Michael Bennet

But the poorer you are the larger your subsidy and the higher quality the program is the larger your subsidy.

Those are also efforts that I think need to be supported by Race to the Top and the other work here because that alignment is critical.

I would like to see your title shortened--

I believe we have to go back earlier than that. I think this is a zero to five issue, but we are moving, I think, in the right direction.

I would encourage you to look at that program if you haven't.

I think that if you look at the goal of the Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge, it is to get a higher percentage of children in--a higher percentage of low-income children in higher quality programs.

Thanks to an amendment by Senators Sherrod Brown, Bennet, Franken and Mikulski, the Bureau will include a Private Education Loan Ombudsman.

I think that is exactly the right thing to do.

I would be interested--we do not need to do it today, but if your staff knows of models of places that have done four of those things well or some combination of those things particularly well, I think it would be interesting to us in…

I unfortunately experienced a travel delay on my way back to Washington this evening and was unable to make tonight's procedural vote on whether to reauthorize a portion of the PATRIOT Act. My plane was late, and the Senate had to close…

It really is not defensible.

Denver really points up the absurdity of the status quo when it comes to Federal rail safety oversight.

We need to do better than that, and maybe this is one mechanism for helping

The Administration has included the idea of an Infrastructure Bank in its budget

The situation is actually much more grave than just the $1.5 trillion deficit we have, the $15 trillion debt

I appreciate the conversations we have had about that project as well as the Roaring Fork Valley and other things across the State.

I share, obviously, your concern about the fiscal conditions, as well, and I believe that we are going to be able to have a constructive conversation about it.

Thank you very much for holding this hearing. Thank you to all of you for everything you are doing to try to implement this bill so that we do not have the kind of systemic risk we faced on the front end of the crisis.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:07 p.m., adjourned until Wednesday, May 11, 2011, at 9:30 a.m…

There will be a rollcall vote around 3 p.m. tomorrow on the confirmation of Executive Calendar No. 44, the nomination of Arenda Wright Allen to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia. ____________________

I want to extend a special thanks to you for joining me as an original cosponsor.

I am hopeful and optimistic that we'll be able to pass this popular bill into law this time around.

I introduced this legislation in the 112th Congress this past March.

I urge you to favorably report this bill so that the full Senate could promptly consider it and Michigan's rich maritime history and wildlife habitat at Whitefish Point can be preserved and interpreted for the public.

In this political conversation about government take over of healthcare and death panels and all this other stuff, all people need to do is go to your two institutions to see where we need to head and what it looks like.