Washington, DC--Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) asked questions directly to BP CEO Tony Hayward during his testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations regarding the ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico occurring due to the accident at BP’s Deepwater drilling site. Rep. Engel is a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee. His questioning and Mr. Hayward’s answers can be viewed here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNCj6Tq5VJQ
During Mr. Hayward’s daylong testimony, he continually dodged questions and claimed a lack of knowledge on the details which led to the spill. Rep. Engel told him that “I, like everyone else here, and everyone else in America, are totally disgusted. I think you are stalling, you are insulting our intelligence and I really resent it.”
Rep. Engel said after Mr. Hayward failed to answer to hours of questioning with anything of interest or importance, “I am even more convinced now that we must have both increased regulation of arrogant companies such as BP who clearly cut corners and greedily drilled in dangerous waters without even remotely taking proper safety precautions to prevent disaster. Well, we have a disaster and instead of working with the Congress, he sat there and stonewalled us for hours.
“We also must pass comprehensive energy reform immediately. The House did our part last year and I want to see the Senate act accordingly. The time for partisan bickering has ended. Republicans have to stop using this historic natural disaster as an excuse for attacking the Administration and defending the oil industry. Both Senate Democrats and Republicans need to get to the business of governing and hammer out an agreement to the legislation written by Sens. Kerry and Liebermann. Clearly, we cannot depend upon companies such as BP and executives such as Tony Hayward to do the right thing. Congress must act quickly and decisively.
“This is a matter of national security – we must remove our reliance upon oil, especially foreign oil. This is a matter of environmental security – we must protect our oceans, our wildlife, the air we breathe and the water we drink. This is a matter of economic importance – in a time of high unemployment and a fledgling recovery; we cannot have the devastation of four coastal states’ economies affect that. This is a matter of human decency – lives have been lost, families destroyed, and Mr. Hayward is busy protecting his shareholders.
“It is disgraceful that instead of working in a partnership with the United States Congress, he chose to testify like a baseball player denying the use of steroids. If any good comes of this disaster, hopefully it will be a change in American policy to oil and precautions in place to hold such companies accountable for future disasters.”
