I hold a town hall in every county in my State each year, 36 counties, and when I talk about the different features of the plan and then ask people if they think it's a step forward or a step backwards, people love the idea of the exchange.

I found that very useful when I went to the Federal benefits plan, when I came into office.

I want to start with Mr. Larsen's comments that exchanges provide greater information to consumers; one-stop shopping where consumers will be able to compare a range of plans.

I rise to address the McConnell-Inhofe amendment to repeal EPA's authority to regulate greenhouse gases. My colleague from Texas was addressing this amendment and noting her support for it. But I wish to bring to my colleagues' attention…

it is certainly important that students have a clear understanding of what they are buying.

this debate today is all about jobs. The House Republican budget which we will soon be voting on in this body will destroy 700,000 American jobs. That is the estimate put forward by Mark Zandi, who advised John McCain's Presidential…

That issue of programmatic accreditation may be a piece of the puzzle to make sure students paying tuition... are availing themselves of an opportunity that merits their money and their time.

Wouldn't that kind of solve this overnight? Because every institution would be like, 'OK, we have got to get programmatic accreditation.'

Has the concept been brainstormed as to whether in an unaccredited program, the students should be able to access Pell grants?

Oregon encourages schools to obtain programmatic accreditation, essentially approval of their program by the appropriate State licensing board.

Oregon, I think, may have the best State oversight system in the country.

Because a great number of the students in the teacher preparation program will be unable to be certified to teach in their State.

it is a pleasure to join my colleague from New Mexico to discuss both the general environment, the environment in which we no longer have strong bipartisan support for clean air and clean water that we once had, and some of the specifics…

Most importantly for the Nation's small home builders, Congress, regulators, and financial institutions must work to unblock acquisition development and construction lending channels.

I will say that one key aspect is that the House Republican budget would cut $2 billion from EPA's clean water and safe drinking water infrastructure loan programs. As I am going around my State, holding a townhall in every single county…

I think it is important we look at that type of comparison, so that we have an unbiased understanding of how these different sources work over the long term.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I wanted to jump in on this cost question...

Mr. Danner, as I mentioned, the levelized cost is a metric...

Even when we push and one gets changed, it seems like something else changes a few months later on some other piece of it.

I rise to also support the nomination of Judge Marco Hernandez of Oregon to the U.S. district court. Judge Hernandez is unquestionably qualified to serve on this court. He has built his career through hard work and determination. As a…

over the last week, I have watched the affairs in Tahrir Square in Cairo, as millions of Americans have, and I was deeply impressed by the peaceful demonstration of Egyptian citizens calling for change in their nation--change that would…

This is near and dear to my heart because when I was the director of a non-profit I wanted to encourage all my employees to start with the assumption that they would sign up and then decide later if they wanted to opt out.

I have had one concern about the default sign-up. That is, how a company goes about setting out the default allocation of the funds that are being saved.

If you look at prior to that, sometimes, indeed, company stock was the default, often it was stable value.

I appreciate the rigorous scientific process that you are going through to try to reach a decision that is correct for the health of citizens in our Nation.