We've got to push more access. We've got to push more conduits.

I want to thank the chair and the ranking member for working with me on this amendment to get it appropriately modified. This an area that I think there is broad bipartisan consensus, that we need to make sure--whether postal workers or…

I agree. My background's on the telecom side.

first of all, let me thank the chairman and Senator Collins for their work on this bill. I know it has caused a great deal of interest and consternation, but the numbers are overwhelming that without this kind of legislation, the fate of…

I want to thank the Chair as well for her focus on this issue.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I know I should follow Senator Blunt's lead, but I just can't help myself.

In that capacity, I became well acquainted with the vital role a skilled and trained workforce plays in keeping not only Virginia, but also our Nation as a whole, competitive.

I think we have huge potential here to make more things in America, and we need to have the workers that are there to do it.

This notion that we would unilaterally disarm while other countries around the world are actually increasing their export financing system is just kind of beyond the pale.

This is not Democrat/Republican. This is common sense.

And has the work you have done, both looked into how those practices are evolving in the United States and how they have evolved in other countries?

Again, but there are two ways. One may be prepaid, which may or may not carry--you might have a telecom risk.

I want to join my colleagues in today's well-deserved accolades for my friend, Barbara Mikulski. The other day, as often happens to most of us here, I found myself temporarily waylaid by an informal scrum of reporters in one of the Capitol…

But fighting waste, fraud, and abuse in the Federal Government is not a partisan issue.

It is time that the Government put the best interests of taxpayers first.

I strongly believe that the independent commission, like the one established through CPRA, is the only viable way to overcome the hurdles.

the very fact that there is that clock running will lead stakeholders, media, etc., to put a different kind of pressure on Congress

The bill we are considering today would make an important first step in updating and improving our government.

The result is, many of these startup companies end up having to sell to a larger company, and many of the ideas and many of the job-creation opportunities are then constrained. We need to make it easier for these companies to access…

I ask unanimous consent for an additional 5 minutes. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

I rise to speak on some of the issues that were just addressed by the Republican leader; that is, the legislation we will hopefully turn to next about creating jobs. There are a lot of occasions when legislation comes to the floor of this…

I don't understand how some Members of Congress just don't seem to get it, that this initiative is about saving money.

I look at the fact that, as you pointed out, we consume 20 percent of the world's oil.

I guess I would simply just add, I know our time is running about up. But that the more we can really measure as I think one of the folks testified.

It is that section of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 which says that the alternative fuels that we purchase should be at least as clean as conventional fuels derived from petroleum.