[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 6]
[House]
[Pages 8488-8489]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    OIL SPILL IN THE GULF OF MEXICO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to speak about the 
unfolding catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. It's painfully clear that 
British Petroleum's oil spill could dwarf any environmental disaster in 
our Nation's history. This horrific tragedy has claimed 11 lives and 
contaminated gulf waters with millions of gallons of oil. It's still 
belching thousands of barrels of oil into the water every day, and now 
the oil has reached the shores of Louisiana. It's impacting the 
livelihoods of millions in the Gulf Coast States and threatens even 
more.
  The first steps, of course, are to stop the leaks, contain the spill, 
and attend to the devastating aftermath on the people and their 
environment. The Obama administration deserves high marks for its swift 
response from day one to the BP disaster. It mobilized the government's 
resources to minimize the harm on the health, the economy, and the 
environment of the Gulf Coast.
  Last week, the President sent to Congress legislation that would do 
three things: First, provide additional resources to mitigate the 
damage caused by the spill; second, provide assistance to the people 
and the businesses affected most by the crisis, and; third, to ensure 
that companies like BP that are responsible for oil spills are the ones 
that pay for the harm they cause, not the taxpayers.

                              {time}  1945

  In addition, Interior Secretary Salazar is conducting a top-to-bottom 
reform of the Minerals Management Service. He has proceeded splitting 
the MMS into two distinct agencies: one responsible for leasing and 
collecting royalties; and one responsible for inspections and safety. 
He has also ordered immediate inspections of all deepwater operations 
currently in the gulf, and he announced that no new permits for 
drilling new wells will go forward until a safety and environmental 
review is completed.
  Finally, the Obama administration is closing loopholes that allowed 
some oil companies to bypass critical environmental reviews, and is 
examining all of the environmental procedures on oil and gas 
activities.
  While these are important and necessary steps, I believe that more 
must

[[Page 8489]]

be done, and that's why I strongly support President Obama's 
announcement that he will establish an independent commission to 
investigate the BP oil disaster. This commission, which he will create 
by Executive order, will mirror legislation that Mr. Markey and I 
introduced earlier this month, the BP Deepwater Horizon Inquiry 
Commission Act.
  I believe this commission should have four goals. First, it should 
examine the causes of the current spill, as well as the adequacy of oil 
spill containment and cleanup measures. Second, it should determine 
whether and how such spills can be avoided in the future. Third, it 
should assess the implications of its findings for drilling in, or 
adjacent to sensitive or ecologically important areas, including in the 
Arctic. And four, it should make recommendations on how to strengthen 
laws, regulations, and reform agency oversight in order to keep this 
from happening again.
  This commission will serve as an important long-term addition to the 
Obama administration's excellent short-term efforts to investigate and 
respond to the oil spill.
  Mr. Speaker, I have lived in Santa Barbara, California, since 1964. I 
saw firsthand the devastating consequences of the blowout on platform A 
just a few miles off our coastline in 1969. That was 40 years ago. That 
spill dumped millions of gallons of oil into the Santa Barbara Channel. 
It killed untold amounts of wildlife and polluted our beaches for 
years. But it also galvanized a burgeoning environmental movement, and 
it spurred the first Earth Day. It was true then, as it is true today, 
our response to this disaster cannot be that we simply have to keep 
drilling in the gulf and other offshore areas because we have no 
alternative.
  The truth is we do have options that can move us further and faster 
toward energy security. Today our economy stills relies on fossil fuels 
for energy, and every day we pay a price in volatile prices, source 
instability, and in unnecessary pollution. The best way to beat this 
addiction is by reducing overall demand, by promoting renewables, and 
developing alternatives.
  And since America is not exactly awash in oil, reducing our 
dependence on it would be good not only for our environment, but for 
our economy and, perhaps most importantly, for our national security. 
That's exactly what Democrats have done. We have enacted legislation, 
the Energy Independence and Security Act, and we have passed the 
Recovery Act to provide an immediate jolt to the clean-energy economy.
  The House has also passed comprehensive legislation that caps global 
warming pollution and invests in clean-energy solutions that create 
jobs here in America. Developing clean power and energy-efficient 
technologies, while combating global warming, these are the initiatives 
that will meet our goals.
  As bad as things are--and may yet become--the disaster in the gulf 
will be even more tragic if we fail to learn from it. Some of our 
colleagues continue to claim we have to choose between endangering our 
precious coast and relying on oil imports from dangerous regimes. I 
believe it is time to reject that false choice. Let's pass 
comprehensive energy legislation so America can take control of our 
energy situation.

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