His remarks came after an Amtrak train carrying lawmakers from Washington to West Virginia slammed into a garbage truck at a rural Virginia road crossing, killing one person on the truck, authorities said.
He also sounded a note of encouragement predicting that Republicans would maintain control of the House and the Senate after Congressional elections in November.
Earlier on Wednesday, U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy, chairman of the powerful House Oversight committee, said he will not run for re-election this November, joining 40 other House Republicans, many of them in senior positions, who have left the current Congress or will not run again. Initially some went to jobs in the administration of President Donald Trump. Others are leaving to run for another office or retire from politics during speculation that an anti-Trump backlash could fuel a Democratic comeback in midterm congressional elections in November.