David Thomas: “Mr. President, we are here again talking about an issue that seems to come up every time there are highway bills and…”

“Mr. President, we are here again talking about an issue that seems to come up every time there are highway bills and highway funds to be distributed. We always come up with this question of process, of who has the responsibility to make the kinds of laws that would be there. I am disappointed that some of the speakers just previous have indicated they don't think the States have the ability to make the decisions, that they don't think the State legislatures feel as passionately about drunken driving as we do. I think they do. I have been there. To say, 'Well, this is something the States simply can't do, or aren't capable of doing, or don't care about,' it seems to me is not fair or balanced. I think we ought to talk about the process here. And the process is, how do we best deal with States as a Federal entity, in this case, with highway funding? There is no one in this place or no one that I know of in the whole country who doesn't want to do more about preserving safety in driving. There is no one here who cares more about the losses that we have. That is not the issue here.”