Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to the amendment. Truck crash deaths in this country have increased significantly in recent years. That should be the backdrop of this discussion. 4,067 people were killed in crashes involving large trucks in 2015 alone. That is a 20 percent increase since 2009. And studies show that driver fatigue--that is what this amendment is all about, driver fatigue--is an important part of the problem. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board repeatedly have recommended that all trucks and buses be equipped with ELDs. In 2012, Congress decided to take strong action to address this problem and passed a requirement for the use of ELDs with bipartisan support as a part of the MAP-21 legislation. Supporters of this amendment say that the enforcement community is not ready to begin enforcement by December 18. That is really not the case. And it is also true that inspectors aren't going to pull truckers out of service for noncompliance until April 1 of next year. That is a considerable grace period. It will give the trucking and the enforcement community ample time to adjust to the mandate. The Department of Transportation has estimated that the benefits adopting ELDs to be over $1 billion. So implementing the mandate makes financial sense, and it certainly makes sense in terms of the safety of our people, the safety on our roads. Mr.…”