Richard Blumenthal

Thank you to you for having this hearing and for your really instrumental work on a lot of this legislation.

So you would welcome this additional measure?

There has to be a balancing of competing interests.

What will simply be unleashed is the ability of the wealthiest in our society to dominate, control, and unduly influence outcomes.

Corporations are treated like people. They can give on an unlimited basis directly to candidates.

While money is used to finance speech, money is not speech.

I thank you all for being here today. And I hope that we can continue this conversation.

As I said, at least at this point they are clearly on track to achieve what they have set out to do.

So, fair to say they're saying the right things, but the jury's still out on whether they're doing the right things.

The recommendations made by the NTSB should have been implemented long ago.

The critical questions that I've been raising are not directed at you, personally, or even solely at your agency.

Our goal is to get to zero, and stay there.

Wouldn't you agree with me that these rules have to be issued more quickly?

Rules that would have greatly enhanced inspection practices, which might have prevented the derailment in Bridgeport.

Well, I am not here to debate you. My point was not that it would have, not that there was any certainty that it would have prevented Spuyten Duyvil, but that it could have.

The NTSB currently has 56 open recommendations to you. For some of them, the NTSB has given a, quote/unquote, 'unacceptable response,' in fact, on 29 of the recommendations, meaning that the FRA failing to move in the right direction to…

So, here we are, 6 years later, and they still haven't been issued. What is the reason for that delay?

Just so we're clear here, these are rules that were authorized and required by the law approved in 2008.

Well, can you give us dates for when those rules will be issued?

How long has that regulation been in the pipeline, as you----

I want to come back, Mr. Szabo, to the penalty issue.

Well, if I were in your shoes, I would be advocating for more authority.

The big companies that you regulate will thumb their nose at your agencies.

When the penalties aren't sufficient, there's no incentive to obey them.

I think one of the problems we can agree--and maybe this is an issue that pertains to all your agencies--is the resources available for enforcement.