Isn't it true that the explosion at the fertilizer facility in West, Texas, that killed more than a dozen people and destroyed a large portion of the town could have been prevented or minimized if it had stored its ammonium nitrate more…

Inherently safer technology is not exclusively focused on substituting safer chemicals for more dangerous ones.

Do you think requiring companies to assess whether there exists opportunities to reduce the consequences of a potential attack or accident by using safer processes or chemicals makes sense?

I think a national debate is a good idea.

We need a big national debate over this bonanza of shale oil and gas and see how we benefit most as a country.

I do not think the analysis has been done. I think people are just throwing this out as some big idea.

The more we become energy independent the stronger the United States is.

Isn't it true that the chemical storage tank in West Virginia that leaked into the Elk River might not have contaminated the drinking water of 300,000 people if the tank had been of a safer design or if the tank had not been placed right…

The issues that you are working on and leading on are going to largely determine the relationship between the American people and their environment; the safety of it, the security of it.

I want to very strongly contest this idea that massive exportation of American energy is going to affect the Ukraine.

I would like you to be providing the committee with the documents that you are using if you are going to be changing your position.

We are a capitalist country, not a Communist country.

The chemical sector represents the best of American technological might.

But these same chemicals could also be turned into a weapon of mass destruction by terrorists.

But sometimes, unfortunately, things do go wrong, as we know, and it is our duty to ask whether we could have done better.

That is why the President has issued his Executive Order, as you know, on chemical facilities.

I am pleased to welcome both of our witnesses here this morning, and thank you for your stewardship and thank you for your input.

I wear two hats today. One is I think of myself as Chairman Boxer's wingman.