Welch calls on BP to put progress before profits

After BP announced its intention to move forward with a payment to shareholders Tuesday, Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and a coalition of House members called on CEO Tony Hayward to suspend dividend payments and advertising campaigns until it remedies the environmental disaster it caused in the Gulf of Mexico.

In a letter to Hayward, Welch took BP to task for diverting its resources away from the ongoing recovery effort and directing them to halt profit payouts and public relations campaigns.