Kagen Statement Following Today’s Hearing on Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

May 19, 2010

KAGEN STATEMENT FOLLOWING TODAY’S HEARING ON DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL

WASHINGTON, DC- Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. made the following statement at the conclusion of today’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on Deepwater Horizon involving Lamar McKay, President of BP and Steven Newman, President and CEO of Transocean.

“Big Oil, in the name of corporate profits, has moved our ship building, steel manufacturing and welding jobs overseas.  In return, they have neglected to prevent the pollution of our waterways, destroyed our natural habitats, and damaged our tourism and fishing industries perhaps for an entire generation.”

“We need jobs in Wisconsin – not in Korea where BP’s contractor built the ship responsible for the ongoing catastrophic oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Let’s clean up the mess; catch and punish all the crooks responsible; and rewrite our federal laws and regulations to prevent this from ever happening again.”

Dr. Kagen serves on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and is a member of the Water Resources and Environment; Highways and Transit; and Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittees. 

Also present at today’s hearing were: Ms. Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency; Dr. Jane Lubchenco ,Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; RDML Peter V. Neffenger, Deputy National Incident Commander for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response- U.S. Coast Guard.

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