I follow my friend from California, and I agree wholeheartedly with her that the United States of America cannot default on its debts and obligations. I would like to think that all 100 of us in this body would concur and agree that we…

I thank the Senator from Oklahoma. It is my understanding we were bumping up against the vote at 5:30. Is that correct, Mr. President? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republicans have 3 minutes 15 seconds remaining.

I had hoped to be able to speak at greater length than 3 minutes this afternoon, but the message that Senator Coburn has been delivering is so incredibly important. I want to join Senator Kerry's remarks in thanking him for being one who…

It's not just the hydro projects. American Rivers has listed the Bristol Bay watershed as the No. 2 most endangered river system.

It's my understanding that the IEA numbers that were out on Wednesday showed that our U.S. oil inventories rose 2.3 million barrels last week, which is above where they should be for this time of year, possibly a signal that the demand is…

It was very important that it was an international response.

I am told--and this is from a letter that we received from nearly 40 members of the House that had expressed some concern about your nomination.

If you are confirmed, you're going to have primary responsibility over the SPR. I wonder if you could just describe very briefly your view, your philosophy toward the SPR and, specifically, whether or not it is appropriate to use the SPR…

Would that mean that you would recuse yourself from any oversight or any involvement with any of these hydro projects?

I think it's something that, again, we look at. All hydropower does not look like the Hoover Dam.

In a State like Alaska... the agencies... can slow down, they can impede, they can kill opportunities.

I appreciate both of you and your willingness to stand before this committee as you seek to serve your country.

In Alaska, we've got a lot of lake tap hydropower generation. Would you support providing tax credits and Federal incentives for lake tap hydro projects?

I'm told it's nearly every--and I don't know what 'nearly' is.

I want to follow up with a comment that you just made in response to Senator Wyden about recusing yourself.

I believe myself to be an open-minded person, a good listener.

But do you agree, or do you stand by your statement that there is a nasty track record of creating a toxic chemical soup that pollutes ground water?

I believe natural gas is an important part of the overall energy mix for this country.

One of the great benefits from lake tap hydro and why it works so well in a State like mine--we've got very high alpine lakes.

I take it you don't retract your statement.

I am pleased to support Mr. McConnell's nomination to be Assistant Secretary of Energy.

Even though the administrator has said that there are no proven cases where the fracking process itself has affected water?

I think it is important that we really do try to emphasize that local hire and making sure that we have the individuals that are trained prior to the disaster hitting us.

They clearly believe that the magnitude of loss that was suffered there merited the Individual Assistance program.

It just seems like in so many situations you can read the writing before you have even made the application.