[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 8934]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS

  The following petition or memorial was laid before the Senate and was 
referred or ordered to lie on the table as indicated:

       POM-120. A resolution adopted by the Senate of the State of 
     Louisiana urging local, state, and federal governmental 
     agencies to work in close coordination, in order to minimize 
     damage to Louisiana's natural resources caused by the 
     Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and to utilize all available 
     resources to protect and support Louisiana residents and 
     businesses affected by the spill; to the Committee on 
     Environment and Public Works.

                        Senate Resolution No. 61

       Whereas, on April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling 
     rig exploded and later sank in the Gulf of Mexico; and
       Whereas, the accident was reported to have been caused by a 
     blowout, an uncontrolled release of gas or oil that forces 
     its way up a well pipe and catches fire; and
       Whereas, with fire still burning days later, Coast Guard 
     officials continued the search for eleven missing crew 
     members; and
       Whereas, of the one hundred and fifteen crew members who 
     were accounted for, seventeen suffered injuries that included 
     burns, smoke inhalation, and broken bones; and
       Whereas, since the explosion, approximately forty-two 
     thousand gallons of oil per day have been leaking from the 
     site into the Gulf of Mexico; and
       Whereas, the oil spill is moving closer and closer to 
     environmentally sensitive coastal areas; and
       Whereas, President Obama's administration has launched a 
     full investigation into the oil rig explosion, with Homeland 
     Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Interior Secretary 
     Ken Salazar indicating devotion and every available resource 
     to a comprehensive investigation of the explosion with 
     assistance to be given by the U.S. Coast Guard and the 
     Minerals Management Service which share in jurisdiction for 
     the investigation; and
       Whereas, British Petroleum, which owns the oil rig operated 
     by the Swiss drilling company Transocean, dispatched more 
     than thirty ships, capable of skimming in excess of one 
     hundred and seventy thousand barrels of oil per day; and
       Whereas, several oceanographers have claimed that the 
     magnitude of the oil spill is huge and could have an impact 
     on marine life and oyster beds; and
       Whereas, the Coast Guard is keeping a watchful eye on 
     underwater activity from the sunken rig; and
       Whereas, the Coast Guard has prepared to set fire to 
     portions of the growing oil slick to keep the crude away from 
     sensitive ecological areas; and
       Whereas, without prompt and carefully coordinated action, 
     the oil spill has the potential to become one of the worst in 
     U.S. history, as it is up to forty-two miles by eighty miles 
     wide, and ranges in thickness from a couple of molecules to 
     the equivalent of layers of paint; and
       Whereas, with the Louisiana shrimp season due to open in 
     less than a month, geologists say the oil spill has the 
     potential to delay or affect the 2010 season; and
       Whereas, Governor Jindal has authorized state agencies to 
     continue monitoring the oil spill, while the federal 
     government begins work to protect the Pass-A-Loutre Wildlife 
     Management and Breton National Wildlife Refuge areas; and
       Whereas, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries 
     is working closely with state and federal agencies and 
     British Petroleum to mitigate fish and wildlife resource 
     impacts; and
       Whereas, partners in the oil spill response effort include 
     but are not limited to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 
     the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
     Administration, the Louisiana Department of Environmental 
     Quality, the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, the 
     Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana 
     Oil Spill Coordinators Office, the Governor's Office of 
     Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the Coastal 
     Protection and Restoration Authority, and the Oiled Wildlife 
     Care Network; Therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana 
     does hereby direct local, state, and federal governmental 
     agencies to work in close coordination, in order to minimize 
     damage to Louisiana's natural resources caused by the 
     Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and to utilize all available 
     resources to protect and support Louisiana residents and 
     businesses affected by the spill; be it further
       Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to 
     the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the 
     National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the 
     Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, the Louisiana 
     Department of Natural Resources, the Louisiana Department of 
     Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana Oil Spill Coordinators 
     Office, the Govenor's Office of Homeland Security and 
     Emergency Preparedness, the Coastal Protection and 
     Restoration Authority, the Oiled Wildlife Care Network, the 
     secretary of the United States Senate, the clerk of the 
     United States House of Representatives, and to each member of 
     the Louisiana delegation.

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