Dennis Kucinich

I would say, first of all, you and I share the concern about safety.

I would say that we're fortunate to have you on this committee because your expertise in automotive is wonderful to have here.

Your Agency dropped the ball on this, sir.

I think that is what the chairman keeps referencing, and I think Mr. Kucinich feels the same way, and we all do.

So is it correct that NHTSA intentionally damaged the battery compartment and intentionally ruptured the coolant system to try to reproduce the fire, is that correct?

So you created the circumstances under which the fire could occur. This wasn't created independently through the vehicle, an intact vehicle, without you having to essentially rig it to go on fire, is that right?

What we need to know, Administrator Strickland, is whether there was a valid reason for so much time to pass or whether, as the majority has concluded, or has at least offered, that NHTSA was acting in a politically motivated manner.

I hope this committee's activity on this issue... to discourage companies like GM from continuing to innovate and advance technologies that will ensure U.S. competitiveness.

We don't want to be buying lithium-ion batteries from China in 5 years when we can develop the infrastructure and skills to make them here in the United States.

It would be very bad, I think, for our economy to do anything that would try to demolish the potential for electric vehicles.

I am concerned that an effect of this hearing could be to undermine technology that is critical to both protecting the environment and ensuring the success of the U.S. auto manufacturing industry.

So far we have seen no evidence to support the implication that NHTSA has allowed politics to guide its decisionmaking.

And if my Republican friends on this committee and in this body actually want to correct that, not by using you as the example, but by moving forward to correct that on a bipartisan basis, they would find this Democrat more than willing to…

That is not how the Constitution intended legislation to work.

It is unprecedented to have all but two Members of the other party in the other body actually say, no, we don't care if we lost, we are going to thwart it anyhow.

It is all the more critical that they be able to raise their voices and demand change.

The majority has leapt to investigate whether banks have been the victims of abuse from American citizens.

I am deeply concerned about the committee's failure to use its investigative power to protect American consumers or examine the numerous allegations of wrongdoing by banks.

I find it baffling that we are actually convening this morning's hearings to debate the merits of allowing Americans to use their public parks as a venue in which to express their First Amendment rights.

And is there any kind of restriction being placed on Russia with respect to payments in connection with the International Space Station? I yield to the gentleman from California.

Okay. Well, I appreciate your pointing that out. But I would yield to my friend for a question. Does this legislation, or does it not, have a reference to the International Space Station and Russia? Is there a reference to it?

As well as the section which spoke directly to the restrictions on the payments.

I'm asking you, when you say this was amended out, it was amended out with respect to the citation of the Russian Federation----

The Congressional Quarterly House Action Report on this legislation states the following: that the measure, however, exempts such restrictions for assistance for the Bashir nuclear reactor in Iran which is being developed with the aid of…

I will once again yield time to a colleague who I may disagree with, but he is entitled to 3 minutes, and I will yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Sherman).