[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 16, 2010)]
[House]
[Pages H4576-H4577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            OIL SPILL UPDATE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Klein) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. KLEIN of Florida. Madam Speaker, I rise today to continue my 
regular real-time updates to my south Florida constituents on the BP 
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I believe it's my responsibility to 
keep the families, homeowners, and businesses along the 75 miles of my 
coastline in my district fully informed so they can be prepared for all 
possibilities.
  First things first. Obviously, the spill itself has to be capped. I 
certainly call on BP to deploy every possible resource, every expert, 
every technology, every available opportunity to plug this hole. This 
is not about a question of whether the Federal Government is going to 
step in and come on with some magic silver bullet. This is an all-
hands-on-deck approach. Everyone should be involved. And it will 
require scientists and geologists and people from other oil companies 
from around the world to help figure this thing out. The permits should 
have probably never been issued in the first place without having the 
necessary cleanup plans in place, but it is here and it is now and we 
need to get it done.
  I had the opportunity a week or so ago to join some NOAA researchers, 
those are oceanographic experts, on a 9-hour mission in a P-3 plane 
over the gulf to really understand what was going on, what the currents 
were doing. Obviously, from the southeast Florida side, we're concerned 
about the current which may bring it through the Florida Straits and up 
through the Gulf Stream. We saw through the research that was done. 
There is this possibility of course, and the sooner we can cap the oil, 
the better.
  We all know that if this oil does come to the east side of Florida, 
as it has to the panhandle, it will impact Florida homeowners and 
businesses--not to mention the environment--for generations to come. We 
need to do it now, and we need to take whatever action is necessary to 
finish that job.
  The other thing I would like to say to my constituents--and obviously 
this is a national issue--but no one should have to suffer because of 
BP's recklessness, and taxpayers cannot and will not be stuck with 
footing even a dime of the bill for this debacle. BP has to be fully 
responsible for the full cost of plugging the leak, cleaning up the 
spill, and making every person, every business who is harmed whole 
again. I appreciate the fact that today there was discussion about $20 
billion being put in escrow that can be drawn down for businesses and 
local groups that have to clean up this mess to pay for it, but this 
may play out for a generation. Let me repeat myself: BP is responsible 
for the full cost down to the last dime.
  In Florida, we have always been concerned about offshore drilling 
because we have a multibillion-dollar tourism industry that depends on 
our pristine waters, beautiful beaches, and coral reefs. Right now, 
every restaurant owner in places like Deerfield Beach, which is part of 
my district, every hotel worker in West Palm Beach, every entrepreneur 
with a small souvenir shop or a fishing charter is concerned and 
they're holding their breath as to whether this water spill will affect 
them, affect their businesses, their jobs, and their livelihood. I have 
seen the fear on their faces, and meeting with them has only 
strengthened my resolve to make sure we do not leave our children with 
this terrible fate.
  We cannot let another generation pass without making a serious move 
to not only clean up this mess, but to

[[Page H4577]]

make sure that we have a plan in place for other types of energy. The 
issue with deepwater drilling is not just a question of--of course we 
need more energy and we need more oil, but to do it in places where 
there is no plan in place to clean it up for BP or anyone else is 
unacceptable.
  So I think this is also an opportunity to not only clean this up and 
deal with this issue, but also to recognize this is a moment in time 
that should be our put-a-man-on-the-Moon moment, or the Manhattan 
Project, where every American says, you know something? Yes, we're 
going to have oil and, yes, there are others--there is a lot of natural 
gas and a lot of opportunities out there, but why not more solar? I 
live in a State, we call it the Sunshine State. Why aren't we building 
the jobs and having the types of technology which we're not only 
creating for Florida, but for the United States and the rest of the 
world? Whether it's hydrogen or nuclear or any other possibilities, 
there are lots of opportunities, and we should use this moment as a 
time to also recognize we shouldn't be dependent on fossil fuels.
  So as we look at this historic disaster, we should also look at this 
as an opportunity for the future. And I believe that now is the time to 
not only bring the best and the brightest to clean up this mess. It is 
also an opportunity to bring our best and brightest minds together to 
end our dependence on foreign oil over the next 10 years and become a 
world leader in the kind of clean, affordable alternative energy that 
will create good jobs right here in the United States.

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