[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 18, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3855-S3856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             GULF OILSPILL

  Mr. LeMIEUX. Mr. President, I wish to thank my friend and colleague 
from New Hampshire for allowing me to take some time on the floor this 
morning. If I may, I wish to speak about an issue that is of great 
impact to Florida; that is, this oilspill. This is not the first time I 
have come to the floor to speak about the potential impact this gulf 
oilspill may have upon the coast of Florida.
  I have called upon British Petroleum to set up a $1 billion fund, a 
replenishing or evergreen fund, if you will, so we can get to work to 
get ready to prepare, if this oil is to come ashore, to mitigate its 
effect, to prevent, as much as possible, the oil from coming ashore.
  So far, there has been $25 million given to Florida and other Gulf 
States, another $25 million is coming for advertising purposes. The 
good news is, we believe the oil is not ashore yet. But there is some 
disturbing new information.
  This morning, I had the opportunity to speak to RADM William 
Baumgartner of the Coast Guard. Reports yesterday afternoon tell us 
some tar balls have washed ashore in Key West, FL. That is far ahead of 
any projections of oil from this spill being put onto the Loop Current 
in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico and coming in contact with 
the southernmost point of Florida. It was not expected that that would 
happen for several days. But it could be that the oil is far more 
spread out than we anticipated. It is not unusual for there to be oil 
to come upon the shore of Florida or any other Gulf States. In fact, it 
naturally occurs. We know from the Florida Department of Environmental 
Protection that there were at least 600 reports in the past 2 years of 
tar balls and things such as that because, as we have come to find out, 
this is a naturally occurring phenomenon as well, that oil will seep 
from the ocean floor and potentially come upon our shores in the form 
of tar balls and other small things.
  But the concern is, these 20 tar balls that came upon the shore 
yesterday in Key West are from the gulf oilspill. If that is the case, 
the oilspill is far larger and has spread far more quickly than we 
could have anticipated.
  Right now those samples of those tar balls are being sent for 
research and evaluation to determine whether they are, in fact, from 
the oilspill that happened now almost 1 month ago. Whether those tar 
balls are from the disaster or whether they are naturally occurring, we 
know this oil slick is spreading. We know it is going to get into the 
Loop Current, the Loop Current which will then bring that oil down 
close to the Keys, potentially all the way up the Atlantic side of 
Florida.

[[Page S3856]]

  We cannot wait to find out what is going to happen. We cannot wait to 
pay claims after damages have already been incurred by the people of 
Florida. Florida is reliant upon the beauty of its State for its 
economy. We have actually more than 80 million tourists who come to 
Florida each year, more than a $65 billion tourism industry. 
Recreational saltwater fishing has a $5 billion impact on Florida and 
is responsible for more than 50,000 jobs. Recreational boating has an 
$18 billion impact. We have more registered boaters in Florida than any 
other State in the Union. Some 90 percent of Florida's population lives 
within 10 miles of its coast. We are the State, besides Alaska, with 
the largest coastline and more beaches than any other State.
  There have been a lot of problems here. One, why did this spill 
happen; the failure of regulation by the Department of the Interior, 
the lack of a quick response by this administration, and a lack of a 
quick response by British Petroleum, mistakes being made at the scene; 
why did the blowout preventers fail, all the other things we have read 
about and heard about. We are having hearings in Congress on what 
caused this tragic incident to happen in the first place.
  We are going to get to the bottom of all those things. Right now we 
need dollars in the hands of our States in the gulf, to get together 
our volunteers, our businesses, our local governments, county, city, 
and State, to try to prevent this oil from coming ashore. We need a 
flotilla of Florida boaters out there trying to scoop up these tar 
balls before they come ashore.
  We need a volunteer effort not unlike what we had in World War II in 
Europe, where the British came to Dunkirk and rescued the military and 
brought them ashore when they were fleeing. We need to get the Florida 
volunteers, senior citizens and others, on the beaches getting ready to 
help mitigate this damage that I think, unfortunately, is going to come 
ashore.
  We need the funds to do that today. We do not need them a month from 
now. We do not need them 6 months from now. We do not need them a year 
from now to pay claims. We need to do everything possible to keep that 
oil from coming ashore. If we do that, we can keep our economy, our 
tourism economy strong. Right now, people need to know they should 
still be coming to Florida to fish, still be coming to Florida for a 
beach vacation because the oil has not washed upon the shore in west 
Florida, on the panhandle, and we only have these 20 tar balls in the 
Keys. Let's hope that is the end of it.
  I did not want to miss this opportunity to come to the floor to make 
the point again that we need to make sure the money comes now. Senator 
Vitter and I and others have filed legislation to make sure oil 
companies are responsible well beyond the $75 million cap for damages 
to communities that are impacted by these oilspills. It is focused on 
profits, more than it is focused on a $10 billion cap, which is a 
proposal that my friends and colleagues have proposed.
  Why does it make more sense? Well, based on profits, we know BP may 
be liable for up to as much as $20 billion for this incident. That is 
more money to help pay for this. Second, if you just put it on $10 
billion, we are only going to have two or three oil companies in this 
country because no other oil company will be able to get into the 
business because they will not be able to afford the potential $10 
billion cap.
  If you do not have enough money to pay for it, $10 billion is pretty 
illusory anyway. What we need to be focused on is making sure those 
responsible can pay and pay enough to make sure we solve the problem. A 
lot needs to be done.
  A lot of questions need to be asked. A lot of answers need to be 
forthcoming. But right now we need the dollars to protect our 
shorelines and our beaches.
  I see my colleague and friend from New Hampshire is ready to speak 
again.

                          ____________________