Patty Murray

The Winter Olympic Games are going to be held in Vancouver, British Columbia.

I did want to start by thanking you for finally budgeting some adequate levels of funding for the Pacific Northwest National Lab which is in my State.

I do want to say to you that you have some great people working in your agency, from Coast Guard to FEMA folks. We've had a lot of weather-related disasters in my State and these people have saved lives and been there time and again.

I commend to you the nomination of Peter Rogoff to be our next Federal Transit Administrator.

I am very pleased to be here today to have the opportunity to introduce Peter Rogoff as the President's nominee to be the next Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration.

I'm very concerned about these men and women who are coming home and don't have a job, and where we've left them.

This is one of my highest priorities, and I think we all share the concerns you mentioned about the recent outbreaks and the illness and sometimes deaths caused by food-borne disease in our country.

It is going to require additional resources and authority so that we will be able to respond in a time of crisis.

We have seen report after report saying that FDA has failed to pay proper attention to many risks consumers are facing just from the food we eat.

We also need to make sure that the FDA puts science ahead of politics.

The FDA plays a critical role in protecting families across America, and we have to make sure that they have the leadership and resources to do that well.

We are seeing a trend of politicizing public health decisions.

I have always supported a strong and independent Food and Drug Administration.

We clearly need to work in greater partnership across agencies of the Federal Government, across levels of government--State and local public health departments are critical partners in our efforts to control food-borne disease--and of…

Our next FDA Commissioner is going to have a very important role to play in the safety of our Nation's food supply.

Americans must have faith that when they walk into their local grocery store or their pharmacy, that the products that they purchase are safe and effective.

I appreciate that response.

Does that sort of exemplify your approach to how you are going to do your job?

I am proud to support his nomination, which I hope will be favorably considered very shortly.

Working families will once again be a top priority in this country.

We want to make sure that the considerable amount of money that we put out there is spent wisely, and that we earn the trust of America by doing it right.

We would like you to keep this subcommittee fully aware of any potential problems that you see out there.

I am hearing reports now that the requirement that those funds be used for capital expenses and not operating expenses is posing some problems for our rural transit systems.

I believe that the Department must address this issue if it wants to avoid the kind of waste, fraud, and abuse that undermines the public's confidence.

We will be following that closely, too.