Chris Van Hollen

We are going to take their statements at face value and in good faith, and we really hope that this time around we can move forward.

I just want to come and thank all of you for your testimony today, but for also having stood up as whistleblowers and put yourselves on the line.

I think we feel it imperative to move forward and strengthen whistleblower protections.

I want to thank the chairman for taking this up as one of the first orders of business.

Transparency is something that we need too in our government.

I will look at your testimony.

I commend you for the legislation that you have introduced.

Thank you for holding this hearing, and I want to thank you for your support for what is often described as the Nation's Metro system.

I do have a concern. I know you hopefully have received a letter that Steny Hoyer and I and Donna Edwards sent to you and your team about the cuts that have been made in Metrobus in the suburban Maryland area.

I encourage you, and Mr. Chairman, thank you for proposing that we use stimulus dollars to keep some of these lines and services operational.

We look forward to continuing to work with you on that effort

I want to thank you for your support for what is often described as the Nation's Metro system

The administrative funds, have those been put to use, or has the timeframe just been too short?

I'm very proud of the fact that the Congress took this action. It was the right thing to do from a moral perspective, and it's the right thing to do from an economic perspective, and now we've just got to make sure it works.

It's also economically the right thing to do, because if you're not paying your mortgage and your house goes into foreclosure, that means one more house in the neighborhood that's under water, and it has an impact on everybody else, all…

I think this country has made the right decision in ensuring that hard-working people, who lose their jobs through no fault of their own in an economic downturn, have some support until they can get themselves back on their feet and find…

The only economically viable approach to ensure that Congress is able to protect low-income and vulnerable communities from potentially higher energy costs associated with a cap-and-trade program.

Yes, we obviously can't get to where we want if we believe there is a serious problem just by doing what we are doing.

This is the problem. Your argument has two components. One is you don't think it's a problem, global climate change.

So, I would ask all our colleagues to take a look at that essentially universal rebate proposal.

It's fair and simple, and we can have a mechanism to get the funds back on a realtime basis to draw a real connection in the consumer's mind to the fact they are being compensated for whatever additional costs.

I do think it is important too as we debate to figure out, as that is a threshold question, if you don't believe that's a problem.

It is important as we talk about the potential job loss, also to talk about the potential job creation.

I think we are all still working on this third piece, on getting the credit flowing again.

As we move as a nation to reduce our reliance on foreign oil and our reliance on fossil fuels, we clearly need to make sure that the clean energy companies get the credit and the financing they need to move forward.