On the recordJuly 23, 2015
as I watch this great deliberative body move toward a transportation bill, I sometimes feel as though I am watching an impending train wreck or a car crash because on the issue of safety this bill reflects a tragic, unfortunate, unforgivable missed opportunity. If we authorize this transportation measure, which is vitally important to the future of our Nation and will help drive economic growth and create jobs, we will miss the opportunity to make our roads and rails safer, more reliable, and more resilient for our economy and quality of life. We are missing an opportunity to, in effect, save lives. Anyone who has opened the morning newspaper and read about a derailment--whether in Bridgeport, Rikers Island, the Bronx, NY, or Philadelphia--causing injuries, deaths, loss of both life and property, can ask, understandably, why can't they do something? Anybody who discovers a used car bought by a friend or a relative or oneself rife with recalls and the need for repairs can justifiably ask, why can't they do something? Anybody who has had a near miss on the highway with an 80,000-pound truck going 75 miles an hour because there is a tired truckdriver under pressure from an owner or because there are two 33- length rigs can justifiably ask, why haven't they done something? The answer is because the Senate is missing an opportunity now, this year, on this bill.…
