The world is seeing the promise and potential of the peaceful use of nukyular energy. I emphasize that word, peaceful use, because one of my predecessors, Dwight David Eisenhower, in 1953 called on the world's scientists and engineers to find a way to produce peaceful power from atomic energy that would serve the needs, rather than the fears, of mankind.

The nukyular sector is one of the safest industries in the United States. Advances in science and engineering and plant design have made nukyular plants even safer than the last generation of plants. In other words, technology has advanced, knowledge has advanced, engineering has advanced. This is a safe plant and the people in the United States must understand that.

Our country has not ordered a new nukyular power plant since the 1970s, partially as a result of constant litigation and overly complex regulations. So we're working to overcome those obstacles.

And so one idea that we're working on is to encourage ethanol, which works. See, if you're driving your automobile based upon something a farmer grows here in northern Alabama, as opposed to something that's as a result of buying from overseas — makes sense to me.

I will try to the best of my ability to help those who lost life and property.

We can never replace lives, and we can't heal hearts, except through prayer.

Five years after 9/11, the worst attack on American homeland in our history, the Democrats offer nothing but criticism and obstruction, and endless second-guessing. The party of FDR and the party of Harry Truman has become the party of cut-and-run.

The good news is — and it's hard for some to see it now — that out of this chaos is going to come a fantastic Gulf Coast, like it was before. Out of the rubbles of Trent Lott's house — he's lost his entire house — there's going to be a fantastic house. And I'm looking forward to sitting on the porch.

The faith-based groups and the community-based groups throughout this part of the world, and the country for that matter, are responding.

Brownie, you're doin' a heck of a job.

So they started quoting these textbooks that said, when times are slow, raise taxes. When times are slow, don't let the people keep their money. The textbook I read says that if we let you have your own money, you'll decide to spend it on a good and service. And if you decide to spend it on the good and service, somebody will produce the good and service. And when somebody produces the good and service, it means somebody is going to find work.

As well, in order for us to have the security we all want, America must get rid of the hangover that we now have as a result of the binge, the economic binge we just went through. We were in a land of — there was endless profit, there was no tomorrow when it came to, you know, the stock markets and corporate profits. And now we're suffering a hangover for that binge.

It's important for us to be realistic about how to provide help so that there is insurance coverage for projects. We can do so that creates jobs — not jobs for trial lawyers. We must not have legislation — this legislation must keep in mind the workers of America, and not open up our government and/or employers to unnecessary and frivolous and junk lawsuits. And I appreciate — I appreciate the reform-minded folks here in the state of Alabama who understand that junk and frivolous lawsuits affect small business owners like Thornton. It makes it hard for him to expand his business, to hire people. Listen, you ought to have your day in court, no question about it. But we've got to make sure that these junk and frivolous lawsuits stop running up the cost of doing business and make it harder for people to employ people here in America.

But the truth of the matter is, we can't pass a law that says you'll love your neighbor like yourself. And we can't pass a law that says you will be honest. We can pass laws that say, if you're not honest, we'll get you.

And we did something else that's important — it's important for all small business owners — and that is we eliminated the death tax. I say we eliminated the death tax. By a quirk of the Senate rules, the death tax, however, isn't eliminated after 10 years. That's a hard one to explain. We eliminated it, but didn't eliminate it.

Of course, I like to remind people that Washington is full of all kinds of numbers crunchers. They talk about this number here, and that number there.