall Street.

To start that discussion, today I am introducing the Consumer Credit Safety Commission Act. This bill would put a single government agency in charge of ensuring that the offering of financial products to consumers is responsible, accountable, and transparent.

This new agency would look out for consumers first, so that the Fed, the FDIC, and the rest of the alphabet soup of financial regulators can focus more effectively on the safety and soundness of our financial system while not letting consumer protection fall by the wayside.

This agency would be able to move quickly to protect consumers from new predatory practices, much faster than Congress ever could. It would provide continuous oversight of the financial services market, and hold companies accountable when they abuse, deceive, or take advantage of the consumers they claim to be helping.

Let me put it this way, as Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren has done: why is it that 1 in 10 toasters do not catch fire in our homes, but 1 in 10 home mortgages are failing? The answer is that toasters are properly regulated and financial products are not.

I do not believe that the Government should regulate the freedom out of our markets, and I do not believe that we should eliminate prudent risk taking.

On the contrary: moderate, sensible, and targeted regulation creates an environment in which the entrepreneurial spirit of America can thrive, but without the unnecessary booms and busts of the Wild West.

The Consumer Credit Safety Commission will add consumer protection to the factors lenders must consider in creating and offering financial products. It will identify the practices that undermine sound markets and put a stop to them before they bring the entire financial market to its knees.

Starting early next year, Congress will try to establish the oversight and accountability mechanisms that will foster a dynamic and more responsible environment for financial products. This bill provides us with a good place to start. I urge my colleagues to join me in sponsoring this legislation and working to create an agency that truly puts consumers first.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the RECORD.

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