Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to this amendment. I appreciate all of the courtesies from my good friend from Montana. I understand the motivations behind this amendment, but I must speak against it because this amendment itself is a threat to the safety of Americans on the roadway. It is counter to the goal that we all share, of protecting and preserving Social Security and Medicare, two vital safety net programs in this country; and, above all, it destroys accountability in the safety rules in the trucking industry. Mr. Chairman, in 1980, Congress mandated that commercial motor carriers carry a minimum of $750,000 in liability coverage. This number has not been adjusted in more than 33 years. In present dollars, simply adjusting for inflation using a health care cost CPI, consumer price index, would require changing the $750,000 to $4.4 million. In fact, I have introduced, myself, H.R. 2730, the SAFE HAUL Act to do just that, simply to adjust for inflation over the 34 years that that $750,000 limit was in place. This past weekend, Mr. Chairman, Mr. James McNair, a talented comedian, died in New Jersey because of a tractor-trailer collision. Apparently, the tractor-trailer driver was awake for 24 hours, in violation of a myriad of hours of service requirements in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety regulations. Tracy Morgan, his associate, remains in critical condition.…”