Mark Pryor

I think a deadline's important to get a deal done.

I do feel like it is time for us to try to draft some legislation that embraces all those changes in the past but also paves the way for more innovation.

The distribution industry wants to politicize this, and try and change the rules and how these are done.

What I would like to ask all the panelists is: Is that good public policy? Or, what's wrong with that policy of allowing the signal to stay on the system when there's a breakdown in negotiation?

OK. And I think a lot of times we make sure that our first responders are involved and our hospitals know what to do.

I want to thank everyone for being here.

Earthquake preparedness is something that is very important and we should make sure that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and others are on top of.

Great. Well, that is helpful.

I come to the floor today to introduce legislation with Senator Alexander of Tennessee that I believe will have a dramatic impact on the safety of our Nation's highways and interstates, called the Commercial Driver Compliance Improvement…

Thank you for your statement and your presentation.

What is much more important is implementing them.

But I assume that would be quite a bit smaller impact.

Our goal is to make an American response look more like the results of Chile, rather than the results in Haiti.

Wow. Well, that education certainly has paid off.

I really hope that this 2011 exercise really does bring more public awareness and education about what the public should do in the event of an earthquake.

As you work with other countries, do you try to go in before disasters happen and help them prepare? Is that part of your mission?

Good. And let me ask the follow-up.

I want to go ahead and call our hearing to order.

Thank you. By the way, my understanding is they have been trying to earthquake-proof one of the bridges over the Mississippi River at Memphis.

I want to thank all of our witnesses on the first panel.

As we near the 100th anniversary of the 1811 and 1812 New Madrid earthquakes, we are reminded how critical planning and preparation are to mitigating against loss of life and property.

We need to look at what are acceptable collapse rates for new buildings and who determines what that will be.

Does USAID continue to have a presence in Haiti?

Did you want to add anything to the scenario that he painted?

I think a lot of times people in my part of the country feel like earthquakes are something you see on the west coast.