Rep. Nick J. Rahall Ii Holds a Hearing On the Deepwater Explosion's Strategy Impact, Panel 2

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Rep. Nick J. Rahall Ii Holds a Hearing On the Deepwater Explosion's Strategy Impact, Panel 2

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES HOLDS A HEARING ON OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OIL AND GAS STRATEGY AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE DEEPWATER HORIZON RIG EXPLOSION, PANEL 2

MAY 27, 2010

SPEAKERS: REP. NICK J. RAHALL II, D-W.V., CHAIRMAN REP. DALE E. KILDEE, D-MICH. DEL. ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, D-A.S. REP. SOLOMON P. ORTIZ, D-TEXAS REP. FRANK PALLONE JR., D-N.J. DEL. DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN, D-VIRGIN IS. REP. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, D-CALIF. REP. RUSH D. HOLT, D-N.J. REP. RAUL M. GRIJALVA, D-ARIZ. DEL. MADELEINE Z. BORDALLO, D-GUAM REP. JIM COSTA, D-CALIF. REP. DAN BOREN, D-OKLA. REP. JOHN SARBANES, D-MD. REP. GEORGE MILLER, D-CALIF. REP. EDWARD J. MARKEY, D-MASS. REP. PETER A. DEFAZIO, D-ORE. REP. MAURICE D. HINCHEY, D-N.Y. REP. DIANA DEGETTE, D-COLO. REP. RON KIND, D-WIS. REP. LOIS CAPPS, D-CALIF. REP. JAY INSLEE, D-WASH. REP. JOE BACA, D-CALIF. REP. STEPHANIE HERSETH SANDLIN, D-S.D. REP. MARTIN HEINRICH, D-N.M. DEL. GREGORIO "KILILI" CAMACHO SABLAN, I-NORTHERN MARIANA IS. REP. CAROL SHEA-PORTER, D-N.H. REP. NIKI TSONGAS, D-MASS. REP. FRANK M. KRATOVIL JR., D-MD. RES. COMMISSIONER PEDRO PIERLUISI, D-P.R. REP. BEN LUJAN, D-N.M.

REP. DOC HASTINGS, R-WASH. RANKING MEMBER REP. DON YOUNG, R-ALASKA REP. DOUG LAMBORN, R-COLO. REP. ELTON GALLEGLY, R-CALIF. REP. JOHN J. "JIMMY" DUNCAN JR., R-TENN. REP. JEFF FLAKE, R-ARIZ. REP. HENRY E. BROWN JR., R-S.C. REP. CATHY MCMORRIS RODGERS, R-WASH. REP. LOUIE GOHMERT, R-TEXAS REP. ROB BISHOP, R-UTAH REP. BILL SHUSTER, R-PA. REP. ADRIAN SMITH, R-NEB. REP. ROB WITTMAN, R-VA. REP. PAUL BROUN, R-GA. REP. JOHN FLEMING, R-LA. REP. MIKE COFFMAN, R-COLO. REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, R-UTAH REP. CYNTHIA M. LUMMIS, R-WYO. REP. TOM MCCLINTOCK, R-CA. REP. BILL CASSIDY, R-LA.

WITNESSES: LAMAR MCKAY, CHAIRMAN AND PRESIDENT, B.P. AMERICA, INC.

STEVEN NEWMAN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, TRANSOCEAN LTD.

[*] (JOINED IN PROGRESS) RAHALL: ... today's hearings.

(LAUGHTER)

In our second panel, composed of Mr. Lamar McKay, chairman and president, B.P. America, Inc.; and Mr. Steven L. Newman, president and CEO, Transocean Limited.

Gentlemen, we welcome your familiar faces to Capitol Hill again. And we do have your prepared testimonies.

Mr. McKay, you may begin, whatever manner you wish.

MCKAY: Thank you, Chairman.

Chairman Rahall, Ranking Member Hastings, members of the committee, my name is Lamar McKay, and I am chairman and president of B.P. America.

We have experienced a tragic series of events. This horrendous accident which killed 11 workers and injured 17 others has profoundly touched all of us.

There's been tremendous shock that such an event, such an accident could have happened. And there's been great sorrow for the lives lost and injuries sustained.

I've seen the response firsthand on the Gulf Coast, and I've talked with the men and women on the front line. There is -- there is a deep and steadfast resolve to do all we humanly can to stop this leak, contain the spill, and too minimize the damage.

We will meet our obligations under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to mitigate the environmental and economic impacts of this incident.

Our response efforts are part of a unified command. It provides a structure for our work with the Departments of Homeland Security, the Departments of Interior and other federal agencies, as well as state and local governments.

We are committed to working with President Obama, members of his Cabinet, the governors, congressional members, state agencies, and local communities across Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Florida and Texas. I want to underscore that the global resources of B.P. are engaged and have not been spared.

Before I describe our response efforts, I want to reiterate our commitment to finding out what happened. The question we all want answered is what caused this tragic accident? A full answer to this and other questions will have to await the outcome of multiple investigations, which are under way. These include a joint investigation by the Departments of Homeland Security and Interior, which is the Marine Board. It includes the president's national...

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