Political Quotes

“I rise today to introduce legislation with Senator Landrieu known as the Voluntary Protection Program Act. This bill will codify the Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP, expand it to include more small businesses, and incorporate recent GAO recommendations for program improvements. No program has been more successful in creating such a culture of safety in the workplace than VPP. Since it was created in 1982, Republican and Democrat administrations alike have fostered its growth to now 2,284 worksites, a quarter of which are unionized, and it covers almost a million employees. The bipartisan support for VPP continues into this Congress. Last week, the Senate Budget Committee unanimously approved an amendment to preserve VPP budget authority and Chairman Conrad noted that the program actually saves taxpayer dollars. Worksites that pass the rigorous evaluation process and become VPP sites have an average Days Away Restricted or Transferred, DART, case rate of 52 percent below the average for its industry. In recent years, smaller worksites have made significant strides in VPP, increasing from 28 percent of VPP sites in 2003 to 39 percent in 2008. The innovative program doesn't just keep employees safer; as I have noted, it also saves both the VPP companies and the taxpayers money. In 2007, Federal Agency VPP participants saved the government more than $59 million by avoiding injuries and private sector VPP participants saved more than $300 million.”