Ray LaHood

My advice is, if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, take to Toyota dealer because they believe they have the fix for it.

My advice is if anybody owns one of these vehicles, stop driving it, take it to the Toyota dealer because they believe they have the fix for it.

I was pleased to read today that the Congressional Budget Office has now said that over 2 million jobs were created as a result of the stimulus.

I ask this Committee to consider it seriously and promptly.

Safety is my Department's highest priority.

Secretary LaHood delivered the Obama administration's legislative proposal entitled the Public Transportation Safety Act of 2009 to the Congress this past December.

We need to find $400 or $500 billion to pay for it.

Texting while driving is the biggest distraction.

We need tough enforcement, and tough enforcement does work.

I want to take a minute to praise my colleague, former colleague and now our Secretary, for taking a very positive initiative.

The President wants a very strong, comprehensive, robust transportation bill.

Personal responsibility, education, and enforcement.

We cannot allow this to happen.

I believe in the carrot-and-the-stick approach, and I am not going to sit here and tell all of you what bill you ought to be supporting.

I think there are three solutions for texting, and I think education is one of them.

I think any distraction is a problem.

Distracted drivers is one part of the problem. There are many types of distractions.

I think he did exactly the right thing. He called attention to a growing problem and a growing issue.

Tough penalties work.

I think any distraction is a distraction that takes away from driving safely.

I am personally committed to reducing the number of injuries and fatalities caused by distracted driving.

I want to thank you all for attending, and for dedicating your time and energy to addressing this problem.

If you say something often enough people start to believe it.

I'm proud of my own home State of Illinois. They just passed a very, very tough law on eliminating texting while driving. I think it will save injuries and lives.

Any kind of distraction, whether it's on trains, planes, or automobiles, is a distraction.