Political Quotes

“Last week before the Transportation and Infrastructure's committee on pipeline safety, I called the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, known as PHMSA, ``a toothless tiger that has overdosed on quaaludes and is passed out on the job.'' Today I stand before you to say I was wrong. I was wrong to call PHMSA a toothless tiger. PHMSA is actually a toothless kitten, a fluffy industry pet that frightens absolutely no one. This has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by yesterday's excellent Politico investigation of PHMSA's ineffectual ``can't do'' attitude, written by Elana Schor and Andrew Restuccia. Allow me to highlight some of the shocking incompetence brought to light by this article. All rules made by PHMSA undergo peer review by two advisory committees: one on oil and one on gas. In theory, the committee is made up of five members each from industry, government, and public. Sounds good, right? Well, that might be true except the committee's current rosters are missing seven members on the government and public sides. This means the industry is calling the shots and voting for their own initiatives. On these committees there is almost no formal resistance to doing the industry's bidding.…”