Richard Blumenthal

The President's executive order will be a nullity unless the Congress acts.

We are patently vulnerable at the moment.

I do not mean in any way to cast aspersions on them, but there is a lot of potential here for making a difference by mandating reporting.

Thank you, Chair Collins, and thanks to you and Senator McCaskill for having this hearing and beginning on such a profoundly important note.

He directed a public messaging campaign and outreach effort.

I worked with Secretary of Defense Hagel to revise the rules and allow these veterans to petition to correct their records.

I would like your commitment that enabling better transition will be a commitment of yours.

And the F-35, like the Ohio replacement program, is really essential to all of our national defense.

Twenty-two veterans every day in this country, the strongest, best country in the history of the world, commit suicide.

I would welcome your commitment that you will encourage and support even more efforts to deal with post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury and those invisible wounds of war.

No one joins the Marine Corps to fail. That's for sure.

Senator McCain has really been a champion. I've been very proud to work with him on this issue.

I'm a strong supporter of small business set-asides and the American shipping industry and our country's domestic merchant marine sector.

I believe you are very much attuned to it, and I am hopeful that you will continue the military's commitment...

I would invite you, since our time is limited here, to come and meet with us and share perhaps in greater depth that experience, which I think would be enormously valuable in helping to shape this committee's perspective on the safety…

I want to shift to Governor Rendell.

Part of our task on this subcommittee will be to make sure that we oversee and scrutinize what those critical government agencies do to make sure that trust and confidence is sustained and enhanced.

Rebuilding those bridges and our roads and other critical infrastructure is absolutely critical.

It is investment--it is not spending. It really is investment that is vitally important to making sure that trust and confidence is restored and sustained.

The fact of the matter is that passenger rail is a vital lifeline for this country, as is freight, in delivering people and goods and services.

The failure of those agencies to properly oversee what is happening on the rails and roads is, itself, a jeopardy to safety and reliability.

None of the challenges faced by our Nation today are more important, long term, than the need to rebuild our critical infrastructure.

I would really value an opportunity to pursue some of these issues, and, Governor Rendell, particularly the infrastructure bank idea.

I've been an advocate of Positive Train Control as well as a number of the measures that you just mentioned, such as cameras, alerters and redundant signal protection.

Isn't it unfair to the railroads that have made advances and are on a path to meet the deadline to potentially postpone the Positive Train Control mandate?