Thank you, and we appreciate that we are now over the hump in terms of getting the ARRA money out.

I think we are all very excited that you are at the Department of Energy. It is really encouraging to see some of the steps that are being taken.

The settlement negotiated between the FTC and Fairbanks Capital Corp. was appropriate given the under-capitalization condition of Fairbanks Capital at the time.

I share my colleagues' gratification at the outpouring from not only the United States, but from the rest of the world, to try and respond to this tragedy.

What more can we do to help businesses like Warner Power and some of the other small- and medium-sized businesses to commercialize those technologies that they're working on?

I want to begin by echoing what you heard from Senators Kerry and Lugar, our thanks for your being here today.

Finally, one of the things that is a big issue in New Hampshire, because we have a higher-than-usual percentage of individual dwellings, both homes and commercial buildings--and so, our energy costs are very high.

I think this other issue may have been raised by others, as well, but we have a number of small- to medium-sized businesses in New Hampshire that are doing very innovative things when it comes to new energy technologies.

I would distinguish between research and deployment. I think deployment is, in the end, where it happens.

Government regulatory policy is obviously going to have a major impact on what happens in those markets.

My view is that as we think about our energy future, one of the areas that has not gotten as much attention as it should is the area of energy efficiency.

I think having a plan is always the beginning of anything that we ought to be doing.

I believe FERC is taking it up and plans to resolve it.

Are there other things that ought to be looked at other than just the cost?

Thank you all very much for being here.

The Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on European Affairs meets today to examine the economic, trade, and investment ties between the United States and Europe.

Today, we are nearly 2 years into the worst economic downturn certainly of my generation.

It would be a mistake to neglect this crucial partnership as we attempt to dig ourselves out of this economic downturn.