Richard Shelby

MADD would like to thank Senator Shelby and Senator Murray for their leadership in this area and for providing funds for these life-saving efforts.

Again, we thank Senator Lautenberg and Senator DeWine for introducing legislation today that targets this dangerous population.

I believe that this problem has reached epidemic proportions.

As we approach Memorial Day, one of the most dangerous weekends for highway travel, I cannot think of a better time to discuss what I believe is a very important, yet all too often overlooked issue.

I hope here again we can work together with the other members of the Subcommittee to continue our leadership in this area whether the Administration wants to join us or not.

I think we need to be very suspicious of initiatives that seek to attack the drunk-driving problem by sharing revenue with the States with no strings attached.

What we don't know is whether we as a Nation have the will to force citizens to stop driving aggressively and to stop driving drunk.

Each month, more than 3,000 people die on our highways. That's an astounding figure, and we can reduce it if we make a commitment.

I hope we will do the same again this year.

I think that all of us on this panel would all agree that this record is unacceptable, and must be reversed.

I hope that we will do the same again this year.

Given these facts, I am concerned that the President's transportation budget does not adequately address the challenge that we face.

Mr. Secretary, could you do that for the record?

Are you going to be involved, directly or indirectly, as the Treasury Secretary in recommending the formation of a central bank, an independent central bank for Iraq?

But the fact that they are even still circulating or have some value is interesting, isn't it?

That will be independent of the political arena?

How is your $20 bill program working?

Are the merchants there accepting it with open arms in the souks and so forth? That is important.

How does that work? Are they denominated or tied to the Swiss franc or what?

Why has it not been eliminated?

Find, freeze, and return Iraqi money for the Iraqi people and their future.

And once it is lost, it is hard to get back.

How important, Mr. Secretary, is the accounting profession to all of us, the capital markets, the publicly traded stocks? How important?

Secretary, lastly, for this round, if the Japanese economy is sputtering along, the German economy is in recession, and we are so interdependent on trade both ways, if they continue to sputter, that has an effect on us.

We have a new SEC Chairman, Bill Donaldson, that I have great confidence in at this point in time.