Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marco Rubio today issued the following statement on the one year anniversary of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster, in addition to calling for the Senate’s Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship to hold a field hearing in Pensacola regarding the recovery effort:

“Last year’s tragedy was an extraordinary disaster that continues to hurt the Gulf Coast economy and livelihoods of its residents. Over the past year, some Floridians have been able to bounce back, but many business owners and employees throughout the region have struggled to regain their footing, particularly in the tourism and fishing industries. Many small businesses have had to lay off workers, while others have sadly had to close their operations entirely. To add insult to injury, far too many of these entrepreneurial, hard-working Floridians are still waiting for the financial restitution promised to them. They deserve better.

“The Gulf Coast will recover from last year's disaster, but it will require our continued involvement. I will continue working with my Senate colleagues, particularly those representing the Gulf Coast states, on legislative solutions to address the challenges residents are still facing today.

"I also believe there is no substitute for seeing the impact firsthand and hearing directly from the residents whose lives have been changed by the spill. To that end, I have asked the Senate’s Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee to hold a field hearing in Pensacola as soon as possible to assess the efforts of the short-term recovery effort, evaluate what is needed for the Gulf’s long-term recovery and identify areas where we can best assist those worst impacted by the largest environmental disaster in the history of this country.”

This morning, Senator Rubio delivered a letter to Senators Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) requesting that the Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship hold a field hearing in the Florida Panhandle in the near future. The letter can be accessed here.