Jack Reed

I think it is a dangerous proposal that moves this country in the wrong direction.

Counterterrorism and public corruption these days are number one on the list for FBI and Department of Justice attention.

It amounts to what I call partial disarmament on the part of the safety regulator. That is most disturbing. I would like to see it corrected.

There are market distortions in our transportation system that mean that we don't take full advantage of the opportunity for cost savings.

We're trying to support that middle ground, safety and innovation, because we're talking about 32,092 lives, and we could save all of them.

I think continuing in that direction is important.

There are so many opportunities for safety, for improved productivity, for better health effects.

As long as the market does not take into account the costs that we all bear for some of these activities, there isn't an incentive, a market incentive to reduce them.

I mean, I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, and I saw what happens when people don't--and how they vote later--when people aren't treated with respect.

Well, thank you, Chairman, very much.

Just last year, we were faced with another threat of cuts due to sequester in the level of defense and non-defense budget caps, and with Senator Collins' leadership particularly, we were able to push back on that and able to raise the caps…

In Rhode Island, nearly 42,000 households spend more than 50 percent of their income on rent.

We have always appreciated it, at DOT OIG, this committee's, and your colleagues' committees over on the House side, concern and interest in and support across all the years.

What this country does need is investment in our airports, bridges, roads, transit systems.

I think HUD is on the right track. We're certainly anxious to see them do a little bit more.

We have been very aggressive in pushing family self-sufficiency programs, job plus programs.

But this discussion is touching upon public housing.

I am pleased that both houses unanimously passed the Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act. That bill made important changes to HUD programs, even created savings that allow us to either house more families or reduce the cost of…

This gap is not unique to Rhode Island. It spans the entire Nation.

It amounts to what I call partial disarmament on the part of the safety regulator. That is most disturbing.

Thank you very much, Madam Chairman.

We have not been keeping up with the demand. We have not made the necessary investment to keep pace with this demand.

That's something we could sort of find in probably every Federal agency, and that is a real, real problem.

I would like to see more oversight, though, at the local level.

We avoided that through great leadership, and particularly, Senator Collins and others.