Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, gentlemen, for being here this morning.
I want to remain open-minded about this alternate financial security arrangement. On something of a flippant note, Einstein said, as probably you've heard, “The human mind is like a parachute--it functions better when it is open.” So I want to remain open-minded.
It's to the credit of the industry that it has had an error-free, incident-free record for some 45 years, as I understand it. It's to the credit of the leadership and the operators that you recognize that safety, first, foremost, and always, is the number-one concern, and of course it should be. However, I'm just not comfortable with this alternate financial security arrangement.
From my point of view, if anything untoward were to occur, the very best, the optimum guarantee for communities and individuals that they would be properly compensated, is a paid-up insurance policy. That is, to me, the best guarantee.
Can you let me know, then, what “alternate financial security” actually means on an on-the-ground basis and how secure you feel an alternate financial arrangement would be relative to insurance?