Richard Blumenthal

I want to pledge that I will continue to stay engaged and involved and help in whatever way I can.

Senator Richard Blumenthal aggressively approached me on the Senate floor on an absolutely ridiculous vote.

I continue to be concerned with ensuring that civil liberties and personal privacy are protected and safeguarded throughout this process.

I come from a State that has been engaged in trying to combat the cyber threat.

Insurance does not seem to be a commonly used option.

A Passenger Bill of Rights can be misleading.

If you're not one of us, you have nothing to offer to us that can help us.

But, apart from the credentials----

A right without a forum, without a court, without an enforcer, is illusory.

Consumers and travelers deserve to know better what the rights and protections are.

It would seem to guarantee a right that, in fact, is illusory.

Wouldn't it be clearer if--and more transparent--if, as to that right--and, by the way, many other rights--

I don't see any indication of what those limits on liability are.

I think, to many of us--is that there is inadequate protection for travelers on cruise ships.

My impression of this hearing is that there's a bit of a Kabuki dance.

It may be the normal practice in your industry, but not necessarily in all industries.

I would be more than happy to give you the benefit of consulting with your attorney before you ask.

That's why I've become a cosponsor of Senator Rockefeller's bill, the Cruise Passenger Protection Act.

Well, that is a welcome development. I hope it will be accelerated and enhanced, and enlarged by proposed legislation like the Chairman's, which Senator Markey and I have joined.

There's no indication as to the limits on what passengers can seek, by way of recourse, if there's negligence in the provision of medical care.

I think that, really, the challenge for all of us, most especially for you because it's your job to suggest to us how this system needs to be changed because it may be failing in just a few, it may be failing in more than a few areas, but…

The system may work well in some ways, as you suggested, but it has put out of business many, many fishermen in the State of Connecticut

As a matter of fact, as Attorney General, I took legal action because this system is such a failure, an abject failure, over many years in upholding the very interests that you have expressed in your testimony.

My time has expired. I am going to turn over to Senator Lee.

And to put it in terms that consumers can understand, the payment, in addition to the settlement on time period, probably means that entry is delayed as a consequence of that payment.