Mary Landrieu

This committee led that effort, and it provides much needed relief to small businesses through the SBA lending programs.

I am committed, and the members, at least on the Democratic side and I hope the Republican side as well, to reducing unnecessary administrative and regulatory burdens.

I want to be very clear that the intention of holding this hearing is not to attack the Americans With Disabilities Act.

It is absolutely critical to help you in performing the mission of your office.

We are going to try to repeal that piece of the healthcare law which will not affect healthcare policy at all.

I think frankly, more than just having confidential or private conversations with the IRS and Treasury, I think you should submit public comments on this very question to the Department.

I added a requirement to the Wall Street Reform Bill that before the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau can even publish a rule, it must convene a small business panel to scrutinize it.

That is why this past Monday I cosponsored the Bipartisan Small Business Paperwork Relief Act.

I will continue to advocate for an aggressive regulatory reform agenda that requires the Federal Government to fully consider small business economic impact during the rulemaking process.

As Senator Akaka says, we have been looking at this for some time, and I just thought particularly for maybe some of the people here from the media to remind them that this program started back in 1956.

I am really pleased that Senator Akaka indicates that he is going to continue to stay on top of this so that those of you who are here testifying today know that we are going to stay on top of this and he is going to stay on top of it…

I have gotten to know Senator Akaka and his wife, Millie, and his family, and so I just again want to thank you, Senator Akaka, publicly here in my own State for your friendship over the years and the work that we have done together.

I can show you right now how you can save a billion dollars in your budget a billion dollars that you could reallocate to some of the things you want to do.

I think you may have a window of opportunity between the election and the end of the year to perhaps deal with that.

I am encouraged to hear that the V-Vehicle Company... is making significant progress with DOE on their second application.

I would argue that we must lift the barriers that currently make it impossible to develop and manufacture new clean energy technologies here.

I find it perplexing that DOE would take this position when the entire purpose of these loan guarantee programs is to spur domestic development and job creation.

What I believe those skeptics fail to recognize is that though banks are often happy to finance the next factory of an established company or the tenth deployment of a developed technology, they have very little interest or inclination in…

I believe it is this risk that we need to balance against any perceived risk of failure of a given project.

With access to Tier 1 capital, I believe that the community banks that participate in this program will be able to provide small businesses with the credit they need to grow and hire.

So would you say that is a yes or a no?

I do not want to leave this hearing, Ms. Blank, in communicating to the country that these rigs are somehow operating.

We are very curious why the Administration would adopt a policy that is just throwing that revenue away.

It will be more than 300,000 jobs and $147 billion in tax revenue.

The perception and I think the correct perception is that all we have heard is knee jerk reactions and excuses, not anything based on sound science or economics.