Political Quotes

“I rise with my friend and colleague Senator Wyden to draw attention to the dangerous oil train derailment that occurred in Oregon last Friday and the urgency to protect communities around our Nation with stronger safety regulations for these rolling explosion hazards. The folks in the Columbia Gorge have experienced a proliferation of trains carrying coal and carrying oil. They have been concerned about the length of the trains and how these trains roll through, dividing their communities and the challenges they have. There is one concern they have above everything else; that is, that a train full of explosive Bakken crude would derail in their community. That happened last Friday. It is the very scenario communities have dreaded. This oil train was traveling through the Cascade Mountains along the Columbia Gorge on its way to Tacoma, WA, with 97 cars loaded with flammable, explosive Bakken crude. Sixteen tank cars went off the tracks. One car ruptured, and when it ruptured, it spewed oil. The oil created an inferno, and the inferno started to heat up the adjacent cars. The adjacent cars had pressure relief valves that as they got hot, started spewing oil out of these pressure relief valves, spreading the fire to three cars. This happened near the town of Mosier, OR, which is just 70 miles east of Portland. We were fortunate. We thank our lucky stars no one was injured in the incident, but it could have been different, as my colleague from Oregon pointed out.…”