Thank you for holding this hearing. I think it is very timely and appreciate both of your being here to testify.

I rise in support of an amendment that was filed by Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski and myself that would help create jobs in communities across the country and help us transition to a clean energy economy. When Congress passed…

1 year ago this week, Dr. George Tiller, a provider of critical reproductive health services, was shot to death while at church in Wichita, KS. The anniversary of his death serves as a solemn reminder of the violence that reproductive…

I just want to say that my heart goes out to the people of Louisiana and all of the Gulf States who are directly suffering the consequences of this disastrous spill.

Our goal here is to try and make sure that all of the small businesses that have been affected are getting the help that they need, and that BP and the contractors that it hired who are to blame, who are deemed to be blamed for this spill…

I think there's been general agreement, from everybody who's spoken, that BP would be liable to pay the costs of cleanup in the spill.

I just would like to request that, when Mr. Hayes provides the BP responsibility document to Senator Menendez, that you make it available to the entire committee.

I would echo your remarks and that of Senator Snowe in the importance of small business to the economic recovery in this country.

DOD has a Joint Task Force Haiti that deployed immediately following the earthquake.

SBA is clearly going to be critical in helping those small businesses move forward, and we want to see strong leadership at the head of the SBA.

It will be transitioning, on June 1, to a very robust DOD program that's focusing on the middle-term priorities.

One of the things that I have found troubling... is that there didn't seem to be an emergency plan in place that could address how to deal with the spill once it happened.