Richard Blumenthal

The failure to plan for this kind of contingency and provide backup sources of power was a failing that we cannot permit to be repeated.

The contingency plan, in other words, or the backup system would be solely Metro-North's responsibility. Is that your view?

Wouldn't it have been a better practice either to have a backup or at least to have a plan?

There is an obligation. It certainly is an ethical, in my view, obligation, if not a legal obligation, for Con Ed to make whole, to compensate, to reimburse Metro-North and others who suffered as a result of Con Ed's failure of equipment.

Enough is enough. The outage due to the electrical problem obviously is a major failure, one for which the cause should be determined and the appropriate people held responsible.

And can you commit, also, that you'll provide the preliminary review? I know we've asked for it.

I urge that there be an infrastructure bank as a means of providing that financing and, at the very least, that there be a national rail trust fund.

The entire New Haven Line, when it comes to electric power, really is only as strong as its weakest point, because if the weakest point fails, as we saw in Mount Vernon, the entire line is crippled, correct?

You're making refunds, or at least you're giving your customers credit.

Our infrastructure is in the position that it is in because all of us... have not been adequate stewards.

I want to express my appreciation for the work done by the men and women who work for you in so quickly reacting and the enormous effort that it took to construct that temporary station.

And are you saying that the fact that it was 6 years beyond its normal design life was irrelevant or should be dismissed as a possible cause?

And the normal design life is 30 years.

I strongly share the view, that our nation needs to make additional investments in infrastructure.

I remain optimistic that we can get the job done.

Wouldn't it be fair to expect Amtrak to invest more?

Thank you for your leadership on the issue.

And I apologize for putting it in sort of simplistic layman's language. But, in effect, the feeder cable, 6 years beyond its normal design life, was somehow impacted by this freezing which caused it to fail.

It was your line that failed, was it not?

No cop is on the beat investigating reports of actual deaths caused by consumer products.

More people are killed in highway accidents every day than by tobacco or anything else.

No one is inspecting toys being imported from China that may contain dangerous levels of lead or other life-threatening defects.

Fortunately, I think they have been shown to be wrong in their opinion that government is worthless, that it does no good.

How many people are being ripped off all across our country and all across our planet right now?

The government, the government, I hate it. And now piece by piece, like the kreplach, we're showing them what the government does.