June 11, 2002

Mr. Chairman, I am truly pleased to be here to mark a very important event: for the first time in a decade, we are on the verge of moving forward on pipeline safety legislation that would actually enhance the safety of our Nation’s pipelines. I want to commend you, Chairman Barton, along with Chairman Tauzin, Rep. Boucher, and all the Subcommittee Members for making this possible.

There is a mounting body of evidence that our system of pipeline safety regulation is wholly inadequate. Unfortunately, until now, Congress has failed to move on any meaningful reforms. During the last Congress, the House considered legislation that was more about public relations than public safety. Because that legislation did little more than restate existing law and provide cover for maintaining the deadly status quo, I -- along with many Members of this Committee -- successfully opposed enactment of that legislation.

When we began this process, I told you, Mr. Chairman, that I was as committed to working in good faith with Chairman Tauzin and you -- as well as all my colleagues -- to enact meaningful pipeline safety reauthorization legislation, as I was to defeating any legislation that would maintain the status quo, or worse, roll back the few protections left to pipeline workers, the public, and the environment.

I want to thank the Chairmen for accepting my offer and working as partners with us to develop legislation, embodied in the amendment in the nature of a substitute, that would move the ball forward on protecting the public and the environment from the dangers of unsafe pipelines.

This is compromise legislation. It is the result of a good faith, sincere effort to do what is doable for the sake of safety, rather than hold out for everything that every stakeholder ever wanted. I know it is not a perfect product, but I believe that the effort has been successful. My belief that we have been successful, thus far, is based on the fact that this is the only legislation currently pending before Congress that all stakeholders -- including the gas pipeline industry, the oil pipeline industry, labor, and the environmental community -- support moving forward on. Given the recent contentious history of pipeline safety reauthorization, this is no small feat you and all our Members have accomplished Mr. Chairman.

I do not want to go too in depth on the provisions of the amendment in the nature of a substitute at this juncture, but I would like to quickly mention a few items. First, I would note that an earlier draft of this amendment contained a section on public right to know. This is a very important issue for people living near a pipeline or pipeline right of way and is an area of pipeline safety where environmental groups and many Members on this side of the aisle, including Rep. Waxman and myself, would like to see significant progress made. To their credit, Chairman Barton and Chairman Tauzin have worked in good faith to try to develop language in this area that would satisfy our concerns, while addressing their own concerns. Unfortunately, the placeholder language we proposed to include in the legislation today pleased no one and unintentionally aroused suspicion in all stakeholders. We have, therefore, at the request of Subcommittee Members, as well as the environmental community and industry, deleted that provision. I would, however, like to continue to work with my colleagues and the stakeholders to see if we can come to an agreement on language in this area for inclusion by the full Committee, and I believe that Chairman Tauzin is also committed to trying to work something out.

I also want to offer commendations to a few Members who have worked with us to address specific matters in the bill, including Chairman Barton and Rep. John -- as well as Rep. Pallone -- for their work on the provision to establish a national 3-digit, one-call number. I also want to commend Ranking Member Boucher for his efforts on the technical assistance grants and hazardous pipeline enforcement provisions. Reps. Hall and Doyle deserve recognition for their efforts on the research provisions that largely reflect Mr. Hall’s legislation that was reported overwhelmingly by the Committee on Science. Rep. Markey has been a long time ally of mine on pipeline safety issues, but I want to specifically thank him for his work and cooperation on the provisions relating to the National Transportation Safety Board and the security of liquified natural gas and other pipeline facilities. Finally, I want to express my appreciation to those in the environmental community and organized labor who have worked with me over the years on these matters; they, along with the industry stakeholders who have chosen to play a constructive role in this process, deserve to be recognized for helping us make it possible to go forward with the support of all the Subcommittee Members.

Mr. Chairman, I urge swift adoption of the amendment in the nature of a substitute and passage of the bill.