I rise to speak of an amendment, cosponsored by Senators Grassley, Enzi, Isakson, and Collins, which has proven small business job creating power. It should come as no surprise to anyone that it remains difficult for small businesses to…

I join with my colleagues today to express my profound and heartfelt sadness on the passing of Senator Robert C. Byrd, as the U.S. Senate, the people of West Virginia, and our entire Nation mourn the loss of a giant of public service--a…

I rise today in strong support of the conference agreement on H.R. 2194, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010. Through both its actions and statements, the government of Iran has proved itself to be…

I rise today to introduce the Coastal Jobs Creation Act of 2010. This bill would establish a grant program within the Department of Commerce to enhance employment opportunities for coastal communities by increasing support for cooperative…

Frankly, I think it is the result of the yawning chasm that exists between the artificially generated political landscape in Washington and the actual real-world state of our economy that Americans have been experiencing on a daily basis…

today I am introducing legislation, along with Senators Kohl and Lieberman, to reduce the cost share amount that Manufacturing Extension Partnership, or MEP, centers face in obtaining their annual funding. The MEP is a nationwide…

I do not understand how these decisions intersect.

Well, that is on the subsea, but not for surface. I am not understanding the stop and the minimizing.

Excellent. Excellent suggestion. Sorry you are going through it. I can only imagine the difficulty in all that.

We should have pre-positioned... all of the assets and all of the boomers and skimmers and other equipment...

So in the meantime, BP can continue the use of the surface dispersant?

there is an imperative here that it is in the national public interest given the catastrophe at hand.

Why don't we stop spraying dispersants? It has literally sunk to the bottom, coating the bay.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and I want to thank all of you for your testimony here today.

Those are good suggestions. Thank you.

Just to follow up on that question, Dr. Anastas, exactly what did EPA tell BP with the use of these dispersants, especially the subsea applications?

Thank you, because I know there are extensive knowledge gaps, as you suggested and recommend in that report.

Thank you, Chair Landrieu, for holding what is a very critical hearing today on what is undoubtedly the worst environmental disaster in the history of this nation.

And what about surface dispersants. What did EPA tell BP?

So obviously we need to get a clarification on this question.

I think that is something that we have to do in the future and having a contingency with a warehouse with certain products and technologies available to deploy.

we, the United States Government on behalf of the American people, make the decisions, dictate the direction.

What I would recommend, if I could, what I would demand, if I could, and I can do neither, so what I would beg--what I would beg the leaders in this country and the oil industry together would be, before you lift the moratorium, before you…

I rise today to introduce legislation that I believe will ensure that our motor vehicle operators, particularly those smallest businesses who rely on only one or two vehicles, are no longer subject to the nefarious practices of…

as Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, I rise today, during National Small business Week, along with my colleague Senator Cardin, to introduce the Small Business Training in Federal Contracting…