the prior $1 billion committed credit facility agreement that would have expired in December 2012. As of and for the year ended May 31, 2012, we had no amounts outstanding under our new committed revolving credit facility. 

We currently have long-term debt ratings of A+ and A1 from Standard and Poor’s Corporation and Moody’s Investor Services, respectively. If our long- term debt rating were to decline, the facility fee and interest rate under our committed revolving credit facility would increase. Conversely, if our long-term debt rating were to improve, the facility fee and interest rate would decrease. Changes in our long-term debt rating would not trigger acceleration of maturity of any then-outstanding borrowings or any future borrowings under the committed credit facility. Under this committed revolving credit facility, we have agreed to various covenants. These covenants include limits on our disposal of fixed assets, the amount of debt secured by liens we may incur, as well as a minimum capitalization ratio. In the event we were to have any borrowings outstanding under this facility and failed to meet any covenant, and were unable to obtain a waiver from a majority of the banks in the syndicate, any borrowings would become immediately due and payable. As of May 31, 2012, we were in full compliance with each of these covenants and believe it is unlikely we will fail to meet any of these covenants in the foreseeable future. 

Liquidity is also provided by our $1 billion commercial paper program. As of and for the year ended May 31, 2012, no amounts were outstanding under this program. We may issue commercial paper from time to time during fiscal 2013 depending on general corporate needs. We currently have short-term debt ratings of A1 and P1 from Standard and Poor’s Corporation and Moody’s Investor Services, respectively. 

Our previous $760 million shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission expired during fiscal 2012. No debt securities were issued under that shelf registration prior to its expiry. We may issue debt securities under a new shelf registration in fiscal 2013 depending on general corporate needs. 

As of May 31, 2012, we had cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments totaling $3.8 billion, of which $2.5 billion was held by our foreign subsidiaries. Cash equivalents and short-term investments consist primarily of deposits held at major banks, money market funds, Tier-1 commercial paper, corporate notes, U.S. Treasury obligations, U.S. government sponsored enterprise obligations, and other investment grade fixed income securities. Our fixed income investments are exposed to both credit and interest rate risk. All of our investments are investment grade to minimize our credit risk. While individual securities have varying durations, the average duration of our entire cash equivalents and short-term investment portfolio is less than 120 days as of May 31, 2012. 

Despite recent uncertainties in the financial markets, to date we have not experienced difficulty accessing the credit markets or incurred higher interest costs. Future volatility in the capital markets, however, may increase