The families of the victims killed by the Libyan bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, from December 1988, are finally celebrating the restitution of justice from the Libyan government.

Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) joined the victim’s families one month before the 20th anniversary of the fatal crash that killed 270, including 38 from New Jersey. On October 31, 2008, Libya was “freed from the family of terrorist nations,” Lautenberg said, when the final amounts owed to the families was deposited in an American bank account from the Libyan government. Kara Weipz, a family member who lost her 20-year old brother in the bombing, spoke about the “long fulfilled justice” that was due to the families. Although they do not forgive Libyan leader al-Gaddafi, Weipz said, the families are “free now to close this chapter in our nightmare.”

Sen. Lautenberg says at a Committee on Environment and Public Works hearing on mercury legislation that mercury is “a proven threat to our health, even in low doses” for both children and adults. He says we should have laws “as strong as we can take” to protect the public from mercury pollution. He says the Bush Administration 
“fails to protect the health of the public or our environment.” (0:38)

 

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The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee held a hearing to discuss various pieces of legislation pertaining to the proliferation of mercury in the environment and in exports. Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) could not be present, so Sen. Tom Carper conducted the hearing in her place. Carper said that “one in 17 women of childbearing age have mercury in their blood at levels that could pose a risk to their unborn children,” emphasizing that these groups are most at risk for health threats.
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Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) says at a press conference to discuss Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s (D-NJ) new aviation safety bill that America will “have a crisis in the skies” if safety concerns are not met, and says that “if the president wants to go toe-to-toe with us on that, I say fine, let’s do it.” (0:27)

 

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At a press conference to discuss his new aviation safety bill, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) says that he opposes President Bush’s nomination of Robert Sturgell to the Acting Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration because of the “lack of effective leadership at the FAA.” (0:24)

 

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Today Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced a new bill called the Safety Improvement Act of 2008 to improve airline safety, and was joined by supporters Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, and Transportation Trades Department President Ed Wytkind joined the senators to voice their support. The bill was described as an effort to improve runway safety and reduce risk of collision during take-off and landing, as well as ensure that airport first-responders are prepared to handle an emergency situation.
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Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) disapproves of the recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny a California waiver which would reduce greenhouse gas pollutants from motor vehicles. He criticizes the current Bush administration for failing to address the issue of global warming and predicts that the administration “will go down in American history as the worst administration in so many areas… including environmental protection.”

 

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Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works commented today on the recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny a California waiver aimed at reducing greenhouse gas pollutants from motor vehicles. Lautenberg described the EPA’s denial of the waiver as an “injustice” at a hearing today organized to discuss the EPA’s decision.

 

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Today the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee met to discuss the recent decision by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to deny the California waiver drafted to regulate greenhouse gas pollution from motor vehicles. Chairman of the Committee, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), responds to testimony given by the administrator of the EPA, Stephen Johnson, after he refuses to admit that global warming poses a threat to human health.

 

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