Richard Blumenthal

I was surprised to see in your testimony, Ms. Ferro, that there is no test now for sleep apnea; is that correct?

I think the rules need to be changed and the minimum insurance level should be substantially increased to several million, four or five million.

Do any of our witnesses disagree with the proposition that sleep apnea ought to be tested before someone is permitted to drive commercially?

Should there not be one?

There are studies underway about its effectiveness; correct?

I have said that the purpose of these regulations is to take tired truckers off the road, not take trucks off the road, and to protect truckers as well as the public in general.

I think we can agree that whatever the cause or however many crashes and fatalities and injuries are caused by driver fatigue, whether it is 10 percent or 90 percent, every one of those crashes, every one of those deaths and injuries is…

I am eager to hear their testimony and decide what we can do to reduce the fatalities and the injuries on our roads.

The real problem here, and it goes to Senator Booker's concern about the payment, the pay that the drivers are getting, is they are not paid overtime.

I would think it should be part of whatever medical certificate is required.

The rule that we are discussing here has been in effect for one year; correct?

This issue is something that I have cared about deeply throughout my career.

The restart should be eliminated.

It seemed to me that point would argue strongly in favor of not rolling back or retracting rules already in effect while their effectiveness is under study.

I would agree with you that there ought to be.

The Collins' amendment insofar as it requires additional study would produce perhaps additional data, but it goes beyond the study to actually roll back the rule.

I hope that you will agree that these hours-of-service regulations that were adopted in 2013 or became effective on that date will continue to be in effect even as we gather data on how effective they have been.

I would love to work with the trucking industry on reducing truck crashes, and particularly children being harmed.

There may be some issues that divide us but there is so much more that we have in common.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:26 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, July 24, 2014, at 9:30 a.m…

At 1:45 p.m. there will be a voice vote on the motion to proceed to the Bring Jobs Home Act. There will then be an immediate rollcall vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Pamela Harris to be a circuit judge for the…

I don't understand why the cruise industry doesn't spend the money to fix some of these problems, because it would inure to their benefit.

I'm going to ask that a letter from my Connecticut colleague Congressman Jim Himes be entered into the record in support of this legislation.

We are really trying to impose minimal protection on cruise ships.

To keep them safe is a minimal obligation.