What I found out about it was that they were de-funding programs and that private operators of group homes were taking over, and that they were spending less money.

Those were great ideas.

we have got to unify and put some of the partisan politics aside and move on these innovation issues, to compete as a country.

Well, I'm sure Senator LeMieux won't let you go without some questions.

I'm certain that the next Medtronic, 3M, or Mayo Clinic is being created right now in a lab or in a garage or in a manufacturing plant.

How do we get more financing to small business?

The world has always looked to our country as a center of innovation and entrepreneurship.

how do we do it in a way that makes it work, so you don't unnecessarily limit investment and send it all over to Europe?

the concerns that I've heard is that, you know, suddenly there has been--it's not that you couldn't perfect the process and make it better and make some changes, but there's--it's sort of sporadically happening right now, without a lot of…

This has really been a very good hearing.

Very good.

I hope you see that everyone is really raring to go here. We are impatient. We want to move forward.

What about commonsense innovation promotion, in terms of our regulatory agencies, the issue I raised, in specifics, with medical device, but that Senator Warner raised more broadly, just in general?

Senator LeMieux and I have a bill, which I believe Secretary Locke supports, to help with the Foreign Commercial Service.

I had raised the issue of people coming from other countries to study at our universities, and a number of us have been working on at least this concept of allowing people to stay, instead of putting up a 'Do Not Apply' sign after they…

I believe we're still the number-one innovator, but people are really catching up fast.

We know that, every day in every State, small companies are dreaming, doing, and driving the innovation agenda that we need to compete in this world economy.

I wanted to follow up. I know, in the President's State of the Union Address, he focused--which I was glad that he did this--on doubling the number of exports.