The Hill, a newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, has a brief profile today on U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh and his role alongside Financial Services committee Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts.

Miller, a Democrat, isn’t one of the House’s better-known members, but as The Hill says, he has “become a critical player” in the ongoing battles in Congress between consumers and financial institutions, reports Barb Barrett.

The Hill reports:

While Miller has had a hand already in a broad range of housing and mortgage lending issues, his most critical work this year will come as Congress debates setting up a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to oversee products like mortgage loans and credit cards.

Two U.S. senators may have received preferential treatment on mortgage loans.

As the Senate Ethics Committee continues an investigation into the loans received by Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, D.C.-based Web site The Politico has been asking other senators about their mortgages.

In particular, reporters Eamon Javers and Martin Kady II asked who the senator's home mortgage lender was, who they contacted to arrange it and whether they received any special terms.

"The early line: A substantial number of senators — being on average older and wealthier than the U.S. population — don't have mortgages at all," they note.

That would be the case for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who told the Politico that she did not have any mortgages. Sen. Richard Burr had not responded as of Thursday afternoon.