I fight very hard for more generous match for Louisiana, because I have a high percentage...

We need to create venture capital funding.

I mean, you can either pay for it up front, residential in school, or you can pay $50,000 a year for residence in prison.

Thank you all. As I said as you all sat down, I again just congratulate you for your really extraordinary, extraordinary efforts.

I really do want to thank all of you for what you are doing.

How many are on that list? Does anybody know?

Well, let me just suggest from this moment forward I would go on record as saying no group should receive a charter to start a school unless everybody associated with that charter has had a full FBI background check.

I would like to receive some testimony from some of the bankers, not at this meeting, Mr. Chairman, but perhaps in writing.

It is just not moving quickly enough for all of us, and so part of this meeting today is to grasp what is working.

I just want to say a general thank you for the extraordinary work that each of you has done against great odds.

Does anybody have an idea--maybe, Ms. Baker, you could testify on this because it seems like we could--one of the great accomplishments of this hearing, Mr. Chairman, would be if we could explore with you all, the experts, a streamlined…

there is no reason that the banking community in the District of Columbia... can't establish a new and different way to lend money for the establishment of schools.

Today, I am pleased, Mr. Chairman, that you have agreed to hold this hearing today on charter schools.

We are vigorously pursuing this incubator concept and we want to work with the mayor's office, which has given tremendous leadership.

I give support to Thurgood Marshall and SEED, and so does the chairman, and attention and support to Mr. Domenici's school because what you are doing is pretty terrific and it is working and it is showing us the way.

And a mere $4.5 million or even 6 or 7 million dollars won't do. Sometimes, it is a $20 million price tag, or sometimes more than that?

What we need to be able to do is we don't have the money to get audits.

During this time, we, as a Nation, take the time to reflect on and celebrate one of the fastest growing innovative forces in education policy, the charter school.