Bob Menendez Jr.

The goal is to limit the degree of influence that Big Oil has had on those hired to keep the drillers in line.

My legislation increases the penalties for these sorts of false representations by regulators.

But my point simply is wouldn't it be a true statement that but for your moratorium, if one of those entities worth less than a billion dollars had a spill and the law had not been changed, right now, they would be subject only to a $75…

The President is clear. He wants action, and he wants to have the Gulf Coast left in a better place than it was on April the 20th.

As a member of the conference committee, I'm looking forward to voting for the strongest set of sanctions.

I urge this Committee to be thoughtful in reviewing what will work best to compensate victims and not give an unfair advantage to big oil in the future.

You can't be coach and referee. MMS has, as it was constituted before, been both an advocate for the industry and supposed to be the referee.

What people want are development policies and transportation choices that get them out of bumper-to-bumper traffic and give them more time with their families.

I believe it is legislation that can help jump-start our economy, reinvigorate the housing market, increase our energy security, and make the air that we breathe cleaner and our communities healthier.

I have been advocating we need to lift the cap, and I'm going to amend my legislation to pursue unlimited liability.

I don't believe Washington should have anything to say how you pray home, or anywhere else.

the greatest barrier to meaningful self-determination is that politicians affiliated with the Island's minority Popular Democratic Party have not been honest with the people of Puerto Rico.

For those who suggest the Department has not underestimated the risks, then I'd ask, Why is it that MMS has repeatedly felt the need to overrule NOAA and allow drilling to move forward without proper permits?

I do hope that the Chair will consider bringing some of these scientists and others, and NOAA and others, before the committee.

the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Act would increase the cap on economic damages resulting from an oil spill from the current $75 million to $10 billion.

I think it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there is no such thing as too safe to spill.

I look at the numbers, 168,000 homeowners who have received final 5-year loan modifications under the Administration's plan. It is a tiny fraction of 6 million people who are more than 60 days late on their loans.

I am just trying to understand how 60, 70 percent cuts mean more housing for people who are disabled and elderly. I just don't get it.

This bill proposes to make national the standards that several States have adopted for these products and thus end the regulatory patchwork currently facing manufacturers.

I wrote you in November to ask you to launch an investigation into the safety of Sea Drill Limited's operations off our shorelines.

We voted to award funding for the creation of an Ovarian Cancer Academy.

We see reports from a whistle-blower that BP's enormous Atlantis platform in the Gulf of Mexico is lacking the proper engineering and safety documentation.

it just makes it very difficult for people on Main Street to continue to understand why their taxpayer dollars should continue to fund institutions that, one, don't get it; two, fight financial reform; and three, ultimately have them…

I think if we can create a framework that incentivizes the Haitian diaspora in Canada and the United States to return, which many of them would be willing to do in the right framework, we could really move this whole thing forward.

So it just seems to me that we should be attributing that to commercial banks, as well, so that we, at the end of the day, can ensure that customer deposits don't end up being part of the speculative nature that can create a crisis.