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SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: Well, I'm going to be reluctant to repeat exactly the words, not because I can't remember them, but, because, if you were to repeat them exactly, I'm fearful it might cause even more concern.
I can't begin to tell you. I have been here for 28 years, Wolf, been in a lot of very critical meetings involving a lot of important events over the last quarter-of-a-century. I can't recall another occasion when I was in a room where statements were made about the conditions of not only our economy, but the global economy, that caused every member in that room, the leadership of the House, the Senate, Republicans, Democrats, leaders of committees, that, when Chairman Bernanke finished his appraisal, a brief appraisal, along with Hank Paulson, there was dead silence in the room for maybe five to 10 seconds.
The oxygen went out of the room. People were stunned by what they heard. And I'm angry about this, because I think this was preventable, I will tell you, but we're not going to talk about that today, because the issue is, what do we do?
And I'm willing to step up and join with my Republican and Democratic colleagues, which we must do, 45 days before the most important national election in my lifetime, and come together, not as Republicans, Democrats, blue, red states, but as Americans responding to this. I'm willing to listen to this plan. I'm not buying into it without seeing it.
I want to make sure that we do this, that we're going to be mindful of the underlying cause of this problem, Wolf. And that is, of course, as was said last evening and again today by the secretary and the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the housing foreclosure crisis.
BLITZER: All right. DODD: So, we're going to deal with the effects of this, but we need to deal with the causes as well, so we don't have to come back again with some even larger plan down the road.
BLITZER: This is going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe even a trillion dollars. Who knows what it's going to cost.
Don't you think the American people have the right to know what you and your fellow members of Congress were told last night about the dire consequences of doing nothing?
DODD: Well, again, I'm telling you how dire it was without, without getting into the specific wording.
Let me also tell you this, Wolf. You know, I think America, I wish they, in a sense, could have been in the room, in many ways, not only to hear the dire consequences, but to also hear members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, putting aside differences.
And whatever else was raised about the specifics of it, virtually every member in that room said they wanted to help, they wanted to be part of this. They realized too much was at stake not to work together.