Thank you for doing this hearing. I think the issue of pipeline safety is a very important one.

Our goal must be, of course, to prevent future disasters. But we can and we must do more than that.

We cannot repeat the mistakes, negligence, or recklessness that led to this disaster.

If we don't get this right, we are going to eliminate every job that we are trying to create...

These matters are urgent. I am hopeful that we can proceed quickly to consider legislation on these issues in the committee next week.

As the Congress formulates its overall response to the disaster, its first order of business must continue to be to care for the families of those who lost their lives in the rig explosion and those Gulf residents who are suffering every…

I want to commend Senator Shaheen for her work on an oil spill response research and development measure.

This moratoria will affect as many as 46,200 jobs may be idled.

We must learn from this accident and aggressively develop better technology to stop these spills from happening.

I appreciate your statement that it is moving in the right direction and will strengthen the ability of the department to carry out its responsibilities.

The administration has laid down a blanket inappropriate, in my view, 6-month moratoria with no end in sight.

This administration's decision, which I fiercely disagree with, to stop all activity with the 33 deepwater rigs...

In Senate, 'Motion to Proceed' Should Be Non-Debatable.

This legislation is not written in stone. I mean, it needs to be changed here and there.

I want to express our appreciation for this Committee's ongoing support for electric drive and recognition of its role in a cleaner, more secure transportation future.

Chairman Bingaman, Ranking Member Murkowski, and Members of the Committee, good morning.

Permanently protecting this unusual landscape as a Preserve in our National Park Service system is the right thing to do.

I am really pleased with this legislation. It is bipartisan. I think it will move us in the right direction.