Frank Lautenberg

I urge you, Mr. Chairman and the Committee, to expeditiously support his nomination.

The Commerce Department and its Foreign Commercial Service play a critical role in getting America's goods and services overseas.

Thanks for the opportunity to be frank with you.

Second job, and travelling long distances is a recipe for problems, and we don't want to see that happen.

About 5,000 people a year die from crashes involving large trucks. The NTSB estimates that between 30 and 40 percent of these crashes involve fatigue.

There is an enormous opportunity around a renewed level of investment in passenger rail.

The size of the investment that we have to make is significant. The returns would be enormous.

If you go out West, you know that California has been getting going on some high-speed corridors there.

Thank you, every one of you, for your excellent testimony and your wish to make a contribution.

I assume, Dr. Rosekind, with you, that as you described the value of the agency, that you are all committed to making a welcome contribution to how we function.

I have considerable public sector experience relating to the travel and transportation industries, and the rail business in particular.

We need the kind of skills that you have developed on the reviews of what is happening on our National Transportation Safety Board.

I believe passenger rail is an absolutely essential part of solving our transportation challenges.

Amtrak can be a better-run and smarter operation than it has now.

The American people and our Nation's passenger rail system will be well served by having Tony on the board.

I wrote the law last year to reform and revitalize Amtrak.

Whenever we look at the system, we are really pleasantly surprised at the safety of the system and the elegant work, excellent work, rather--also elegant--of the NTSB and related agencies.

I wrote the law to raise the drinking age to 21. I subsequently wrote the .08 restriction for definition of driving under the influence. And we have saved 1,500 people a year.

We believe that mandatory installation of electronic onboard recorders is essential for effective enforcement.

Incentives didn't work, and right now, you know we are examining whether or not we go ahead and write law including incentives as opposed to punishment. And I think that the punishment side works in these cases.

Someone is killed by a drunk driver every 45 minutes.

In all due respect, I mean, there is a perspective, I think, an unusual perspective that follows the NTSB.

It is essential that the legislation that you pass include provision for international adaptation, not for all countries, but for the poorest countries.

Are we on the line for real reductions? And are we on the line to help others make that move?

We saw an interesting thing in New Jersey last week. There was a groundbreaking ceremony for an Italian company that wants to build solar panels here.