Ben Cardin

Yes, we want to make sure workers are safe; yes, we want them to have the right to organize. But, without good governance, a lot of that is going to be somewhat meaningless.

Yes, political will is needed to make these changes.

Our goal is to create a universal set of standards for workers' rights and safety and health beyond Bangladesh.

There is a great deal of focus right now on ensuring that the democratic institutions in Bangladesh do not slide back.

Does the government take us seriously on GSP?

Simply put, workers are the best guarantors of their own safety, when given the right and the ability to organize.

In West Virginia, it was not a petroleum-based product that caused the problem; it was a cleaning product?

Our first priority is to do what we can to prevent these types of episodes from happening again in our country.

Thank you. I appreciate the cooperation we have in this committee. We try to do everything we can in a non-partisan manner because it involves the public health of the people of this Nation.

I particularly want to underscore the point that Congressman Rahall made about our colleague, Senator Rockefeller. He has been a real treasure for us in the U.S. Senate.

We need to minimize the risks and clearly do it in a way that is cost effective and really works.

When a company fails to perform, they should be held accountable.

It's my understanding we do have authority on petroleum-based above the ground storage but for some of the other contaminants and chemicals, we do not at the current time.

I want to thank the responders, the people at FEMA, the National Guard and many others who did incredible work.

The Federal role is clear.

My hope is that we may learn from this experience and find policy solutions to ensure that an incident like this never happens again in West Virginia or in any other state.

Americans have a right to expect that when they turn on their tap, the water they get is safe and is safe to drink.

What do we do about that?

I want to congratulate and thank Senators Boxer, Manchin and Senator Rockefeller in the Senate for quickly introducing legislation that deals with some of the fundamental issues with which we have to be concerned.

The system did not work on January 9th in West Virginia. The system failed.

This is an issue of federalism.

It is our responsibility to make sure that expectation is, in fact, carried out, both at the Federal, State and local government levels.

We will certainly miss your incredible leadership on this committee in bringing Democrats and Republicans together as we should.

It is going to be a challenging commitment, and we look forward to continuing to work with you, but in a different capacity.

We do not always have hearings that are this--Senator Hatch, I know you are always respectful, but sometimes there is a little bit more disagreement than we have here today.