Richard Blumenthal

I think indicates the passion and zeal that needs to be brought to this problem by the commanding officers.

The military has a great opportunity to teach some lessons to the civilian world.

I thank the Senator from California for her excellent work on the amendment she is offering which takes to another level the fight against tobacco addiction that has so plagued this country. She has been such a champion of the victims of…

ATF, as you know, has a strong history of responding to high-profile incidents and investigations, as you did in Sandy Hook.

I want to thank your agency and the special agents who were there for not only the rigor but also the sensitivity that they demonstrated.

A confirmed leader is absolutely essential to provide direction and vision and the kind of basic leadership.

I would ask you to work with our entire delegation in developing a consensus around the Northeast Corridor rail financing plan.

We have some critical infrastructure needs in the country.

I think we have some general challenges with state of good repair, and I think rail is one of them.

I think that this incident, an accident that could have cost even more lives, caused more injuries, and done even greater damage, fortunately was less severe than it might have been.

I hope that you will do whatever you can--I know it is an independent board--to assure that we know what the results are.

I would like a commitment from you that you will prioritize investments in infrastructure and safety measures for all of our railroad lines but most especially in the Northeast Corridor.

There's nothing technical or abstract about the dangers or the damage suffered every day in America as a result of defects in automobiles that recalls can help to cure.

Anything that goes wrong while the driver is behind the wheel can involve a crash or some other kind of malfunction that can result in human injury or death, is that not so?

Aren't they all crucial?

I want to thank you for having this hearing on this critically important topic and using this subcommittee, which is so important.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:39 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, May 16, 2013, at 11 a.m…

There will be a rollcall vote at approximately 2 p.m. on confirmation of the Moniz nomination. ____________________

We will continue to work through amendments to the bill during tomorrow's session. Senators will be notified when votes are scheduled. ____________________

This is yet another case where the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has arrogantly ignored the will of the Congress.

I am proud to sponsor with my colleague, Senator Moran.

We thank very much Senator Blumenthal for stepping forward on that one.

I think we on this panel, maybe every Member of the U.S. Senate at this point, could do the denunciation of sequester in our sleep.

$500 million as an additional cost is a fairly significant increment of the total cost. Is it not?

Shifting now to the payload module, I understood either from your testimony or from other briefings that there was an effort underway to extend the size of the payload module and that that issue was going to be under study, but that the…