administration not a republican administration. the bottom line was not that the intelligence was manipulated but it turned out to be wrong. and saddam hussein had been asked to account for the weapons of mass destruction that we knew he had at the end of the gulf war and he failed to do so. and that was really in some sense the war in iraq was not our decision, but it was saddam hussein's decision to defy the international community, and didn't do, destroy the weapons of mass destruction or come clean and this is what he was unwilling to do. . of mass deinstructistruction or sh. caller: the countries will never

quit fighting, we are bankrupting our nation, and we trade with no one. and we need to align ourselves with candidates and denounce these clowns in congress or senate that won't do the will of the people. thank you. guest: thank you, i think there is more hope in terms of the sunni's in iraq. if you look at the last election overwhelming they turned out to vote and turned against violence. the big sunni providence in the western part of iraq, it was the sunnis that turned against al-qaeda and freed the providence of the control of al-qaeda and terrorists. and this was the sunnis coming

forward to reputeiate terror and there is an element in iraq that is a sunni-based terrorist group. what i think is ironic that overwhelming they have been rejected and they are trying to work together in the history of iraq and for the first time in the arab world, where you have sunnis and kurds to work together for the common peace of the nation. and it's too soon to tell, but we hope this will happen so that taliban will come out of the

insurgency and be willing to live peacefully under the afghan constitution and bring peace to this land. host: we have a few minutes left with our guest, stephen hadley. our independent line. caller: good morning, after 9/11 it seems that chasing bin laden wouldn't cut it. we needed to go over and get the attention of the whole middle east people. and my question is, what do you think that china and russia and europe not helping us, if they would have happed with soldiers and everything, this whole thing could be wrapped up by now. and to give a shout-out to george bush, and others hated us

because we are the world's policemen. guest: if you look at the coalition in iraq and afghanistan, most european countries with the exception of russia, france and germany and a couple of others, remember overwhelmingly with us in iraq and on the ground with us in iraq. and i terms of the afghanistan, the military mission is done under the nato umbrella. and it's all the nato countries, 26 at last count, and a number of european countries. the european countries are standing up and there are estions about performance. and questions of effectiveness of our performance. the important thing is that the europeans have been with us in

those two fights and are with us today in afghanistan in a big way. russia and china are different case, russia because of its history and identitying power in afghanistan wouldn't work on the ground and they facilitated it and it's positive. and china is beginning to get active in iraq and afghanistan in developing iraqi oil and in some reconstruction activities in afghanistan. that's a good thing and should be encouraged. i think one thing that is many times missed is how much both iraq and afghanistan have been an international effort, not just the united states going at it alone. host: the "washington times" report that is general

mcchrystal is assisting iraq in afghanisn an do you agree? guest: we did see the iranians getting active in western part of the country. i think, i think what i would say is this. iran has had conflicted view towards afghanistan, in 2001, and 2001 they were involved and we have seen training and arming of folks in afghanistan. and in some sense iran is trying to

play both sides of the street. to have ties with the afghan government. and to provide some development and assistance to the afghan government. but at the same time hedging their bets and maintaining some ties with the terrorist groups. i am a year out-of-date. my guess that is what is going on, and general mcchrystal is saying we see that but n a significant factor. and i accept his judgment on that. host: we have steve jning us. caller: thank you for taking my call. and i usually feel that c-span does a good job of balanced account of issues. but the issue the wars, i don't think that c-span is offering the counter opinion to the wars in the middle east. and i am disappointed in at. and i don't feel that the wars

have anything to do with our national security. i don't feel they are making us safer, and i like your guest to explain how that does make us safer. and if you look at civilians and there are casualties in afghanistan that tend to get overlooked in the media. i go to bcc news and they are covered there. guest: you are right about the civilian casualties and particularly in iraq. the burden that the iraqi people have suffered from this war is enormi enormous and they had an enormous burden under saddam

hussein that turned violence against his own people and used chemical weapons against his own people. and you are right that what civilia had suffered and that's the case in iraq, under saddam hussein. very difficult in this wartime period, and what the iraq people hope for and made clear in their turn-out in the recent election. they for the first time in a long time may have the prospect of building a peaceful, prosperous future. there are casualties and one thing that general mcchrystal has done under president karzai is try to reduce the civilian casualties. but we have to make clear that e reason there are these civilian caalties, regrettable though they are, because the uned states and other coalition forces are going

against terrorists whose strategyas been to kill innocent civilians to destabilizehe government. that's the strategy of the terroris terrorists. to kill innocent civilians. so we obviously want to minimize our own casualties but it's the casualties that occurred in the course of going after a terrorist group. i would say these wars have made our country safer in each case. the reason we are in afghanistan is because of 9/11, what happens under a regime like the taliban can result in a killing of thousands a single day. and the concern of the administration, if we cannot stabilize the situation, the taliban may return and that may

mean the return of al-qaeda, which could give them a staging base of attacks on the united states. and as we saw in the times square attack, there is still an effort by the terrorist to strike out and kill americans. similarlily i would say that the middle east is a safer place today because of an iraq that does not have saddam hussein. we do not have a regime supporting terrors as saddam did, and to have a potential and a past history ofeveloping weaps of mass destruction. that's a better middle east for the iraqi people and we have an interest as a nation in a stable middle east.

>> we're leaving this recorded program to go back live to the senate committee to hear more about the gulf of mexico oil spill. >> why wasn't there any redundancy or backup system beyond the blowup preventiver? >> there are multiple barriers, safety barriers in a well. there's drilling fluid to hold back the hydrostatic pressure. there are casing and cement jobs that are are put in place to secure the well. there are well control procedures on a rig to deal with a kick if they happen. then there's a blowout preventer, intended to be a fail close device. you mentioned norway and wra sil, i think you're referring to acoustic remote control effectively. on this particular well, we had the shutdown systems on the rig, three of them three

buttons to hit, let's say. then there was something called a dead man's switch if it loses connectivity to the rig, it should shut down and fail closed. there is manual intervention with the r.o.v.'s accessed, that didn't work. obviously we'll need to look back at all this, after we get through it, but i don't think the acoustic switch, we had three switches on the blowout burner. >> how many times are these preventers proven effective and what confidence do you have that a similar failure will not happen on another rig currently in operation? >> they're used around the world on every well, essentially. they are very effective. they are -- it's very rare anything goes wrong with them. what we're doing is i do believe we'll get to the bottom of what happened here. the important thing for us is to share with the m.m.s., any other government agencies and the rest of industry to try to understand what's happened here as quickly as we can because

what we're doing sin cremental testing and i know secretary salazar will be looking at what type of incremental testing or other procedures need to be put in place. but it will be very important going forward. >> that's for certain. one of the issue here's is we may all learn from this, but the people from that area, and hopefully it will be limited to a certain area, will learn a lot more. they'll have huge damage to their economy, their livelihoods and their environment. i know you indicated b.p. will absolutely be paying for the cleanup operation. how do you compensate the american people for lost tourism, lost species, are you going to be able to compensate them? >> our statement and intent has been very clear from our c.e.o. we'll pay all legitimate

claims. i am as frustrated as anybody that we've got this happening. as i said, i'm from the gulf coast, i understand the hardship people are going through. we're going to be fair, responsive, expeditious and do the right thing here and we've been clear about that from the outset. we can put blame and fault and everything off to the side. we are a responsible party and we're acting that way and intind to continue doing that. >> we're going to hold you to this. my concern, smn a long way away from the gulf but it's where the mississippi river starts, and i hope that this gets stem bud we're very concerned about the damages. yesterday, "usa today" reported that oil executives argued against having the mineral management agency adopt resolutions ke sined to reduce

accidents caused by human errors. one of the reasons for b.p.'s opposition is it would have been too costly. a week after this accident you announced record quarter profits. i know senator menendez mentioned last year's profits of $16 billion. do you still think that stonger safety regulations, given the amount of damage we're facing, are too costly? >> i'm not familiar with us saying it would be too costly but i do believe there will be a need to look at regulations and how they work going forward. we have to -- we must learn from this. resource is so important to develop safely. we will learn from it and i'm confident we'll figure out what happened here and be safer for it. >> just so you know for the record, i'd like to put this "usa today" article in the record but it does say the new rules would have been too costly.

that's from the newspaper article. i'm sure there's a backup source for it. if i could put this in the record? >> without objection, so ordered. >> just to summarize. you are committed to paying for this, i know there will be disputes going forward about what that mean bus that's an important commitment and second that we are going to discuss stronger safety regulations going forward and you are supportive of doing that. thank you very much. >> thank you. senator barassa. >> thank you. i wanted to continue up on some of the questioning, madam chair. when the explosion occurred, i'm trying to get into the response and the plan, when the explosion occurred, did off specific plan in place trowspond to this massive oil spill? and was this a specific plan nor platform? because the press seems to

indicate there was not such a plan. >> we had a very specific plan authorized in terms of the gulf of mexico spill plan, june of last year, by the m.m.s. that plan was activated immediately. the first spill response portions of that were called in two hours after the explosion. that has been the foundation for the response plan. it has actually worked and admiral allen would be the person to speak about it best but, yes, we had a very detailed plan and that is still continuing. >> i think i heard you say it has actually worked. maybe you could be more explicit in that. most people looking at this don't think it worked. what you think of as the plan for a response versus what happened as where we are today. >> any source of -- sort of plan is a model. there's no way to preticket the individual incidents that may occur. the model works in the sense that resources were known where

they were, organizations were known how to react, the resources were put together, boom dispersement, skippers, in situ burning, pre-approved priorities, area contingency plans in the states were activated. the plan, it's a document about this thick. the plan has been exercised. of course it's being flexed and moved and made more robust in certain areas but the foundation of this was in place. >> looking at -- this is the financial -- the "financial times," there's a spreading stain, b.p. oil spill, the impact of the fatal gulf of mexico explosion will go beyond the damage to the environment. i'm trying to get an assessment of what we knew about the spill. it says the first estimate was still desiptively reassuring, suggesting the leak but just

1,000 barrels a day. then eight days later, april 28, more than a week after the accident, the coast guard said it believed the flow was five times greater than previously thought, now at 5,000 barrels per day. at what point did you realize a massive spill was occurring at that level? >> the volume estimates are based on effectively surface expression. you can't measure what's coming out at the seabed. this is based on noaa models, coast guard, noaa, and p.b. estimates effectively from surface information, overflights and things like that and backed into the info. there's no certainty around that number. there's a large uncertainty band at the thousand, there's an uncertainty band around 5,000. >> and what about chemical disperse ants, if you have any

expertise. they're being used intermittently at the source of the leak. there have been concerns that using thepping at this depth hasn't been tested. has this worked well? should we continue to use dispersants? and i'll ask all three of you. >> they've been effective on this particular oil, it's a light athleticism subsea disperse yants, they looked promising we had a test yesterday, it ended at 4:40 this morning or yesterday morning, i can't remember, i believe the e.p.a. is looking to extend that injection status and allow us to continue. we think there's two benefits, one we get it on the oil immediately. second, we think it has the ability to utilize less disperse yant per affected

volume of oil. >> mr. newman? >> we don't have any experience or expertise with respect to this. >> no relevant information regarding dispersans either. >> i'm making sure everybody gets a first round, then a second round. it will be senator udall, then if no republican shows up, then may and lautenberg or i can give my time to you, senator if you prefer. i'm happy to yield it to you. i can be here. ok, so let's go, senator. >> thank you. thank you madam chair. i would like to focus in on

what i would call the cementing dispute. mr. newman's testimony states that, quote, the one thing we know with certainty is that on the evening of april 20, there was a sudden, catastrophic failure of the cement, the casing, or both, end quote. then mr. profert's testimony states, quote, prior to that point, when halliburton personnel would have set the final cement plug, the catastrophic incident occurred. as a result the final cement plug was never set, end quote. mr. mckay, the waung reported today that b.p. asked permission to remove the mud before finally plugging the well and after the mud was taken out, the blowout occurred. the article quotes petroleum engineering experts that this procedure was unusual, so "the wall street journal" covered this, checked with petroleum

engineers. very simple question. is this procedure unusual? >> i have not read about the procedure, i can't answer whether that's unusual. it's not unusual to displace certain fluids wore ofluids. i don't know in that case. it will obviously be 35r9 of the investigation that's live right now to see if that procedure was valid and were decisions made around that decision that were valid. >> but -- i still want to try to get you to answer the very, very simple question, because you set the final cement plug, and then you take the mud out. and the understanding is, and what they're saying is unusual is it happened the other way around. you asked permission to take it out before the final cement plug was set. is that unusual? you have petroleum engineering expert, probably the best ones in the world is it unusual? >> i am actually a petroleum

engineer, i cannot say whether it's unusual or not. >> there isn't a standard in the practice for doing it this way? >> there are various ways to do cementing procedures before you leave a well. >> and you wouldn't call it unusual, taking the mud out first before you few the final cement plug in? >> i don't know enough right now to call it usual or unusual in this situation. >> mr. newman, do you have an answer to the question? is this an unusual procedure? >> senator as part of the well abandonment process two things have to happen. a cement plug has to be placed in the casing, and the mud has to be displaced from the riser. i don't have any basis on which to characterize the particular

order of those two steps as either usual or unusual. they both have to happen. >> what order does it normally happen in? normally you put the plug in place, then the mud is removed. is that not the case? >> as i said, i don't have any basis to consider it normal or abnormal. both things have to happen. >> they don't happen in any particular order? >> i'm not aware of any drivers that would dick kate which order they are performed in, both have to happen as part of the abandonment process. >> and there's no standard in the industry for this kind of procedure and this kind of cementing? >> i -- >> how you would normally do it? >> beyond a reasonable doubt there's a dictated standard for the order in which those two steps are performed. >> mr. proferte, do you have an answer to the question, is this an unusual procedure?

>> i don't believe it was an unusual procedure. the will -- >> you don't believe it was unusual? >> no, i don't believe it was an unusual procedure. the process that was undertaken was consistent with the well plan, which was established and the -- to the best of our knowledge, at least, this process, in this order, has been performed previously in the gulf of mexico. >> the same order that occurred on the well that blew out? >> correct. >> and without any problem. >> to the best of my knowledge, that would be correct, yes. >> now, the m.m.f. and the industry have been developing standards for well abandonment for years but they haven't become final. do they allow for removing the mud before the final plug? >> there are two sets of

recommended practice the first set was released about two years ago, the second set is still under discussion with industry experts, the a.p.i. and the m.m.s. but i'm afraid i can't comment specifically on what the comment of those can be. >> i'll come back on the second round. >> yes, you certainly can. senator carper, followed by senator lautenberg. >> thank you for joining us today. i have a comment and then a question, if i could. this would be for, again, for you, mr. mckay. one of the concerns i have is that the american people might somehow be left at the end paying for this disaster. we talked a little bit about that already today. but i think in your testimony, you said that b.p. is committed to paying legitimate claims. last year, the c.e.o. of p.b.,

tomei hayward, was asked whether they expected to spend money beyond the $75 million liability limit set by law. mr. heyward said, i believe the cap was largely irrelevant and that all legitimate claims would be honored. it's my understanding, however that under current law, any amount that b.p. spends over that $75 billion is eligible for reimbursement from the federal government's oil spill liability trust fund. if we exhaust -- exhaust the trust fund, any additional funds will have to come from the u.s. treasury. some would say in effect, you have every incentive to pay over your liability cap because under current law you won't have to bear any of that additional cost, however, you could receive a fair amount of credit without paying that cost. if citizens are receiving checks and letters from b.p., they'll have -- they may have

no idea that the federal government is actually footing the bill at the end of the day and the american people, i don't think, should be left subsidizing that kind of effort, if there is such an effort. today i'm asking the general accountability office to examine how the federal government is protecting against fraudulent claims to the oil field liability trust funds and i'm asking them to analyze b.p.'s claims review process to make sure it's rigorous enough to protect the trust fund and the american people that leads me to a question. the question is, and this is for you, -- for you, mr. mckay, can you comment on how stringent b.p.'s claim process actually is, and finally, can the federal government expect an invoice from b.p. sometime, maybe next year if you do exceed the $75 million liability cap? so two parts, talk about thely

ry gor of going over the claims and second, if the cost runs over the $75 million liability cap can the federal government expect a request for picking that up, picking up the tab? >> the claim prosssess is designed to be very responsive and expeditious. the claims that are happening right now are mostly fishermen and folks who are impacted directly by loss of work right now, those are being paid as fast as we can possibly pay them, on the spot, effectively, if they have some substantiation for this amount of work over this amount of time. >> you said some substantiation . can we drill down on that term for a moment? >> what i'm saying is, we're paying people that say they're working -- they can't work because of this impact and they can say, here's where i work, here's what i do, we're paying

them. we're being aggressive and responsive about this. we have been r5e8y clear, you're exactly right, tony hayward said, we're going to pay all claims that are legitimate. we are, just so you know, just to be exceptionally clear, we've said the $75 million is irrelevant and we have said we're not going to access the $1.6 billion fund. so the bill to the federal government no. and we are a responsible party in this. we plan on living up to that. and that means paying for the cleanup and all the operations that are occurring as well as the legitimate claims that are because of the impact of this we've been very clear about that. the claims process is right now at the very front line of people being directly affected right now. it could affect tourism, could affect hotels, those kinds of things. the claims process is set up to evaluate those as quickly as possible, income statements from last year, occupancy rates, those kinds of things to

help understand the quantify case of the damages. there's also the national resource damage assessment study going on with noaa we're paying for which will help understand the injuries to resources, natural resources in the area, the restoration of those and the cost to do that. >> all right. those are the questions i had, those are the answers i was hoping for. thank you. >> thank you very much. i want to just get a couple of things squared away. i ask whether or not anyone, all three of you, can separately guarantee that a spill like this will never happen again in u.s. waters on your watch. >> i cannot guarantee that. >> mr. newman? >> senator we will work very hard to understand what

happened this time around and implement whatever recommendations come out of that analysis, such that this doesn't happen again. >> so that you can't guarantee it now that it won't happen again? >> i cannot guarantee it. >> mr. probest. >> we will work very, very hard, learn from this incident and continue toim prove processes and practices but i'm afraid with the best will in the world, i don't think any individual can guarantee we will not see another oil spill as a result of drilling activity. >> this, in all fairness, confirms our concerns about deep water drilling and -- off the coast because with it comes an automatic understanding, pay attention, we're going to do our best to get a truct that -- product that can be used by the

american people but there is significant risk associated with it. we cannot guarantee, we won't guarantee that the fact that we can't see something like this happen again. mr. mckay, in the plan you filed with the federal government for deep water, you outlined a worst case scenario for a blowout of 162,000 gallons of oil spilling a day. but the spill now exceeds 200,000 gallons each day, according to the government and "the wall street journal." they have reported estimates higher than possibly one million gallons a day. now, did you deliberately moderate the worst case scenario or is it just impossible to predict the consequences of a a rig blowout? >> i believe the permit was

162,000 barrels a day. i believe that's -- that was the rape case. >> if that's the case, then i apologize. for that error. mr. probe ert, i ask -- this is think second time in the past year there's been a major blowout on an oil rig where halliburton was responsible for the cementing. you in your testimony repeatedly pointed to the well owner and said halliburton did everything according to their specifications. now that suggests that b.p.'s specifications called for cementing to be done in a way that would cause its half million dollar rig to explode and collapse and you had no chance but to follow those

specifications. is that correct? >> oil rigs don't explode as a result of a failure of a cement job. what i said in my testimony, i will stand by, which is that halliburton executed its cement job consistent with the design which was agreed with the well owner and i think we're still struggling to understand, as we have told you several times, that we still have data to collect to really be in a position to assess exactly what did take place on a april 20, so that collectively the industry can put the steps in place to make sure it never happens again. >> your company says that b.p. stands for beyond petroleum, yet b.p.'s investments in clean energy have recently declined

and are dwarfed by its investments in fossil fuels. i before mentioned the good fortune that you've had, or the good skills that your company has had to increase your earnings by over $3 billion in a quarter. shocking. i look at what the american public is paying for those profits. this is showing the true cost of depending on oil to meet our transportation needs. doesn't this spill show a more urgent needs for investments in clean alternatives to oil? >> we are investing quite a bit in alternative energy. we committed to $8 billion over 10 years and are on track to dado that we concentrated in the last year and a half investments in the u.s. on wind, solar, and biofuels and carbon capture. those businesses are growing. >> how about the -- has there

been any decline in investments in other sources of energy besides oil? >> our investments in alternative energy probably declined a little bit last year, but the economy drop sod horrifically that our partners couldn't fund so the projects were delayed but the intent has not changed. >> it's wonderful you were able -- your company was able to grow by $3 billion in a quarter, that's quite fantastic, when things are in the kind of condition that they are in our economy and our world. thank you. >> thank you, senator. since the relief well sknt be built for -- sit 90 days, you figure? or more? how much oil will spill between now and 90 days if we haven't

figured out another way to go to cap this well? >> assuming that the rate is 5,000 barrels a day that would be -- >> give me a number please if you could do the math. >> 450,000 barrels. >> 450,000 barrels would spill. before you do the relief well. >> we're drilling two relief wells, it will take about 90 days to get to the 18,000 foot level to be able to kill this well. >> i just want to go back to senator lautenberg's question, it was a clear question, what can you say about other spills like this? he didn't just say other spills, he said like this, and all of you said, it was almost the most discouraging thing i ever heard. we can't promise anything. how much are you spending, mr. mckay, on finding new ways to

respond to oil spills? in other words you said you're spending $8 billion over 10 years for clean energy, by the way that doesn't rack up very well with the fact that your profit was $45 billion in the quarter, just in one quarter, your profit, and you're spending $8 billion over 10 years, that's obviously your decision, but i'm asking you, how much are you spending on new ways to respond to oil spills? >> we are spending a lot of money right now understanding how to handle this. >> i know but what are you spending to try to come up with new ways to handle oil spills? >> other than what we're doing now, kynt give you a number. >> how would you describe your safety record as a company, b.p.?

>> in 2005 we had an accident at texas city which was horrific. to give you a little bit of background, i know we need to go quickly that changed the foundation of the company, leadership has been changed up and down the chain, tony hayward has come in the company has been in effect the core of the company is being refounded on safety and operational excellence. i think a lot of progress has been made. our safety record in the gulf of mexico has been very, very good prior to this incident. >> how would you describe your safety record as a whole? >> in terms of statistics, it's , according to what measure you want to use but it's within the band width of all the supermajors. >> i'm going to put in the record this article from may 8, 2010, for b.p. a history of spills and safety lapses, and i'm going to ask you a few questions about this and how you could say that you seem

satisfied. you're not satisfied? >> i'm never satisfied. >> you're not satisfied with the safety record even though you say it's no worse than your counterparts? >> i thought you were asking me to try to quantify -- >> i was asking a human question. how you feel? i feel pretty good today. >> i don't feel good at all today. >> i don't mean that i'm asking you a conversational question. i'm not in a court of law. i'm just asking you to describe your safely record. let me be specific. i'm going to ask you about a few things. in february of 2010, 19 member tofse house sent a letter to the mineral management service, questioning p.b.'s safety on the platform in the gulf of mexico. it asks what responses it will take in response to allegation by a whistleblower and a houston-based safety expert that b.p. skipped necessary

engineering inspections and provided inaccurate engineering documents to the rig operator. these documents are critical to the safe operation of the oil rig. that's a letter, february of 2010. in october of 2007, b.p. pled guilty to a criminal violation of the clean water act, paid $12 million in fines as well as $8 knoll address national re-- natural resources damagings. in the north slope of alaska due to poor maintenance of a severely co-roaded pipeline. also in october of 2007, b.p. pled guilty for its actions in a 2005 texas refinery explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170 more. in october of 2009, the u.s. department of labor's occupational safety and health administration, osha, issued $87 million in proposed penalties to b.p. for the company's failure to correct

potential shah hah sards faced by employees as outlined in a settlement agreement b.p. entered with oh shah following the -- with the -- entered with osha following the texas refinely ry explosion you referred to. then there were other reports of multiple smaller fines. here's what's concerning to me. none of you can can give us assurances that something like this can't happen again. your statements to the m.m.s. when you were making the case for quick approval of this particular project stated very clearly that even if there was a blowout, you used those words, it would be no problem because of the technology, the cleanup technology that you have.

all of this, i have to tell you is falling like a house of cards. there's just no there underneath your statements. if you look at your record and you look at your statements, and you look at what's happening, it's very, very disturbing. do you feel that we ought to now have a reform where we separate out the safety inspections from the permitting process? in other words, right now the permits are issue and the safety inspections and the e.i.r., all being done by m.m.s. do you think we should separate out the function so m.m.s. deals with mineral extraction and works with you on that but there's an independent body that looks at your safety record and what would yao would do. would you support that type of reform? >> i would support working with any government agency to make sure that this business gets

safer based on what we learn here. >> you would not oppose that proposal? >> i would not oppose anything that comes out of this and makes this safer. >> you feel the same, mr. newman? >> i would be supportive of continuing to work with the administration and congress, understanding what may come out of this investigation and implementing any recommendations that will improve the safety of our business. >> and you, mr. probert? >> i think the industry has worked very hard on its safety over the course of the last decade or so, which is one reason it make this is incident such a tragic and -- so tragic and disappoint, but we support anything we can do to create a safer environment to operate in in the exploration of oil and gas. >> all right. senator udall, do you have

another round? go ahead. >> thank you, ma tam chair. -- madam chair. i'm having a hard time on this cementing issue with the answers out there. can you all tell me, did each of you just answer yes or no did you read "the wall street journal" article i'm reading here? >> no. >> the one if today. front page story in the "wall street journal." i think the headline is something along the lines of two oil firms tight rig blast to plug. did you read? >> i did. >> and mr. probert? >> yes. >> two of you read it. is there anything in that article you disagree with strongly, that's just flat wrong? >> i would need to go back and read that article again to, you

know, make sure i assessed all the facts or nonfacts in it as the case may be to give you an accurate response. >> but there's nothing that hits you right now in terms of, you read it sometime today -- >> i think there were certainly some things in that article which would need to be questioned, yes. >> ok. i'd like you in your supplement to the questioning to the question, to -- we'll submit questions along that line. >> i'd be happy to provide the response. zunsing the same question about disagreeing, understanding that it's been a busy day, senator, i don't recall, when i read kwle article, i don't recall reacting strongly negatively to anything that was written in the article, but i would like to go back and reread the article and refresh my memory. >> ok, i'll submit additional questions and we'll make it part of the record. mr. mckay, did your well plan call for removing the mud

before capping the well? >> as i said erlingier, i have not had a chance to review the well plan or the procedure of that particular well? >> mr. newman, do you know what was provided in the well plan as far as moving the mud before capping the well? >> i've not seen b.p.'s well plan for this well. >> and mr. mckay, did you have to ask m.m.s. for permission to follow this procedure that we're talking about? and if you did, why did you do that? >> i'm sorry, i haven't read that procedure and i don't know what we filed or if it's a procedure, i would imagine the m.m.s. as looked at it but i'm not sure. >> you don't know whether or not you asked permission to do it in the way you did it? >> i'm sorry, i don't know. >> and mr. probert, i'm asking now about halliburton's cement job in the australian blowout.

in what sequence did your company remove the mud in the australian accident, before or after the final cement plug? >> a final cement plug was never installed by the well owner. >> never installed? >> no. >> so the blowout took place before the final cement plug? >> the blowout actually took place some five month that was well had been left without either blowout preventer or without well cap. at least according to the testimony which i've been able to read from the inquiry. >> now, mr. mckay, i heard that standards for well cementing are still under discussion by the american petroleum institute and the m.m.s. who does most of the technical work, the american petroleum institute or the m.m.s.? >> i'm not familiar with the

way standards are set between the -- in terms of the division of work in the technical work. >> and my understanding at this point, the reason we're not able to ask about what's in the standards is the process isn't public at this point. there isn't a public vetting of these standards that are out there right now, at some point it will be public but there's been a lot of work between m.m.s., your industry, and the american petroleum institute in coming up with standards to deal with the cementing? is that correct? >> i'm sorry i'm just not familiar with the cement standards being set by a.p.i. or m.m.s. or the industry, to be honest. >> senator, if i could add something. >> yes, please. >> these are not standards,

they're recommended practices. last set issued approximately two years ago. there's another set which is under development right now and seeking input from appropriate parties, which would be a.p.i., m.m.s. and industry experts to continue to improve those processes through time. >> mr. probert, in the ones set a couple of years ago in those standards, speaking specifically, i'm asking specifically about the plug and the order of removing the mud and as i've talked about earlier, is it -- is there a consistent standard in the industry for doing it a particular way? >> i'm afraid i would have to probably defer to one of our cementing experts to review that data, which we'll be happy to do for you based on the recommended practices but i'm afraid i don't have knowledge of that directly. >> it sounds like there is a standard out there that deals

with this particular issue? >> i'm afraid i'm not sure of that. but we can certainly respond to the recommended practices as the document which we would refer to. >> can you answer the i asked mr. mckay is the bulk of the work done at this point, on a new standard, you said they were set two years ago, the new standard, is the bulk of the work between a.p.i. and m.m.s. and not a public process at this point? >> i'm sorry, i didn't quite understand your question, did you say it is a public process? >> is not a public process. >> the way i'd describe the recommended practices, they're being circulated for comment amongst industry experts from a variety of agencies and interests. >> thank you for your surtcy -- courtesies, ma cam chair. >> you'll be happy to know,

i'll ask a round of questions on ecementing. i'll do the last questions. i appreciate -- you'll be happy to know i'll be the last round of questions. i think what my colleague is trying to do, as best we can, he's asking if there could be a connection between the lack of the plug and the explosion. mr. probert, do you have an opinion on that? >> we've discussed the concept of barriers and clearly, it's always good, it's always require to have had multiple barriers in place to protect the integrity of the well bore and the final cement plug would have been the final barrier that would have been placed in the production casing prior to disconnecting the b.o.p., which was, of course, in itself a barrier. >> the blowout prevent her >> the b.o.p., blowout preventer, yes. >> in 2007, m.m.s. study

examined 39 blowouts over 14 years. they found that cementing was a contributing factors in 18 of those i want dents. -- incidents. in addition, it has been suggested as a contributing factor in the spill off the australian coast which i understand halliburton was also involved in. mr. probert, what did you learn from the australian disaster, in terms of safety and effectiveness of cementing jobs on offshore oil rigs? what did you learn from that? >> first of all, if i could comment to the m.m.s. study, of the 18 blowouts which were -- which were -- which had cementing as a factor in the blowout process, only one of those occurred in water depths

greater than 400 feet. and therefore, by definition, the majority of those, all except one in fact, occurred in shallow water and primarily as a result of shallow gas and salt water flow, which is long been an issue in the gulf of mexico shelf operations. >> so are you suggesting from that, by drawing this distinction, that it's more dangerous to do this in deeper watt her >> no i'm saying the opposite. in fact, the record of the industry in deeper water is significantly improved over shallow water operations, which are subject to shallow water gas -- >> but you agree in 18 of 39 blowouts over 14 years, cement was a factor. you've agreed on that so what have you learned from the australian disaster? >> first, let me comment, we have certainly learned from the

experience from the m.m.s. study, focused obviously on the gulf of mexico and though cement was a factor, there were a variety of activities -- >> i'm asking about us a trail qua, if i might get you back to that. >> with respect to australia, i think we're going to have to wait until the commission provides its findings on that particular one. >> when do you expect that to be finished? >> to the best of my knowledge, i believe the testimony was collected in the last week or so and some of that information is public and the findings will be released, one would hope -- >> this is a commission in australia? >> this is a commission in australia, yes. >> we will follow that. mr. mckay, residents across the gulf coast will be

significantly impacted by this spill, and we know this. all of us agree. commercial and recreation fishermen could be out of work for months, be forced to deal with fisheries impacts for years, hotel and restaurant owners and others dependent on tourism could see dramatic losses. we are hoping to mitigate that we all agree that's our prime intent. concerns from local residents that the process for responding to claims and providing information to affected entities has left local business owners with lots of unanswered questions. given the severe economic impact that this may bring about what is b.p. doing to ensure that information is provided in a timely and accurate way and that claims are processed as expeditiously as possible and will you commit to immediately monitor the effectiveness of the claims process and take corrective action when problems arise? >> we are very intent on being

responsive and expeditious with this. we're expanding the claims centers across the gulf coast. i think we've got eight right now. we've got 21 community outreach centers by this weekend. we are expanding the network, so to speak. we the process is getting smoother. you know, it started in louisiana and has been moving over to florida. there are some growing pains, to be honest, but we're working those out. >> so this is my last question. it seems to us that the oil industry is truly in uncharted territory as it pushes the limits of drilling technology. when i asked you the question, with what do you spend on finding better ways to finding a better way to deal with a spill you slugged your shoulders and didn't have aa answer. it doesn't appear the safety and response technology has caught up with your zeile work the -- with your zeal, the

industry's zeal. so it's leaving great uncertainty with with all of us. . and i was glad that you said at least i took from what you said you are lawyer-like in answering it, but i took from what you said that you would support efforts for stronger safety oversight. i'm going to be more specific in my question.

in light of the recent oil spill and the rapidly changing drilling technologies, i know we believe we have to do everything we can to avoid another catastrophe. right now you said you can't promise us that. so given that you can't promise us this and i'm sitting here from california that has a 20-plus billion dollar recreation, tourism and fishing industry and a magnificent coastline that needs to be preserved because of its beauty and also because of its economic contribution that it makes in its beauty to our state, i would be derelict in my responsibility if i didn't work to increase more oversight and give more opportunity for the public to come out and express themselves through laws like the national

environmental policy act to help ensure all aspects of a project receive the evaluation that is necessary. i cannot rest. when i look back, mr. mckay, and you are a very nice man, but i look back to what your company said to the m.m.s., no problems. just give us an expedited answer here, even if a blowout occurs, we can handle it. it's all going to be fine. and then this -- when this happens, you say my goodness, we're not prepared. so i'm going to ask unanimous consent that the statement of the u.s. travel association, which represents a broad range of travel industry companies such as local visitors' bureaus be made part of the record. they are interested on the impact on tourism and i want their views to be included here.

would you support in your future endeavors as you move forward with more of these requests, going through the nepa process and allowing the process -- and no longer asking for an expedited process when so much is at stake, mr. mckay? would you reform the way you have done this? you don't have a good safety record, i hate to tell you this. i read a lot of it out loud. you promised nothing like this would ever happen, you honestly did. this happened now. i'm asking, would you support making sure that when you come to united states government and you want to lease taxpayer-owned leases, that you will allow, not only allow, but support the full nepa process to take place? >> we will support and conform to any regulations that we need

to. the nepa process, i believe you're talking about, the way it works now is that an environmental impact statement is done with the lease sale and then environmental assessments are done within grid and the well sits within those. in effect, we are utilizing the environmental assessments that have already been done. if there is a regulation that says we need to do it differently, we will do that. >> it is not automatic that a full blown environmental impact statement is made and you asked not to have that done and you asked for exemptions. what i'm trying to get at is this, given what has occurred here, i won't ask you this question today, i will ask you to think about it tonight and given your safety record, which isn't good, that you consider a whole new approach here, which is when you want to go into an

area like this that has all these fragile ecosystems and all this tourism and travel and recreation industry that depends on a beautiful area that you won't ask to be exempted and won't make these promises, which you made and now you can't make anymore. will you consider the full blown environmental process when you come back and ask for another well like this? >> we will consider anything that would make this safer and we will utilize the environmental processes that we need to make sure that it meets what we need to do. i know you don't want to go into it, but i think these environmental processes are in place and done by the m.m.s. when the lease sale is done and after that, by grid, that we then tap into and utilize those environmental assessments. i think if you go back to what

you did, you didn't address the actual threat at all and you glossed over it and that was very, very damaging. and we're going to now move to our next panel -- >> if i could put that "wall street journal" article into the record? >> yes. i want to say to the three of you, you gave us your whole day since 2:30. i know you had given prior testimony, is that correct, to the energy committee? i know it's been a long and difficult day for you. i appreciate you being with us. and i hope we can work together so we don't have to have any more of these moments in time where we say, oh my god, what have we done and how can we fix it? and what if we can't? we just have to not have a repeat of this. and that's my goal. and you said it was your goal, so let's hope we can find common ground. thank you very much. and we'll call the next panel forward.

>> dr. the executive director of the gulf coast fishery management council, chairman of the board of florida resstaurpt and lodging association, dr. may who senator cardin wanted to introduce, but he had to leave. distinguished research scientist with the living marine collaboration at the university of maryland and member of stanford law school faculty. and lieutenant general thomas g. mcernany, retired member of the united states air force during the response to exxon valid ease spill from march 24 to april 15,

1989 and he will testify regarding the lessons d.o.d. learned in responding to the valid es spill. i know this has been a long and difficult day and i appreciate you staying here with us and we'll get right into your testimony. dr. bartone, executive director of the gulf of mexico fishery management council. is your microphone on? >> thank you very much. i represent the gulf of mexico fishery management council as its executive director. the councils were established in 1976 as part of the fishery management council. it is the responsibility to submit management plans designed to manage fishery resources out to the 200-mile limit. the gulf council has 17 voting

members from each state in the gulf and composed of state fishery agency representatives, individuals from the commercial recreation and scientific sectors. since reauthorization of the act, the gulf council has improved fish stocks so they are no longer categorized as overfished and improved other species such as red snapper. there are plans in place to rebuild several stocks. we were on our way to achieving this goal. the recent and continuing uncontrolled release of unrefined oil into the northern gulf of mexico causes the gulf council members and me some concern. there are a number of short-term effects that are likely to cause harm to several fisheries and ecosystem in which they occur. during the spring and early summer months, many commercial and recreational species such as grouper and red snapper spawn in

the area. eggs are released into the water column and they are fertilized and float at or near the surface for 20 to 40 hours. these newly hatched fish live near the surface for 20 to 50 days. they settle out of the water column, become bottom-dwelling inhabitants. released oil float to the surface and affects the life and condition of early life stages of these species including the forage fish. many of the diss percentments affect the -- dispersements. and it is formed in smaller bite-sized parallels. they can make oil more biologyically available in that oil is taken up by fish. the short-term impacts of the oil released will have immediate effects on eggs of numerous

species not only those important to our fisheries. an extensive red tide event that occurred in 2005 in the gulf of mexico is only now are we seeing the results and the impacts of that. the 2005 year class has been infected. this indicates to me that a major event like this in the gulf of mexico is going to have long-term effects on our fisheries. they support a wide range of species. as an industry, the commercial industry produces 1.3 million ponds a year and shellfish in the gulf with a dockside of $660 million. over 3.2 million individuals participate in recreational fisheries. around the gulf coast, the economic well-being of many communities relating to these fishing sectors. the oil in the waters has already had an impact on the

economy of the region. emergency fishing closures already implemented by the fishery service was purposeful and done to protect lives and increase the safety of marine products. lost revenues from the immediate closure are obvious. more significant are the long-term effects on fishing when a continued closure of the significant part of the gulf of mexico occurs. for example, charter boat operators suffer from immediate cancellations by participants throughout the gulf of mexico. just as significant is the long-term impacts giving negative impressions to the public and may take a long time for the public to get over the impressions and return. the charter boat industry will suffer a bad year. it is also probable it will suffer a bad decade. commercial fisheries will have to move to other areas where the impact of the oil released will be devastating in the long-term. it occurs as is projected on the

larvay and eggs ma of the species will impact management measures to ensure these fisheries are rebuilt properly. we anticipate that in the short-term there will be an effect on eggs in the gulf. this will result in long-term negative effects on the fisheries. the event will have long lasting impacts on a host of sectors and community that currently participate in and directly assist the fish-based industries of the gulf of mexico. thank you. >> thank you very much for that important testimony. chairman of the board of the florida restaurant and lodging association and senior vice president and chief operating officer of trade winds island resorts, the largest resort on the west coast of florida. welcome, sir.

>> i appreciate the opportunity the views of florida's hospitality industry. i'm humbled to represent our great industry and i appreciate mr. mckay's comments earlier that he's going to pay for all of the impacts down to the gulf of mexico neighboring states. that makes the content of my testimony today critically important. my name is keith overton and chief operating for trade winds island resorts. our company is anchored by two world class resorts with 796 guest rooms, 25 acres situated on gulf of mexico in st. pete beach, florida. we employ 750 people. we are all about entrepreneurialism through tourism. and that has become a brand name within florida and we have done this through our own sales and marketing efforts because we do operate independently. and we have a precise understanding as a result of

that of where our business comes from and most importantly what influencees tourism in florida as well as to our destination. as chairman of the board for the florida restaurant and lodging association, i'm going to provide you a perspective that our members share regarding this threat to florida. hospitality in florida represents a $57 billion industry, 20% of florida's economy, $3.4 billion in sales tax revenue and more than 900,000 employees are employed there, the largest employer in the state of florida. tourism in florida is clearly more important to florida than the benefits of any offshore oil drilling near its shores. this is an unequivocal statement. we need to have a voice in this and be part of the consideration and i appreciate your comments, senator boxer, as it relates to what measures are going to be put in place and i would like to

address a couple of concerns here as we go. visions of a vacation to florida for most travelers have been consistent and attractive for nearly a century and unique experiences which can be found around our state create fond memories of beaches, warm such, blue waters, beautiful natural resources, fresh seafood and fun attractions and theme parks for everybody visiting. the mere thought of oil rigs in the nearby waters off of florida's shores changes that imagery instantly and permanently. many legislateors in tallahassee and washington, d.c. have continued to exploit florida's natural resources at the risk of devastating its largest economic driver. that risk has become a reality. i have included a page in the insert that you have from a study conducted by the visit st. pete completed in 2008 and the

results of that are indicative of all beach front destinations of the zishte to come to florida and visit the beach. we have 2300 miles of coastline and the top factors in choosing are safe destination, beautiful beaches, a nice environment, we want to relax and suntan. clearly those things are at risk here today. the portrait of american travelers by y partnership indicates that beautiful scenery and beaches are a top priority. florida stands to have many of its at try beauties tarnished as oil continues to pour boo the gulf of mexico. florida's tourism continues to suffer due to a struggling economy which resulted in cuts in spending in travel. add other factors, unseasonably cold winter and disaster that we

see today, florida's hospitality looks to endure another decline in revenues. even further, a 10% or even smaller reduction in florida tourism dollars could force many of our tourism-based businesses out of business. profit margins are thin and there is risk for many hotels and restaurants. recognizing how fragile florida's tourism has become, this oil spill will be devastating similar to the hurricanes we saw in 2004 and what you saw then was that there were certainly parts of our state that were devastated, but many parts, many most parts where florida was open for business and in great health. we had a few tree limbs fall. when you read the newspaper, florida was under water and we are concerned that this effect is starting to happen. we are seeing cancellations in abundance.

i have a colleague who operates a hotel and tell me reservations have stopped. so we are at risk. imagine for a minute -- >> i have to ask you to sum up, just given the time and the fact that i have a 7:00 that i have to be at. >> i will do that. >> sum up, because i think we are getting the message loud and clear and it's a good message. >> when those hurricanes occurred in 2004, governor bush instituted an additional $25 million to visit florida, which is our marketing firm and had a total of $50 million to offset some of the concerns. it wasn't enough. today even in august and september, five, six years later, we can't get the hotel occupy answer si. and this isn't enough to market florida. in summary, i will wrap up there

and thank you very much for allowing me to speak. >> eric may. he joins us from the university of maryland, eastern shore. i'm going to put in the record this eloquent introduction that senator cardin wants to make sure appears in the record and we are looking forward to your comments, dr. may. >> thank you, madam chairman. i appreciate the opportunity to provide you with what is hopefully information that you can use in your deliberations. i'm eric may one of thousands of scientists who are directly involved in, research on or have working knowledge about potential effects of oil spills on marine ecosystems and long-term consequences of such events. i don't think any of us could give you an exact accounting of the consequences that could happen as a consequence of the gulf of mexico's spill. safe to say, there are going to be effects and consequences.

the current level of discharge is 200,000 gallons of crude every day. basically, one million gallons every five days. you can do the math. it will begin to approach, if you will, the exxon valdez at 10 million gallons, prestige, 20 million gallons. the thought is staggering and all of these in the aftermath have had significant effect not just short-term, but long-term. i went to the coast of brit annie four years post, flat fish on the bottom were still having ulcers, soars, liver tumors, a litany of health problems. so these are not short-term effects but protracted effects. oil is still seeping out of some of the sand in alaska.

10 years -- after 10 years, it's seeped. what i'm concerned about is not just short-term, long-term. we can project costs of cleanup but it's not going to be immediate. this is unique. it started in april. one case before, there was a major spill that occurred in april. by all accounts, this is a perfect environmental storm. this is an uncontrolled leak near sensitive coastal waters, initially started in unfavorable weather conditions and at a time when everything is maximum biological activity, spawning, larvae, a litany of events are going now which are the most sensitive time for fisheries. it's awesome. i intend todd give you some of the biological processes that will come into play.

all of these will occur to some degree, the full extent of how they will occur is how much more oil leaks into the system. consequences are going to be loss of species, keystone species upon which other species depend. bioaaccumulation such as metals and/or beganics, commerg and recreational important species, impacts on individual and communities that depend on the fisheries. long-term, economic impacts on the local, and global. prices of shrimp cocktail is about to go up and the cost is going to go up, too. we're all going to be impacted and feel the effects and if we don't believe it, look back at some of the things that happened with the exxon valdez. thousands of books have been written on the subject. the oil companies held a forum.

the scientific body collective has been telling you, will tell you that placing oil wells near sensitive coastlines represents a serious, significant environmental risk. and it's a socio-economic risk. i tell my students, zero risk does not exist. no matter how much -- how many safeguards you put, there will always be an accident and it will always come with a consequence. the gulf of mexico oil spill is a tragedy in every since of the word. as we go forward from this point science can give you an idea of what will ensue but it's far from perfect in its ability to predict and provide a clear understanding. ecological impacts should be watched and develop tools through the natural resources so we can better understand what

will be the consequences. we benefit from oil no doubt. but let us be sure that the benefits that may be derived from expansion of oil exploration are in keeping with the environmental and socio-economic risks that are going to be faced. i thank you for your time. >> that last sentence summed it up pretty well. meg caldwell is a director of the natural resources policy program and executive director of the center for oceans solutions and served on the california coastal commission. i would say to you that when i heard -- first heard about the spill they started to talk about venice. well, we have a venice, california. and just hearing it, brought to mind the beach front there and gave me the schiffers just to

think that this could happen to our state. so we welcome you here. >> thank you, senator boxer and for the opportunity to testify on a critical connection between healthy oceans and thriving ocean and coastal economies and how oil spills affect these natural systems. our nation's ocean economy employs 2.3 million people and pumps out 138 billion into our g.d.p. two major biological and economic hot spots fueling this economy are the gulf of mexico and pacific waters off our western states. these two remarkably productive, locally valuable and globally significant ecosystems accounts for 90% of this nation's wild commercial fisheries. in 2004, the total value of the gulf states' economy was estimated as $29 billion and

california was $43 billion. tourism and recreation is the largest portion of our nation's economy both in terms of jobs and dollar value. this industry, like fisheries, depends on clean, healthy and safe coastal and ocean environments. the gulf contains the greatest expanse of wetlands in the lower 48, five million acres. it provides water protection, nursery habitats for fisheries and foraging and nesting habitats. fish and shellfish caught in the gulf and 75% of the fowl, depends on the gulf's habitats. the true value of these gulf wetlands has been estimated by a professor on the order of $26 trillion per year. that's $5,200 per wetland acre. the gulf is home to marine

mammals and only known breeding ground to the endangered blue fin tuna. my colleague from hopkins marine station tracks these mammals with electronic tags and know that they spawn at this time of year at the area of the spill. the gulf is also the world's only -- serves as the only nesting population for the most endangerered sea turtle. they are in the peak of their nesting season and have been seen near the oil slick. the inshore gulf provides a shelf supporting an abundance of species such as shrimp and crabs and particularly value nerble to oil which can persist in sediments from sediments.

as senators pointed out the outer gulf is dominated by the loop current that bays the atlantic seaboard. tuna, snapper and grouper begin their life cycle as larvae, migrating from spawning ground where they reside as results. drift seaweed also forms these mats on the current providing a mobile nursery for the young stages for sea turtle species and providing a foundation -- [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] yeas and nays, house resolution 1328 by the yeas and nays. 1299 by the yeas and nays. proceedings on house concurrent resolution 268 will resume later

in the week. the first electronic vote will be conducted as a 15-minute vote. remaining electronic votes will be conducted as five-minute votes. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from new york, mr. towns, to suspend the rules and agree to house resotion 1294 on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the resolution. of the resolution. the clerk: house resolution

the rules are suspended, the resolution is agreed to. and without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid on the table. for what purpose does the gentleman from new york rise? >> madam speaker, i send to the desk a privileged report from the committee on rules for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: resolution to accompany -- report to accompany

house resolution 1344, resolution providing for consideration of the bill, h.r. 5116, to invest in innovations through research and development, to improve the competitiveness of the united states and for other purposes. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? for what purpose does the gentleman from arizona rise? >> thank you very much, madam speaker. >> by direction of the committee on natural resources, i submit a privileged report to accompany house resolution 1254 for filing under the rule. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will report the title. the clerk: report to accompany house resolution is 1254, resolution directing the secretary of the interior to transmit to the house of representatives certain information relating to the secretary's treasured landscape initiative, potential

designation of national monday youments and high priority land efforts. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the house calendar and ordered printed. the chair lays before the house a communication. the clerk: the honorable, the speaker, house of representatives, madam, pursuant to the permission granted in clause 2h of rule 2 of the rules of the u.s. house of representatives, i have the honor to transmit a sealed envelope received from the white house on monday, may 11, 2010 at 5:09 p.m. and said to contain a message from the president whereby he submits the 2010 national drug control strategy. with best wishes, i am signed sincerely, lorraine c. miller, clerk of the house. the speaker pro tempore: the clerk will read the message. the clerk: to the congress of the united states. i'm pleased to transmit the 2010

national drug control strategy, a blueprint for rediesing illicit drug use and harmful consequences in america. i'm committed to combat the drug problems that plage our communities. while i remain steadfast to continue our strong enforcement efforts, especially along the southwest border, i directed the office of national drug control policy to re-engage in efforts to prevent drug use and addiction and make available drug recovery. this approach will expand efforts for the three critical ways we can address the drug problem, prevention, treatment and law enforcement. drug use endanger the health and safety of every american and deadens the spirit of many of our communities. whether struggling with an addition, worrying about a loved one or victim of drug-related

crime, many people live with the impact of drug use every day. this demands a new direction on drug policy, one based on common sense, sound science and practical experience. that is why my new strategy includes efforts to tell young adults about the dangers of drug abuse and unprecedented funding and federally qualified health centers, re-invigorated drug courts and strengthens our enforcement efforts to rid our streets of the drug dealers that infect our communities. i'm confident if they -- if we take these needed steps, our streets will be safer and our communities stronger. if we boost community-prevention efforts, expand opportunities, strengthen law enforcement capabilities and work

collaboratively with our global partners, we will reduce drug use and its resulting damage. while i'm proud of the new direction described here, a well-crafted strategy is only as successful as its implementation. to succeed, we will need to rely on the hard work, dedication and perseverance of every american. i look forward to working with the congress, federal, state and local officials, tribal leaders and citizens across the country as we implement the strategy and make our communities better places to live, work and raise our families. signed, barack obama, the white house. the speaker pro tempore: referred to the committees on armed services, education and labor, energy and commerce, foreign affairs, homeland security, judiciary, natural resources, oversight and government reform, small business, transportation and infrastructure, veterans affairs

and ways and means and ordered printed. the chair will entertain requests for one-minutes. for what purpose does the gentleman from connecticut rise? >> permission to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. >> i rise today in honor of the life of a great man and constituent, mr. edward bowman. there aren't many traffic jams but on the day of his funeral proceedings, he caused one heck of a mess. hundreds turned out to pay respects, a giant in business and in charity. one of the leading business leaders, he would volunteer. he would volunteer to the food drive and packing grocery bags. he cared about youth sports. he was chalking a ball field. if you are interested in kids going to college, he husbandled for scholarships. he served not because he wanted

nyackla mation but because his faith told him it was the right thing to do egg, he leaves behind eight children and 25 grandchildren. ed bowman was cheshire. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentlewoman from florida rise? ms. ros-lehtinen: permission to address the house for one minute and revise and extend. i will be co-hosting a briefing to honor the courage and sacrifice of those struggling for freedom in cuba. in the last few months, the regime has only stepped up its vicious repression. a courageous human rights activist lost his life at the hands of the tyranny. the ladies in white endured physical attacks by cuban security thugs and each day, another's health continues to

worsen as the cause for freedom in cuba remain unanced. we will discuss these and other recent assaults by the dictatorship in cuba. i welcome and urge you to join us for this important briefing tomorrow at noon in room 2253 rayburn. see you there. thank you, madam speaker. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. conaway: permission to address the house for one minute and revise and stepped my remarks. i to a constituent from my district. just over three years in the air force, he has been integral to the success. he has flown 364 hours, resulting in 92 operators and

they have joined overseas contingency operations and created a community of practice providing real-time and aircraft data. he has assisted in the creation of a new draft of air force techniques and procedures for the m que-9. he is active in charities. these accomplishments earned him the airmen of the year for 2009 and placed as one of the air force's 2010 team of the year members. i thank him for his service to his country and look forward to following his future success. i wish him all the happiness and success and god bless them all. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from minnesota rise? mr. paulsen: address the house for one minute. i recognize two heroes in my

district who went above and beyond. tom evanson, a volunteer firefighter received the awd from the american red cross. after learning about a local family who suffered severe burns, the firefighters decided to provide a fire safety course to help them overcome their fear and avoid similar problems in the future. when they came to discover the grandmother who cares for the family's children was deaf, they reached out to a local hearing aide professional and able to get a $6,000 pair of hearing aides donated. tom and ann makes our communities great and i'm proud to recognize them here today. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from pennsylvania rise? mr. thompson: request unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and

extend. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. thompson: this week is police week, which has a particular sound in washington home to the national peace officers memorial. tuesday there was a mass in honor of the men and women killed in 2009 in the line of duty. on thursday, there is a candle light vigil in the memory of 117 police officers who gave their devotion to protect us from criminals. in my state of pennsylvania, seven officers died in the last year. among them paul g. ritchie. he left a wife and two children. texas, florida a california have more than pennsylvania. the number of deaths is up 21%. many of the events of police week help raise awareness and funding for concerns and proceeds help the family members

of fallen officers, a worthy cause. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: are there further requests for one-minutes? for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise? mr. poe: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into, the following members may be permit todd address this house, revise and extend their remarks and incluped extraneous material, myself, may 18. mr. jones for may 18. dr. paul for today, ms. ros-lehtinen for today and may 12. and mr. rohrabacher for today. the speaker pro tempore: without objection for what purpose does the gentlelady from california rise? ms. woolsey: i ask unanimous consent that today following legislative business and any special orders heretofore entered into, the following members may be permitted to address the house for five minutes to revise and extend

their remarks and include therein extraneous material, ms. woolsey, california. miskaptur of ohio, mr. schiff of california, mr. sablan, marian islands. mr. defazio, oregon. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. under the speaker's announced policy of january 6, 2009, and under a previous order of the house, the following members are recognized for five minutes each. ms. woolsey of california. . ms. woolsey: madam speaker, monday, yesterday, was the most violent day so far this year in iraq. in what the press call a relentless cascade of bombings and shootings, they killed 100 people. in a series of coordinated

attacks. both civilians and security forces came under siege. a bombing outside a restaurant, another at the mayor's office, another at a market. security check points throughout baghdad hit by gunmen disguised as street cleaners. at a textile factory in the city of hillah, the bombing was timed to -- the bombing was timed at the end of a shift. maximizing the bloodshed and the casualties. and when people rushed to help the wounded, a suicide bomber detonated his explosive in the crowd just adding to the carnage. according to the a.p. account, the wounded in hillah could not -- could be heard cursing their government for its inability to protect them. a few years ago, you'll remember, we were told the

insurgency was in its last throes but it is clearly capable of wreaking havoc and doing so with precision and sophisticated planning. the continuing political instability in iraq is contributing to the chaos, as the elections held more than two months ago have yet to be producing a clear winner and a new government. there's real danger, madam speaker, that if sunnis are not given a stake in the new government, we could see the kind of sectarian strife bordering on civil war that exploded in iraq just a few years ago. with most of the recent attention on afghanistan, this onslaught serves as a chilling reminder of just how dangerous and unstable iraq remains. fear and violence remain a way of life. we can't become complacent,

madam speaker. we can't forget about the role of the u.s.-led military occupation, what role that played in inflaming the insurgency in the first place and in provoking these kinds of attacks. much was made of the supposed blow to the insurgency when two leaders of al qaeda in iraq were killed last month, but yesterday's horror just goes to show that killing terrorists, killing militants, just makes it easier for al qaeda to recruit new ones. but just a few hours ago comes word that top officials are apparently drawing exactly the wrong conclusion from monday's attack. they're talking about slowing down the pace of the redeployment of our troops out of iraq. what we need instead, madam speaker, is an acceleration of the redeployment plan, because our continued military presence is a key factor in motivating

militants to act, and to act in unspeakable ways. we're doing as much to engender violence as to tamp it down. we're doing as much to undermine security as we are contributing to it. only by ending our military occupation and replacing it with a civilian surge can we hope to foster peace, stability, and democracy in iraq. the men and women of our armed services have performed their duties with honor and courage. they are not to blame for failed policy, madam speaker. but for their safety and for the good of iraq and for the good of the future of the iraqi civilians and their country, let's bring our troops home. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: mr. moran of kansas. for what purpose does the gentleman from texas rise?

>> i ask unanimous consent to claim the gentleman's time. the speaker pro tempore: without objection. mr. poe spks thank you, madam speaker. it's national police week, where we honor lawmen and -- law men and women who protect this great nation. as we pause to recogze the service and sacrifice of all u.s. law enforcement officers we need to remember the men and women who work on the border, our border patrol agents. some have sacrificed their lives, putting themselves between the bad guys and us, and we owe their families a great debt for those sacrifices. like u.s. border senior patrol agent luis aguilar, killed in the line of duty in 2008. agent aguilar was attempting to deploy a set of road spikes to stop a drug smuggler. the smuggler attempted to evade

our agents and escape back to mexico. the suspect, driving a hummer, accelerated his vehicle and intentionally hit officer aguilar and he was killed. border patrol agent robert rojas of campo, california, border patrol station was killed in 2009 while performing his duties. he was responding to suspicious activity in the area notorious for alien and drug smuggling when he was killed by unidentified assailants. the murder occurred in a remote border area, where agent rojas was shot several times in the head, execution style. agent rojas was 30 years of age. even our u.s. park ainjers aren't safe from the terrorist -- rangers aren't safe from the terrorists. one intercepted thousands of

poun of illegal drugs he guarded a 1,000-mile stretch of our nation's southern boundary. he was shot and killed in the line of duty on august 9, 2002. he was pursuing members of a drug cartel hit squad. they fled into the united states after committing a string of murders in mexico. chris was 28 years of age who was he was mowed down by the narcoterrorists in arizona. our border patrol agents are under constant assault. not counting the murders, madam speaker, i have a chart here that illustrates just in the last few years assaults on our border patrol agents. these are the men and women on the border protecting us from people crossing in. going back to 2004, there were about 300, almost 400 assaults on our border agents. 2005, about 680. 2006, 750. and then 2007, 2008, 2009, all

about 1,000 assaults on our border agents. most of these assaults, madam speaker, are committed by people crossing the border into the united states illegally and committing assaults on our border patrol agents. for some reason we don't hear much about it with the national media. they seem to be concerned with other issues. madam speaker, we have here what the border patrol agents call the war wagon. it's called the war wagon because you see they're modified their border -- border patrol vehicles, the pickup trucks, they've put mesh screens over the windows because when they get close to the borders, people trying to come into the united states pelt the border patrol with rocks and destroy their vehicles and harm the border patrol agents. they have to improvise these

war wagons to protect themselves. during this police week, when we remember peace officers in this country that were killed, we need to remember the border patrol agents that do their duty every year trying to protect our porous border because they don't get the resources the federal government should give them, including the national guard. they are constantly under attack and 1,000 assaults a year against our border patrol is a bit much, don't you think? we in this house of representatives owe them the duty to make sure they are protected. we do that by protecting the border and making sure that people who come into the united states are stopped at the board every if they are here and trying to cross illegally. madam speaker, our borders are a war zone. as a texas ranger once told me he said after dark, congressman poe, the board for the texas and mexico gets western. it gets violent. our law enforcement officers are outmanned, outgunned, and

outfinanced. we node the moral resolve as a nation to secure the dignity of our borders, to protect the lawmen down there doing the job we let them do we ask them to do and they are trying to do the best we can -- best they can. they need more resources, more boots on the ground that includes sending the national guard on the border as requested by state governors because it's the first duty of government to protect the country and' the people that live in it. that includes border patrol agents. and that's just the way it is. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: merchandise cap -- ms. kaptur of ohio. without objection. ms. kaptur: madam speaker, the clever comedy tale being spun by wall street mega banks and their minions here in washington is that they are paying back $700 billion, our -- $700 billion our taxpayers

bestowed on them in 2008. in fact, some spin meisters say the bailout will cost our taxpayers just $109 billion, not the originally projected $700 billion called tarp, the troubled asset relief program. the p.r. spin got cnn to report that the cost to taxpayers will be far less than originally anticipated. if you'll believe that, you'll believe anything. one of the bittersweet reasons they'll pay back less is that the obama administration originally stated that up to four million people could save their homes through the loan modification program part of tarp. but through this february, only 100,000 have done system of that program is a failure as the american people continue to be disgorged out of their homes. in fact, only 4% of those eligible have even been dealt with and their mortgages reworked. we need a full cost accounting

across this economy of what these speculators did to us. they took our money, they gambled with it, and then they turned our treasury into their insurance company and now they're dumping all their mistakes on our generation and the next two to follow. i want to shine the light on the very dark corner where the true cost of the bailout sits. come with me and look beyond the curtain where the by wi sard is really hiding. secretary geithner and even elizabeth warren, the tarp overseer, say the banks are paying us back. but what they are paying back is only part of the so-called tarp money. paying back the tarp is far, far from enough. at least 12 treasury programs have thus far cost our taxpayers over $727 billion. perhaps $380 billion represents tarp. but there are 24 federal

reserve programs that have already cost $1.738 billion. so the approximate total cost of the wall street meltdown is somewhere over $2.4 trillion. put right at the taxpayers' doorstep. that number is staggering. it's huge. thus, the tarp money being paid back is less than 1% of the staggering number. paying back the tarp is hardly enough. wall street banks recorded record profits and record bonuses last year on the backs of the american people who are struggling without jobs and fighting to keep their homes. we expect the $2.4 trillion will continue to rise and here is why. treasury promised unending support regardless of the dollar amount for the next three years to fannie mae and freddie mac to fill the holes in each institution. these are two secondary market institutions that have become

dumping grounds for all of wall street's unfinished laundry. our government has spent already $61 billion on freddie mac plus $83 billion on fannie mae. that's another $144 billion and the number is rising. we'll spend more as both companies continue their death spiral of losses. but the $2.4 trillion cost might not be all that the financial crisis, brought on by reckless speculateors on wall treet, will cost us. what about the cost of the bad mortgages at fannie and freddie and institutions across the country and world? you see the heart of the financial crisis is the housing cries, add in the losses at f.h.a., v.a. and others that do housing programs. add in the cost of of decline in equity of homes acro the country. add that too. and what about unemployment that came after that. how much has the government

paid out in insurance cobra payments. what about an accurate estimate of the cost of loss productivity. what growth potential have we lost? and what about the effect on the loss in stock earnings? how about the loss in i.r.a.'s and pension funds? the ohio public pension funds took a $480 million hit with the failure of lehman brothers. what about the cost of higher premiums on fdic banks who had to shore up the funds because so many smaller banks collapsed under the toxic waste and fraudulent spending of big banks. when these small banks go down, the damaged economy brought to us by wall street, the big banks gobble them up and even get bigger. can you put a dollar value on the mental and emotional strain citizens across the country are experiencing? it's clear wall street is doing just fine and it's equally clear that main street is not. madam speaker we need a full

cost accounting of what wall street cost this economy and we're far from calculating it. i yield back my remaining time. . mr. jones: thank you very much. and madam speaker, the house of representatives passed a suspension bill that was h.r. 24 to redesignate the department of navy to be known as the department of navy and marine corps. that bill had 426 co-sponsors, colleagues from both sides of the aisle who believe that the marine corps has earned its right to be recognized and i want to thank senator pat roberts. senator pat roberts last january put in a companion bill to 24. his bill is 504. senate bill 504 and senator roberts served in the united states marine corps and was a

retired marine officer. this monday he wrote a letter to every senator and i want to read a little part of this, madam speaker. first, the subtitle of this letter says, let's make history by supporting our nation's marines as they support us. redesignate the department of navy as the department of navy and marine corps. and he further states, dear colleague, i will read paragraphs. it is not possible to overstate the service and sacrifice of any man or woman who wears or has worn the marine corps uniform whether at iowa jima or today. that is why i'm writing you to urge to co-sponsor s. 504 a bill to rezregget the department of navy as the department of navy and marine corps. he does state and i'm not going to repeat, that he praises the

house of house of representatives we passed h.r. 24. he further states in his letter to his colleagues in the senate, i hope you will join me in recognizing our nation's force and readiness, our marine corps and those who serve in it as equal to other armed forces. to co-sponsor s. 504. his p.s., i want to read this as well. one only has to watch the current acclaim special television production "pacific" to understand why marines everywhere are expressing their heartfelt support for what they believe is a long overdue oversight. the marines and veterans in your state simply ask you to join with them in your support. this letter is to the senate and i know that senator roberts himself plans to reach out to as many senators as he can to support this.

madam speaker, with that, i would like to close by asking as i do on the floor of the house many times, i ask god to please bless our men and women in uniform, bless the families of our men and women in uniform, ask god in his loving arms who hold a child who died in iraq in afghanistan and do what is right in the eyes of god. i ask god to give strength, wisdom and courage to president obama and that he will do what is right in the eyes of god. please god, please god, please god, continue to bless america. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: mr. schiff of california. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. schiff: each may, we honor asian-pacific americans and celebrate the contributions they make to enhance our communities and nation. since the first japanese immigrants arrived on may 7,

1843, generations of brave men and women have come to our country seeking new lives for themselves and families, the promise of the american dream. their perseverance and the fight for equality and opportunity despite obstacles such as racial, social and religious discrimination is inspiring. i represent one of the most diverse districts in the country. one in four of my constituents are of asian descent. we share our customs and traditions and ultimately our community and nation are enriched by the presence of asian-pacific americans. they have distinguished themselves as entrepreneurs, educators and members of our armed forces and 29th congressional district boasts an impressive list of civic leaders who are committed to our community including john khung.

representing 24th california's senate district is carol lu. on the local level, we have the mayor and council member and school board members. scol board members. the mayor, and counsel members. san gabrielle mayor and board members, south pasadena council member and unified school member. temple city council member and school board member. the contribution of asian americans to our community, state and nation are not limited to these individuals. our nation has benefited from the contribution of asian

americans for decades. the japanese american 100 infantry and 442 regular mental combat team courageously served our nation during world war ii and received several awards for combat. i introduced legislation to pay tribute to the go for broke regimen by awarding the congressional gold medal, congress's highest civilian honor and i'm happy to announce two of my nominees who received appointments this year are richard kim, a resident of temple high school and marc us win. we are lucky to have these wonderful people in our community as we celebrate asian pacific month i ask us to celebrate the contributions of

asian-pacific americans to our history, way of life and the future we will share as citizens of this gait nation. i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: mr. burton of indiana. the gentleman will be acknowledged for five minutes. the gentleman is recognized for five minutes. mr. burton: thank you very much, madam speaker. madam speaker, mr. poe of texas comes down here and talks about the problems along the border between the united states and mexico. and today or yesterday, i received an email that i would like to read to my colleagues and the subject is the wild southern border. and it starts off and says, don't leave your weapons in the car, don't turn your back on strangers. use your cell phone with your

off hand, not your strong hand and the reason they start off with that lesson is because what it said in this email and i would like to read it to you. as you know, one of the local ranchers was murdered in douglas, arizona. i received three messages from different officers within the rangers and law enforcement. yesterday afternoon, i talked to another rancher near us, who is a friend of ours and great grandfather started their ranch here in 1880. these are good people. he told me what happened out at the ranch and what you won't read in the newspapers. the border patrol is afraid of starting a small war between civilians here and the drug cartels in mexico. bob was checking his water and came upon an illegal alien lying on the ground telling him he was sick. bob called the border patrol and asked for a helicopter for the gentleman. as he turned his back, he was shot in the side. the round came from down and

andled up so they know the shooter was on the ground. bob's firearm was in the a.t.v. wounded he called cochise and asked for help. he called his brother and wife. several ranchers heard the radio call. bob was dead by this time. they tracked the shooter back towards mexico and cornered him. this was all at night. the sheriff and border patrol told them not to engage the murderer. they went around to the back side and if you can believe it, he managed to get buy a sheriff's posse back into mexico. so much for professional help. i think the border patrol and sheriffs do a great job. one week before the murder, bob and his brother phil, who i shoot with, hauled a huge quantity of drugs off off the

ranch. one week before that, another rancher did the same thing. gangs broke into his ranch house and beat him and his house and told them if they touched any drugs, they would come back and kill them. the ranchers deal with cut fences and haul drug deliveries off their ranches all the time. the drug cartels beat the one rancher and shot bob because they wanted to send a message. bob gave food and water to illegals and so they think they sent the assassin to pose as an illegal who was hungry and thirsty. what is going down here is not being reported. you need to tell the people how bad it is along the border. texas is worst. el paso is in a state of war. 5,000 people were killed in juarez and over 2,000. gun sales are through the roof. something has to be done, but i

don't hold out much hope. these gangs have groups in almost every city in the united states. please read below. this is serious business. the gangs are like mexican corporations and organized extremely well. if this doesn't get dealt with down here, you guys, meaning those of us up north, will deal with it and you will deal with it on your streets and signed bud. all i can say is that mr. poe and others have come down here day after day, week after week, month after month talking about the horrible problems and this government is not doing anything about it. they aren't approaching this. we need to send the national guard down there and we need to continue with the border fencing and stop the illegal aliens from coming across and stop the drug dealers. this is a war down there. we are fighting wars in other parts of the world. this is our border and we need to address this problem. i yield back the balance of my

time. the speaker pro tempore: mr. sablan of northern march yawno islands. -- mariana islands. mr. sablan: a young man began his training in medicine at a small hospital opened by the island. they have all healing and traditions from old times. they introduced the people to western medicine d the germans continued this practice about taking control of the northern marianas at the end of the 19th century. they had a commitment to training local people. the doctor thus became the island's first local doctor. when japan supplanted germany, he continued his practice at a hospital there.

it was the first doctor there on the island. victory over the japanese in world war ii brought the united states' control over the rthern marianas. after the war, the islands were under a partnership arrangement that required the united states to improve the standard of living. this responsibility was carried out by the u.s. department of the navy during the 1950's. the navy had temporary hospitals for both military and civilian personnel. in recognition that the local population needed access to permanent medical care, they expanded the practice of promising individuals in medicine. the navy sent the doctor for further education at the school of dental assistants in guam.