Maloney statement in support of HR 5481

WASHINGTON, DC – Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) today made the following
statement on the House floor in support of HR 5481:

Madam Speaker,
I rise in strong support of HR 5481, granting Subpoena Power to the
Commission Investigating the BP Oil Spill.  Last month, President Obama
established the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill and Offshore Drilling, a panel that will be vital to investigating
the disaster and assuring this does not happen again.  However, this
Commission does not have subpoena power, something critical to ensuring
the full disclosure of evidence and witnesses.
In the aftermath of 9/11, I supported similar legislation that gave subpoena power to those investigating the terrorist attacks.  Now we face a different kind of attack from the oil gushing out of the Gulf of Mexico.  Similar to the work done post 9/11, the clean up workers are getting sick from this toxic waste.

The Commission must have the ability to investigate the shortcuts, cost-cutting and lack of oversight by BP and other responsible entities.  Such unprincipled actions cost the lives of 11 men, injured 17, and continue to destroy an ecosystem and change a way of life for those along the Gulf.  In order for the task force to mitigate the risks of future oil spills, the Commission must have full understanding of what led to the explosion on the Deepwater Oil Rig.

We need answers to the causes of this ecological man-made disaster.  We need to be able to prevent this from happening again.  The oversight inquires Congress has already conducted into BP, Transocean and Halliburton have yielded crucial information.  And now, with subpoena power, the Commission can conduct its investigation to the fullest.

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