I think having separate accounts that replace the Highway Trust Fund could be a good idea: highway, rail, transit, and then a national infrastructure bank.

Developing a high-speed rail program is important.

If what you said earlier today is that we should agree on a cap on spending and then determine what priorities would spur job creation and spur our economy, I agree with you.

Mr. President, I rise to read the letter from COL William Barret Travis from the Alamo, something I have done every year since Senator Phil Gramm retired. He read the letter on Texas Independence Day every year after Senator Tower left…

I see the EPA trying to regulate greenhouse gases. I see the FCC trying to regulate the Internet.

Some of the people that we have talked to, the CEOs who have moved jobs overseas, are saying the regulatory burden and the U.S. tax structure is one of the reasons.

The United States remains the world's number one manufacturing nation--producing 21 percent of all global manufactured goods.

I hope we can work together on the corporate tax rate and the repatriation of foreign earnings into our country without the penalties.

But without the innovators, without the creativity that we have fostered through research and education, America's economy in my opinion would be stagnant.

I want to thank the Chairman for holding this important hearing on 'The Future of American Manufacturing: Maintaining America's Competitive Edge.'

Mr. President, I thank my colleague, Senator Rockefeller, for the wonderful words about myself, about both of our staffs, and suffice it to say, I think the leadership that comes from the top--Senator Rockefeller, as chairman of the…