On the recordMarch 15, 2011
I appreciate her help and the help of her staff as well. In the 10 minutes we have left, I wish to add a couple of specifics of the compromise Senator Snowe has outlined. It is true that this program has been sputtering along on very uncertain terrain because of every 3-month or 6-month reauthorization hastily put forward because there has been no agreement on a few of the details. We finally reached an agreement on some of those details, the largest of which had to do with the percentage of awards that could be given or funded to companies that are owned by venture capitalists. This program was started as a small business program. Senator Snowe and I feel very strongly and the same to try to keep it as a small business entrepreneurial program but to obviously recognize the changes and opportunities for capital presented by some venture capitalists. That has been the subject of the largest piece of negotiation. I am happy to say we have letters of support from the Bay Area Innovation Alliance, the BioDistrict from New Orleans, just to name one, the Biotechnology Council.
