Frank Lautenberg

The current law does not provide her agency with the tools it needs to protect the public from hazardous chemicals.

We began this push to reform the toxic substances law a few months ago after a review with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson.

The proposal is simply not enough to address the problems that this committee has uncovered to date with vehicle safety, much less other kinds of transportation safety.

I feel very strongly about that. I actually gave a question to one of my colleagues, because it was so good that I felt like being generous.

To us, this was important legislation, because it establishes goals for Federal service transportation programs so that the American taxpayers are confident that their tax dollars are going to support transportation projects that improve…

We have to have an increase in NHTSA's funding, to hire more vehicle safety engineers, to investigate vehicle defects.

In 2004, Senator Kyl and I successfully enacted legislation, the Crime Victims' Rights Act, to provide the victims of violent crimes a set of procedural rights under Federal law.

I authored the juvenile mentoring program. It created one-on-one mentoring for a modest cost for at-risk youth.

I brought the legislation to the Senate when Vice President Gore was in that position, and he broke a tie, 51-50, for us to close the gun show loophole.

We are lacking in resources.

Everyone knows how energetic and positive your leadership has been, and we are grateful to you.

We are ever more threatened, in my view, by terrorist attack.

In January, I asked the Department of Justice for information about the June 2009 shooting of two soldiers in Arkansas by Abdulhakim Muhammad, who claims to be a member of Al Qaeda.

Those are the kinds of things that railroads can provide in the most efficient manner.

We're going to be headed to 100, at least by some estimates, and maybe beyond that.

I truly believe that--right to my core that we're sitting on the precipice of huge increases again in fuel cost.

The last environmental impact statement for the Northeast corridor was completed in 1978.

In my State, New Jersey, we have a rail bridge known as the 'Portal Bridge.' It's over 100 years old, in critical need of being replaced.

I wrote a rail safety law that mandated that railroads install positive train control on certain routes by the end of 2015.

We need that $400-plus million for new equipment.

It's shameful what happens with us.

If we want to make this railroad the thing that America should be proud of, invest like China or Spain.

Amtrak offers so many positive additions to our well-being.

If we didn't have Amtrak running there, be in the Northeast corridor, you'd have to run 243 more flights every day.

Amtrak is critical for our society to function--critical.