Joe Manchin

We have to protect the people. That is our job now.

We do need to have national guidelines.

We feel that is an important step forward.

The West Virginia legislature is considering legislation that would help to fill the void that currently exists in the regulation of above ground storage tanks.

It has rocked our confidence. It absolutely unacceptable that freedom did not immediately notify and there was not better information with our first responders.

I think it is proper that Congress conduct these hearings to understand the facts.

If there is any type of storage facility that has a chemical in it which is near a drinking water supply, that particular tank, that facility must be inspected and we must know everything there is to know about the chemical regardless of…

I want to publicly express that appreciation today.

The bottom line is that no West Virginian or American should have to worry about the contamination of their water supply from a chemical spill and I will do everything in my power to enact legislation to protect safe drinking water.

This spill should never have happened and it is our responsibility in Congress, working with the States to do everything we can to keep it from happening again.

The sadness is, as Senator Cardin so rightly pointed out, there haven't been inspections since the early 2000's and we really missed this.

I think federalism does say we believe in the states, we believe the government closest to the people is the most responsive.

We certainly agree that TSCA is broken and needs to be fixed.

Legislation alone will not repair the damage done to the public's trust.

I am astounded, Senator Udall, that Freedom... is getting away with this unusual bankruptcy.

The bill we have now is not the bill we initially introduced because we have carefully listened to stakeholders and made significant and measurable improvements.

Industry does everything they can and gets away with it almost all the time.

The EPA has become the agency of no, an agency that only tells us what cannot be done.

I worked with Chairwoman Boxer to develop the Chemical Safety and Drinking Water Protection Act.

People say let the industry take care of it. That is an Appalachian myth.

It is important to quickly explain how CSIA would unequivocally help States and the American people with greater access to information aiding in the understanding and response to such an incident as this.

I believe in spending money on infrastructure. I think it is important that we do that.

I really appreciate your finally bringing national attention to this issue as only we here in Congress can do.

If someone would help me explain why West Virginia is still paying such high prices.

We're having so much more and actually we're still paying high prices at the pump.