Lisa Murkowski

If we cannot set the example, if we cannot set the standard here, how can we expect others outside of our institution to exercise that same level.

Well, you say unprecedented resources, and yes, money is certainly an issue.

You are never able to build a relationship or any kind of trust with a teacher or anyone within the Administration.

I'm still not sure, if you shop at your little Frager's down here, if you're going to be able to enjoy the benefits of the Home Star program.

I don't need to remind you--I know, Ms. Epperson, in your testimony you speak of Kentucky.

Does the Ketchikan hardware store--are they looped into this whole rebate program?

I have a whole series of questions, but in the interest of time, I'll just submit those to Ms. Zoi.

How difficult is it for this little guy, this little independent guy, to be a participant as a rebate aggregator?

Just so I'm clear, though, currently as it's set up that smaller hardware store would not have the ability to be a participant in the program?

Are they able to take advantage of the rebate aggregator? Are they part of the point of sale rebate?

We estimate about 150,000 new jobs.

Right now we're not in the leadership role. China's eating our lunch.

I look forward to continuing work with him.

I commend the folks at DOE, the White House, and again all of the individuals from the Home Star Coalition who have been working on this to kind of get it right this time.

But I mean, are these new jobs that we're creating? Is this a whole new program that we're creating?

Does DOE currently use a rebate aggregator for any of the other programs that you operate?

But that job creation is--that's kind of the immediate opportunity, if you will.

I think when we put together programs such as what we're looking at with Home Star, you want it to be somewhat expedient, easy to use, the user-friendly type of an approach.

So to meet my Vern standard, how can we with the proposal that we have in front of us, how do we deal with the do-it-yourself individual who's working to bring about those efficiencies within their home, but as I read through the proposal…

I think this is a wonderful area, not just in terms of short-term job creation, but long-term job creation as well.

That should be a stunning statistic to us.

I had a good conversation with, Senator Stabinow, your former Governor, John Engler, last night and the National Association of Manufacturers have now endorsed the Home Star initiative as well.

I'm thinking about the little guys today.

I'm also pleased that today we're moving the conversation forward, talking about the role of building efficiency through retrofit programs.

We've also seen that sometimes, despite our best efforts, Federal initiatives don't always play out perhaps the way that we had intended.