I urge you to use that flexibility wisely.

I think just your sort of emphasis on school libraries and their role in literacy, together with those other resources might be a very important ingredient in this program.

So if you could consider that, I would really appreciate it, Mr. Secretary.

In all of this, we can't forget the equities of many different parties.

And I would very much encourage you to commit full-time personnel coordination so that we could move these projects along.

Thank you very much.

Anything you could do to coordinate those programs, make them work in tandem.

One of the central challenges facing American businesses and families has been a lack of access to adequate credit.

Can you please discuss the progress that has been made under the Term-Asset-Backed Securities Loan Program (TALF), which was instituted in March to ease credit and help stabilize the financial system?

As credit markets begin to thaw and the recession slows, the infusion of more than $1 trillion dollars into our economy could present another significant challenge--ensuring the strong value of the dollar by guarding against inflation.

I am encouraged by recent indications that the recession may be slowing, but ensuring the proper liquidity of our credit markets continues to be a top priority.

One of the goals of TALF is to free up lending for small businesses and consumers; however, many small businesses in my home state of Rhode Island are still unable to access and maintain adequate lines of credit.

This chart shows that when the Clinton administration came into office we made some tough choices and ran up a surplus that was to be surpluses, as far as the eye could see, kind of locked into the budget.

We had enough continuous surplus to pay off the entire national debt. In fact, it was projected to have been paid off by last year, all of the debt held by the public, if we hadn't messed up the budget.

this week you approved a commitment under the Recovery Act for four flood plain projects in Rhode Island, and we really appreciate it.

I could not be more proud of what Chairman Feinstein is doing. I could not be more confident in her leadership.

You need to know in order to advise your principals well.

The trajectory of what the Bush administration has left us is not sustainable.