Madam Speaker, I oppose HR 5481, which gives subpoena power to the National Commission on the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. This is an overly broad grant of power to a presidential commission. This commission was created by Executive Order without any input from Congress and appears designed to perform oversight and policy functions that should be performed by Congress. Furthermore, this commission may be used to promote the anti-freedom and economically destructive "cap-and-trade" legislation, as well as provide justification for the administration's policies of restricting offshore drilling.

Instead of ratifying the Executive Branch's continued use of the deepwater disaster as an excuse to usurp more power, Congress should ensure that the Executive Brach actions do not allow British Petroleum to escape accountability for the damages caused by the spill and that any necessary policy changes are made by Congress.