Political Quotes

“I rise in support of H.R. 2877. ``Safety First,'' is a catchphrase known to many of us. Although, often disregarded, the virtue and benefits of this policy are universally recognized, accepted and appreciated. The concept of safety has attracted so huge a following that eventually it was decided that everyone should follow and live by its precepts. Later, we even came up with legal definitions. However, as most well-meaning folks have done before, we may have gone overboard by selectively imposing this concept and designating some a few unfortunate entities to suffer the consequences for everyone. A scheme was even devised so that we can collect money from those who deviated from our mandates. This bring us to question whether safety is really the first priority. H.R. 2877 prohibits the Labor Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) from using results of enforcement activity, such as numbers of citations issued and penalties assessed, to evaluate employees directly involved in OSHA enforcement activities. In addition, this bill would prohibit OSHA from imposing quotas or goals for citations or penalties on its inspectors. Coming from the island of Guam, I am no stranger to complaints of unfair treatment by Federal officials. OSHA issues have generated their fair share of attention on the island. Contractors of Guam feel that they are being singled out by OSHA inspectors.…”