Olympia Snowe

But with the threshold you are using as a standard, they only have to increase lending by 2.5 percent.

What I was saying earlier in my opening comments about TARP refinancing is that ultimately, what it suggests is that there is going to be minimal new small business lending, with very few new institutions participating in the program.

We have got to turn this economy around. We have to create jobs, and I know that we created 244,000 jobs last month.

As Ranking Member of this Committee, I certainly know firsthand that there is no more urgent imperative than job creation in our country.

Now, perhaps more than ever, we will rely on small business to lead us out of our continued economic morass as they have done time and time again in the past.

What is your response to that? ... we want to make sure that smaller entities, smaller businesses, are having access to these loans?

If banks have only maintained the 12 percent trend that is already occurring, they can lock-in on an interest rate of 1 percent.

I think there's also larger risk accompanying this because of the fraudulent nature of things.

Unfortunately, we can see from today's report that the TWIC credential has failed on all counts.

Secure ID cards like the TWIC are vital in insuring that access to critical port facilities is restricted to known-persons.

When it comes to maritime security, we can, and must do better to protect our country's 360 ports and maritime facilities.

I have great concerns about the Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC card, and the security of our nation's ports.

Well, is it going to be interoperable in any way?

Now, is there any way that we can sort of synchronize these background checks, you know, so that we can have one unified background check?

I mean, I think if it takes so long to get a program up and running, something must be truly wrong.

The question is, what's our return on investment? Are we clearly safer? Yes, we are. But, at what cost?

Are we going to be prepared for that?

We will have spent $3.2 billion, and we've yet to clear all the hurdles to say that it's fully implemented and satisfied.

I just think it's cumbersome and bureaucratic.

So, I'm going to explore with you the issue of distance.

I want to commend you, Senator Collins, for your initiative on small businesses and on regulatory reform.

Thank you, Chairman Lieberman, and Ranking Member Collins for convening this crucial hearing on regulatory reform, and I applaud your efforts.

I have had the pleasure of meeting with Nancy earlier this week, and she is a consummate professional and supremely qualified.

The interesting part about all that is whether or not it would allow compatibility of all these different activities.

Is there a reason for such a significant reduction when we're looking to actively pursue alternatives with clean energy?