You have to make snoozing painful.
If the Senators really want NHTSA to wake up when the alarm rings, they have to impose a culture that motivates NHTSA employees.
At this stage, when the snooze button has been hit countless times for decades, a few less-than-tactful approaches may be warranted. Like firing NHTSA employees, including the chief, when they let Americans die from known or should-have-been known safety defects.
And what about maybe also really holding them accountable, like, for example, throwing them in jail along with the automaker execs who were also responsible for the deaths of innocent people?
They could be friendly "cellie" cell-mates. Who would get the top bunk?