Rockefeller, Lautenberg Press for Pipeline Safety Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security, today urged their colleagues to support legislation to strengthen pipeline safety oversight. Their call for quick legislative action comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood’s launch of a national pipeline safety initiative. The launch of DOT’s pipeline safety action plan dovetails with legislation re-introduced earlier this year by Senators Rockefeller and Lautenberg to address long-standing safety issues in America’s pipeline network.

Chairman Rockefeller Remarks on the Safety of Our Nation’s Motorcoach Passengers

WASHINGTON, D.C.—When Americans travel to work, visit their families, or conduct business, they expect to arrive at their destinations safely and without incident. And whether they travel by plane, train, or bus, their transportation providers have a responsibility to make sure their equipment is safe and their operators and drivers are trained and rested.

Rockefeller: DOT IG Report Confirms Flaws in Grassley-Issa Investigation

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Chairman John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV today sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Department (DOT) Secretary Ray LaHood expressing new concerns about an investigative report that the offices of Senator Charles Grassley and Chairman Darrell Issa released last September. The Grassley-Issa report alleged that senior Amtrak officials violated various federal laws when they “removed” former Amtrak Inspector General Fred Weiderhold from his post in June 2009. A new independent review of this matter, conducted by the Office of Inspector General, contradicts the central findings of the Grassley-Issa report and reveals other troubling errors and omissions in the report.

Chairman Rockefeller Remarks at Hearing to Review the Department of Transportation FY2012 Budget

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Infrastructure development has played an integral part to our nation’s expansion, economic development and growth. I think it is important to note that the federal government has always been the driving force in the development of our transportation networks – from the first outlays of money to build canals in the early days of the Republic, to creating the conditions for the development of railroads in the 19th century, to the development of the interstate highway and aviation system in the 20th century.