Harry Reid: “I am very happy to join with my colleague from North Dakota on this most important legislation. He has outlined very…”

“I am very happy to join with my colleague from North Dakota on this most important legislation. He has outlined very clearly the problems we have. Let's think about this. In the United States there are 400,000 trailer truck accidents every year. Keep in mind, we have pretty strong, strict safety standards. Over 14,000 of those accidents involve hazardous materials. Do we want to add to that mix unsafe vehicles? The trucks that have accidents in America that are American trucks are not unsafe. Those accidents are caused by driver errors, weather conditions. We need to move forward on this legislation yesterday, not today. I certainly hope, through administrative fiat, that the President does not allow this to happen. That is our fear. That is what we have heard. The Senator from North Dakota is really a visionary as far as legislation goes, on what he has focused in making statements in this Chamber, what he has done as a Senator, and what he has done as a Member of the House, focusing attention on our trade deficits. It is a stealth monster. Ultimately, if we do not do something about it, it is going to destroy the economy of this country. It is getting bigger and bigger and bigger. As the Senator has outlined with the chart he has behind him, this balloon is going to continue to get bigger and bigger and thinner and thinner and finally explode. I say he is a visionary because he has talked about our trade situation.”