I commend the President. I have had the privilege of working with Mr. Donovan in many capacities.

I think this was a conscious decision of the Bush administration, of Secretary Preston, without the mission to FHA and then Fannie and Freddie to go out there, the mortgage market in the United States would be moribund and we would be in a…

I want to thank Senator Shelby and the members of the Committee, because when we passed the housing bill last summer...

I think the President has made a very wise choice. Your experience and your commitment is obvious, and I think you will make a real difference in the Department of Education.

I absolutely agree with you, that that is probably the key, the key point of leverage in any education system.

At the higher education level, we have and I have been particularly active in supporting the LEAP program.

I was pleased to co-sponsor with the President-elect, the School Improvement Through Teacher Quality Act.

I would hope you would be able to tell us you are going to put your shoulder behind the law and money behind it to make these provisions in title II very effective and real in the process.

How do we raise the wages and, therefore, the standard of living, of middle-income Americans?

I think the President has made a very wise choice. Your service and your personal experience reinforces the best ideals of this country.

With your chairmanship and the leader's Cabinet position, we are on the road to healthcare reform, I believe.

How in the world can we allow, in the year 2009, for us to say, that is just the way life is?