. this is only a sample of the important legislation that my colleagues in the c.b.c. have created. we are seeing more growth in our economy. even the "wall street journal" reported that the economists from the national association of business economics predict solid growth and employment gains through 2011. this growth would not have happened thout the recovery act and other democratic-led legislation putting americans back to work. . there's still much work to be done. there has been much improvement in the job outlook since i first came to washington. the number of job losses each month as well as the unemployment rate have begun to fall. in april the federal reserve bank noted that economic activity has continued to strengthen and the labor market is improving. while we have a better outlook

than when i first came to congress, during the height of the financial crisis, there's still more to be done. the nation's unemployment rate is an alarming 9.5%. it is alarming. 9.5% of the population is without a job. in northeast ohio the rate is 12%. unfortunately african-americans across the nation have been hit hardest by this recession. we see the devastating effects of unemployment in all of our communities. the most recent data shows 16.2% of african-americans are unemployed. many parts of the greater cleveland area suffer from abject poverty and unemployment. nearly one in every four county resident lives below the poverty line. these statistics demonstrate that americans need and deserve a more converted federal effort

to reduce poverty and create jobs among struggling populations. we must do me to curb our nation's unemployment problem. we must do more to create jobs for our people. yet there's still much work to be done. i co-sponsored the local jobs for america act, the education and labor committee on which i serve recognizes we are going through one of the most difficult economic times in our history. the recession is forcing states and municipalities to cut critical jobs, those of teachers, police officers and firefighters. i recently spoke with mayor hall . his community desperately needs money to keep the firefighters. another mayor has been struggling to keep his police force. the city of cleveland have had massive layoffs in the public

school work force. the local jobs for america act will provide our economy a big boost by putting one million people to work by restoring services to local communities. the legislation will create and save public and private jobs in local communities this year. it will help ensure these communities have the ability to provide essential services. finally, the legislation will help teachers by providing $23 billion this year to help support 250,000 education jobs $1.18 billion to put law enforcement officers back to work and $500 million to retain and hire firefighters. mr. speaker, i've been joined by the chair of the congressional black caucus and i would now yield to the gentlewoman from california, ms. lee. ms. lee: thank you very much. let me begin by thanking my friend and colleague, the

gentlelady from ohio, congresswoman fudge, for anchoring once again tonight's congressional black caucus' special hour. tonight we're talking about, of course, job creation and the economy. every month the house of representatives -- every monday that we're in session, excuse me, we hold special orders so that we can bring attention to some of the most pressing issues confronting our country, that often really don't make headlines. and so i have to thank congresswoman fudge once again for her leadership and for leading these special orders. because this continues to keep our caucus and the entire country focused on the critical issues that sometimes do not receive the type of attention really that they should achieve. and also really puts forth what the agenda is of the congressional black caucus. as chair of the c.b.c., i rise this evening once again sounding the alarm about the urgent and vital need to create jobs in

america. we have to create jobs in our communities that have disproportionately suffered the brunt of this economic crisis. and who as a result are in desperate need of targeted, concrete and meaningful relief. for many months now, members of the congressional black caucus have been and continue to be laser focused on stimulating the economy and creating jobs. particularly for the chronically unemployed. we have sought to engage the obamaed a sthration, our house and senate -- administration, our -- obama administration, our house and senate committees to develop a legislative strategy to address the needs of millions of americans who are struggling in this tough economic environment. last week the house -- excuse me, last week we tried but this week i hope we will pass h.r. 4213, the mesh jobs and closing tax loopholes act. this includes funding for summer youth jobs and emergency

assistance for needy families. these provisions will target resources to communities with the most urgent need for help. over the past several months we have worked to develop a job creation strategy that will address the needs of the chronically unemployed and one of our top priorities has been the creation of a summer youth jobs program for america's youth. the congressional black caucus met with president obama and we raised the importance of the summer jobs program to addrs the huge unemployment rate among young people. we need this targeted assistance to help put our young people to work and to teach them an array of valuable job skills that they can use throughout their life. but even more importantly at this point, in many of our communities and in our districts many of our young people have to help their families just survive. they have to help pay the rent and put food on the table. while the most recent job

reports issue -- that were issued at the beginning of may show the overall teen unemployment rate dropping significantly, african-american and latino teens remain unemployed at significantly higher rates than their white peers. african-american and latino teens are unemployed at 37.3% and 29.2% respectively compared to an overall national rate of 23.5%. these figures underscore the urgent need for this legislation and for the united states senate to quickly follow. we know that these jobs and the jobs initiative provisions in these bills will help all young people. due to this recession and due to parents being unemployed, again, our young people have a critical role to play now in terms of just the stability of their families. studies have shown also that teenage joblessness has many

long-term consequences. young people who fail to find early jobs are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed into their 20's and permanently, mind you, trapped at the margins of the economy. and so i urge all of us to support h.r. 4213 and get this passed. this bill will also provide critical tax cuts and support for american workers through the end of this year. some of the other provisions included in this legislation will provide tax relief to businesses and state and local governments to help them invest and create jobs, provide important tax cuts to put money back into the pockets of working families, help restore the flow of credit to enabled -- enable small businesses to expand and hire new workers, by extending small business loan programs. this bill also expands career training for americans who are looking for work. it extends eligibility for the unemployed who need the

unemployed insurance benefits. also cobra, the health care tax credit and other critical programs that fames and communities depend on -- families and communities depend on through these hard economic times. and sometimes i call it, this survival package, which is what it is, helps families many dane and only maintain until they can get -- maiain and only maintain until they can get back on their feet and until we can do more in terms of creating some real good paying and sustainable jobs. this bill also ensures that seniors and military service members and americans with disabilities continue to have access to doctors that they know and trust. also, it closes tax loopholes for wealthy investment fund managers and foreign operations of multinational corporations. we need to consider this bill quickly, we also need to look at chairman miller's bill which will -- is called the strengthen the local jobs for america act,

because many of the provisions that the congressional black caucus has been championing are included in that bill also. in the miller bill we target funding to community-based organizations, serving communities with poverty rates of 12% and/or unemployment rates that are 2% or more than the national average. we provide for on the job d training for thousands seeking new skills for a new economy. and many of our districts throughout the country, even if we create a job, our work force may or may not have the requisite skills and may not have the preparation and the job training for those jobs because they've been undereducated, they have not had the type of resoces and have been chronically unemployed for many, many years. so we need to have on the job training and work force training as part of any comprehensive jobs package. also in the miller bill we target communities that are hardest hit by the recession and we support programs that train, retrain and hire teachers, law

enforcement officers and firefighters. so this bill that we're working on and talking about tonight, h.r. 4213, is building a foundation, it is an excellent first step. but we must move forward and have a comprehensive jobs bill to invest in people, invest in our workers, provide for worker training and retraining, apprenticeship, preapprenticeship program -- pre-apprentice -- preapprenticeship programs. i want to thank my colleague from ohio for sounding the alarm. certainly in ohio we have witnessed an economic downturn that is hard to imagine, with the foreclosure crisis, the loss of jobs, outsourcing, the lack of health care, i know ohio has really gone through some very difficult times. in my own state in california we're facing a huge budget deficit. people are being cut, of course, unfortunately the safety net is being cut and so what we need to do here is provide federal

investment in job creation because this ultimately will help us reduce our deficit, put people back to work and allow american men and women and families to finally regroup and be part of the american dream. thank you again. ms. fudge: thank you, madam chair. mr. speaker, i just want to say that our chair is involved in so many things. one of the things i can always say is that she has been a tireless advocate for jobs programs, especially summer jobs programs, for our young people and has always made sure that we kept at the top of our agenda what we need to do for those who are most in need. and i just appreciate that and i appreciate her leadership and her friendship. and i think that under her leadehip, the caucus has made great strides in making our communities aware of the work we do and how hard we work on their behalf. and i thank you so much, madam chair. mr. speaker, as we in congress have worked to ensure that all

americans have access to affordable health care, i thought to include -- fought to include an important provision in the health care legislation that provision requires -- legislation. this provision requires health work force evaluation and assessment, to monitor the retention and expansion of the health worforce and to maintain quality and adequate levels in the wake of reform. this legislation will create job opportunities for my constituents. it provides a rapid response to the current shortages in the health care work force. recently i, along with chairman towns of new york, introduced h.r. 5055, a college debt swap act of 2010. this proposal allows college graduates to exchange a portion of their private college student loan debt for federal loans. as a result of a conversion, the

federal government would earn about $9 billion and this would improve funding for the pell grant program and provide opportunities for learning and training in various jobs that are available right now. finally, i am introducing careers. career attainment remedial education and resources act of 2010. this act is for dropouts and adjudicated youth. with the help of the national urban league, i crafted this legislation to help those most in need of career training services. this bill will provide grants to -- this bill will provide grants to communities and organizations helping young people find jobs. we must retrain workers and expand the industries. instead of those industries that are shrinking, we must provide financial support for students to complete their trade certifications and their college

degrees. education is the only way to end the cycle of poverty. we must demand innovation in lending so small businesses and those in minority communities have access to capital. . in short, mr. speaker, we need a concerted effort from the federal government to expand critical services and resources in minority communities. we need targeted assistance to americans. those americans who have been disproportionately suffering from the recession is crucial to reducing the unemployment rate to all. and mr. speaker, i just want to make sure that the american people understand that even though we need jobs and we need them badly, we understand that there are many issues in this country, but jobs will solve a lot of the problems, but in

fact, we have done more in the short time that mr. obama has been the president of the united states and has been done in recent history. we have done more for our military. we have increased and provided better pay and better benefits. taxes are lower than they have in recent history. business policies have been put in place that encourage growth of small businesses. and mr. speaker, if you could -- the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. please resume. ms. fudge: mr. speaker, we have been mayors and we know what difficulties cities are having today. we understand that our cities can no longer provide fire service, police service, trash

removal. times are tough. when you live in communities that survive by property taxes and people are losing their homes every day, people are losing their jobs every day, these communities cannot survive. it is our job as a government, and i say this to anyone, the only job government has is to take care of the people it serves. so it is important for us to make sure we do our part to pass legislation that is going to make life better for the citizens we serve. jobs do more than just put money in your pocket. jobs can change your whole attitude and change the attitude of an entire community, an entire class of students, an entire street. when you have a job, you start to feel good about yourself, mr. speaker. you start to feel that you can do things that can contribute not only to your household, but

to society. so jobs are of significant importance. i would ask that we continue to keep jobs in the forefront and help those who can't find a job because we are in tough physical times. we want to make sure we do extend the unemployment benefits and want to make sure we do continue to assist people with cobra payments. we want to make sure we can keep people living in their homes until they can find a way to better their situation. so i would ask all of my colleagues that being on either side of the aisle, mr. speaker, that we work very, very hard to ensure that we pass the kind of legislation that is going to be something that is good for this country so that people will understand that we do know their pain, we do understand that america's hurting, that we do understand these are difficult times and we want to encourage people to go to work. we want to encourage small businesses to hire more people. we want to make people understand that we are doing the

very best we can. and with that, mr. speaker. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the lady yields back her time.

the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does gentlelady from ohio seek recognition? ms. fudge: i move that the house do now adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is agreed to. accordingly, the house stands accordingly, the house stands adjourned until 10:30 a.m.

week. what are the prospects? >> it is interesting. the house pass intended to take up this bill last week but it took longer than anticipated to work out a compromise between the finance chairman and the chairman of the ways and means committee in the house. there was some concern and remains some concern among the blue dog democrats about the measure because there are things that are not paid for so they are worried about voting for something that will drive up the deficit and the courts to democratic leaders know if they have the votes? >> it remains unclear. the legislation came out late thursday.

nancy pelosi was noncommittal votes. that is part of what they're giving members time over the weekend to look at the legislation. i think they are hoping to come back into session this week and build the support that they need. >> can use -- can you hold -- can you name some of the holdouts? >> there are concerns among blue dog democrats about the prospects of having parts of this legislation not be paid for over the long term. people who are in tough races are likely to withhold support until they have some sort of assurance or even floating against the bill. democrats from conservative districts are in some tough races. >> what is likely to happen with this bill in the senate? >> there is definitely a ticking clock when it comes to this legislation because a number of the safety net programs that are

extended to the end of the year have deadlines that expire over the recess. there is definitely pressure on both chambers to act on that before the recess. the senate has the supplement on its agenda first but is likely to take action on this bill before leaving town for the memorial day recess at the end of the week. >> your story also lists a supplemental war funding bill. and where does that stand? >> that is over in the senate. there was some discussion among the leaders about the senate acting first on that which is a little unusual but the path is a little easier on this one in the senate and some of the house members were more comfortable with the idea of the senate going first on that legislation. once the senate acts, that will put it on the agenda of the house. action could probably come on

wednesday or thursday. the house is unlikely to act on that this week and the announced that they will be marking up their own version of the supplement on thursday which more or less puts that off until after the memorial day recess. >> you mentioned memorial day and the break. why does congress always seem to load up their list of the agendas before an upcoming break? >> it is a lot like journalists. we tend to wait to the last minute to do things. that deadline tends to spur action. the house has had a very -- fairly light schedule during the seven week work period. there are a number of items that they will be taking up starting this week. there are a number of items like that. they were supposed to come up sooner and have been delayed until later on.

this is something that we see before almost every recess where there is a lull in the activity and then there's a flurry before the recess. >> thank you for your time. >> the louisiana governor is joined by a bipartisan group of leaders to discuss the gulf coast oil spill. that news conference is next on c-span. after that, we will hear from admiral allen who is directing the government efforts to quell the oil spill. after that, teacup just weeks after the british election which produced a new prime minister and coalition government, queen elizabeth ii will announce her agenda for the next session. we will travel from buckingham palace to parliament and inside the house of lords for one of britain's most celebrated

occasions, the state opening of parliament. >> the louisiana governor accused the federal government of moving too slowly to approve the plan in preventing more oil from hitting the shores of louisiana he joined janet napolitano and can salazar and a bipartisan group of senators at this news conference. this is 14 minutes. i am here with ken salazar and bipartisan members of congress. we are here to fly over the site of the spill. we can to see for ourselves what bp has done and not done.

we came to listen to the people of this area because they are directly impacted by the fact that this bill which occurred weeks ago is still ongoing, it is still not solved, although there are now things happening and some forward motion and the sense of solving this bill. and the meantime, we are fighting this oil. the goal is to disperse it, to boom it, to burn it, to keep it from reaching land fall, to do everything possible that needs to be done to make sure that bp per text this valuable area. if it should happen to reach land fall, the beach or marsh, they have the wherewithal to clean it up and make sure claims are paid. it is not until this well is sealed and of this ocean is cleaned up and the clams are repaid that this incident will

be deemed over. this is the largest incident response to an oil spill ever in the history of the u.s. we have over 22,000 personnel working this spill. literally hundreds of thousands of feet of boom have been laid. there are over 1000 vessels that are on the water to skim, to pick up oil, to do what needs to be done to try to keep the ocean as free as possible from the oil. in addition, we have formed an independent estimates group with the best scientists available within the federal government, with peer review by others to estimate how much overall oil bp has spilled into the gulf of mexico out of the deep horizon spill. that work is ongoing.

we continue to hold people responsible. and we are on them watching them. we know the value of these lands. we know, for example, grand isle, which was one barrier island that had a large population living on it were heartsick that it is at risk. we will do everything we can to protect these lands and parishes and to make sure that claims are paid, the oil well is sealed and this area comes back. it has been a very productive session. we are glad that we came. this is my fourth time to this area. secretary salazar has been here repeatedly. we are going to stay on this and on bp until this gets done the right way. with that, let me turn it over

to bobby jindal, the governor of louisiana. he will be followed by secretary salazar. >> thank you for coming to louisiana began. i want to give you an update. we had some very good and frank talks. over the last week, had visited all the parishes and have met with local officials. we met often to discuss resources. our visits have now included on the ground assessment of the damage caused by this oil spill. for anybody who has seen this, you know that what we are saying is true. this oil threatens our coast and wetlands, it fundamentally threatens our way of life in south louisiana. yesterday we went out to cat island and sought islands covered in oil. we could actually see multiple birds soaked with oil.

critical parts are likely not even visible because they are inside the center of the island. the brown pelicans are the state bird. there recently removed from the endangered species list. the oil will kill off much of the marshlands -- marshlands that are critical to not just those birds but other species. we took a boat out and sought six, black oil covering much of the march. our biologists tell us that may begin dying in as soon as five days. we do not have the resources to protect our coast. we need more booms, more checks, more everything. every day this oil sits and waits is one more day that more of our merchandise. and one parish, oil is moving through their waters. yesterday, we met again with

coastal parish leaders just like we did when we form our own protection plan. we have to take matters into our own hands if we win this fight to protect our coast. we discussed strategies to fill the void. we are seeing a response to stop this oil. our goal is not to just clean this up. our goal is to keep this will out of our marshes and what plans and our fragile ecosystem. a march is not a sandy beach. it is difficult to clean it up. we, as a state, have to do everything we can to stop this oil before it hits our marshes. we have used a number of strategies including sand bags, fresh water diversions, and a proposal to dredge. working with parish leaders, we came up with additional

strategies to fill the void in response efforts. we need better situational movement assessment of the oil. we will patrol the sectors continuously so the containment and cleanup efforts can be done quickly. their efforts will be supported by the national guard. we will communicate our famine's two bp and the coast guard on a daily basis to insure the coast is monitored and quickly cleaned. we will also publicly report these findings so the public and media can be updated and to ensure that bp is held responsible. action needs to be taken quickly to save our coast. we asked the coast guard to fort deploy troops to every basin of the coast. they are better able to have eyes on the problem and respond quickly. we need decision makers on the ground. we have been frustrated with the

disjointed effort that has been too little, too late. we need a response in each of the vulnerable basins. we do not need to wait 24 hours or 48 hours. bp is the responsible party. we need the federal government to ensure their held responsible. our way of life depends on it. the actions we take determine the future of our state. we have also identified additional equipment and personnel available to help us take our own drastic measures to keep oil out of the marshes. we will expand ongoing efforts to expose -- to close gaps. we have prioritized 14 gaps and will expedite felon efforts wherever we can. the national guard has asked for additional helicopters. we have had positive responses on that request. on may 2, where requested a

large amount of resources that we would read -- that we would need under a worst-case scenario. the next day, we announced detailed protection plans. we requested 3 million feet of absorbent boom. 30 jack up barges. we have received a total of 815,000 feet of hard boom, not even 1 million feet. 135,000 feet apart boom sits and waits to be deployed. in the last 24 hours, we have only received 5,000 feet apart boom. we need more boom and more resources. we need the resources we requested. i will close by saying we continue to wait a discussion on the dredging plan from the u.s. corps of engineers. we have answered every question they submitted in the same day they asked. we have shown them the boom that

is holding the oil back. we know this strategy works. that is what we are taking matters into our own hands. we are waiting on approval for the larger dredging plant. a total of just under 70 miles of the coast has been hit by oil. that is more than the sea shore line of maryland and delaware combined. we only have two options. we can either fight this oil off our coast where it will do much less damage to our marine life and what plans and ecosystem. every day we do not fight this oil on a barrier island or dredging sand, that is one more day this oil can come into our fragile ecosystem and into some of the most important fisheries. these are america's wetlands. let's make no mistake about what is at stake.

this is not just about keeping oil off of land or beach. this is about the way of life for our people in state. we need to get this plant approved as quickly as possible. every day it is not approved this another day that the oil moves farther into our wetlands. we do not want a drop of oil to hit our coast. i would much rather fight this oil on a hard and rocky barrier island than inside the wetlands. thank you. >> from a1, president obama has made it very clear that the u.s. of -- yet it is of america will not rest until this problem is resolved. that is why secretary napolitano is on her fourth visit. i have been in houston and this is my fourth visit here predict here to louisiana. we will not rest until this job gets done. it is also important to note that with us today is the

leadership of the u.s. senate. when we think about the majority leader, dick durbin is here with five of his colleagues and u.s. senate. the eyes of the u.s. senate are on louisiana and what is happening here in the gulf coast. i want to make it clear, under the law cannot be the is the responsible party. bp is charged with capping their leaking oil well and paying for the response and recovery without limitation. they will be held accountable. we will keep our boot on their neck until the job gets done. as i said yesterday, we will make sure that all of their responsibilities are filled to the people of the gulf coast and to the united states government. from admiral -- the admiral is not satisfied with the actions of bp, he will call and pushed them to push -- to take every

appropriate step. it is also clear that we are not standing on the sidelines and letting bp do what they want to do. the federal government has mounted the largest response to fight this oil and all of the history of this country. we have deployed more than 1000 nestled, 20,000 people are out there working day and night. we have burned oil off the surface, skimmed it and disbursed this -- disbursed it and we are working to clean the shoreline. we're getting independent numbers and the best scientists in the world that will tell the united states how much of this bp oil has already spilled out into the gulf coast. the administration has done everything we can to make sure that we push them to stop this bill and to contain the impact. we have been very clear that

there are areas where bp and the private sector are the ones that continue to leave the experts predict lead the efforts with government oversight and the employment of private sector technology 5,000 feet under the ocean surface. bp and the federal sector of the ones who will get that problem solved. we have the oversight capacity to make sure they're doing that. the fact of the matter is, this is a bp mess. it is a horrible mess. it is a massive environmental mess. the accountability will hold them accountable in whatever way necessary and we will not rest until the job is done. that is why we are spending the amount of time we are spending on this matter. we are resolute and confident as we move forward that better days are ahead. in the meantime, as we go

through this very difficult time period, our job collectively is to not rest a single day but to keep pushing with everything that we have to make sure the carried best -- the very best are working on these problems. it is my honor to introduce the assistant majority leader, dick durbin. >> thank you. i want to thank senator napolitano and our host. we put this trip together on short notice. i contacted my colleagues late last week and said we would like to come and see what is going on. the turnout was amazing. we ended up with not only use it from the state of louisiana but clearly, in addition to that, we

have the chairman of the energy committee in the u.s. senate. a senator from alaska that is the ranking member of that committee. and sought to white house from ryland. the reason we came here is to see firsthand what has happened. i can tell you after seeing it and listening to the men and women whose lives are affected that i have come away with a new feeling about bp. in my mind, it no longer stands for british petroleum. it stands for beyond patients. people have been waiting 34 days for british petroleum to cap this well and stop the damage that is happening across the gulf of mexico. there are alternatives that we hear about but what we have heard from this a bit lustration and what we need to tell people is excuses' do not count. you caused to this mass. stop the damage income up the mess. it is your responsibility.

i listened to the oystermen, fisherman, some of them are emotional. they are talking about the ways of life. they're talking about their families. businesses that they have had for generations that are at stake. i have seen something like this before. 21 years ago, i went to see the exxon valdez spill. i will never forget those scenes. that crude-oil destroyed that beautiful sound and changed the way it works today. she can tell you that it is different. the people that live there face a different life because of it. that is what is wrong with this situation. this administration will continue to put the pressure on bp to do what is right and to clean up this mess and pay for every dollar. not the taxpayers of america, british petroleum. they have to foot the bill for their mistake and the damage they have caused. it is my honor to introduce my

colleague from the u.s. senate, merry land to. >> centered durbin will be a strong ally to all of us and louisiana as we fight for justice and fairness in this situation. secretary salazar has been an extraordinary leader. secretary napolitano is the commander of this situation. this is unprecedented. there are putting the full force of their offices, departments, and all the assets of the federal peppermint to tackle this problem. secretary salazar recognizes that bp is responsible. i recognize that the federal government is in charge of the situation and he is pressing bp at every level, with every scientist at his disposal, and every engineer available to him and to the secretary to get to

this well shot at the earliest possible convenience -- earliest possible date. they are doing that. i hope it can be done today if not the next few days. secondly, we need all to do it better job of processing these clams. there were some very emotional pleas today. i have heard them before. i have been here half a dozen times. i want to say again, if you make $50,000 last year and you cannot work this year, bp is going to write you a check for $50,000. if your business made a million dollars last year and you cannot make that million dollars this year, bp is going to make your business whole. there is no question in my mind or the minds of these senators or these leaders appear who will pay this bill.

and to individuals, to businesses, to parishes, to the state, to the federal government. i just want to clear that up. there is still some uncertainty. and we are working the details of that out with those bills will be paid in full. finally, i just want to say that i could not expect more from secretary salazar who is running this department. he has a balance of prosecuting, and that is a good word, prosecuting this incident and preparing for the right way for the future, for our state, for the gulf coast, for the nation. as we clean up this mess, handled this thing right before us, he also has his eye on the future and how we manage the fisheries industry, the oil and gas industry and all of the industries that call this working coast home in a way that protects us and protect the nation.

thank him for that balance and secretary napolitano for heard leadership. i call on senator vitter from louisiana. >> thank you. i want to thank the governor for his great leadership. i want to thank the cabinet secretaries and our senate colleagues for being here. we very much appreciated. i agree with all of the statements that have been made about bp. i will spend my time with these federal government officials focusing on what i think is thens of louisianians greatest inadequacy of the federal response and that is our ability to get a timely, positive response to this crucial emergency dredging plan. that has been going on and languishing for more than two weeks. because of that, i wrote

president obama on friday a very clear but respectful letter. i said, mr. president, we appreciate your coming to louisiana. we appreciate the clear commitment you made to act in a timely manner and do whatever it takes. but that commitment is now been broken because we cannot get so far, a timely clear answer from the corps of engineers and others on this emergency dredging barrier island plan. we need more boom and deployment. we need that land boom immediately to block oil from our marsh. i am asking the president respectfully, we need that immediate positive answer. i will be following up again today and with the leadership of the core and working with the state until we get that positive response. thank you.

>> i am persuaded after the meetings we have made today and what we have been able to see that this is the nation's problem, not just louisiana's problem. the nation is pulling together and moving aggressively to solve it. i am persuaded that the president has solving this problem as his top priority. he has delegated these two secretaries to get that job done and they are working night and day to get it done. we are anxious to help in the u.s. senate. i am happy to be here to learn about it and continue to -- and continue with the efforts to come to the aid of the gulf region. thank you. >> we had an opportunity to fly

over the spill area before we came here. i looked down at the ocean with great sadness. your ocean, as warm and lovely as it is, was just like my ocean up north. my ocean is a bit colder. we experienced a similar tragic it a little over 20 years ago. it is a devastation that lives with you forever. to listen this afternoon to your fishermen, shrimpers, charter boatman, oysterman, and to hear their fears and concerns, it is like deja vu all over again for those of us from alaska. if there is one thing that we learned from the tragedy of the exxon valdez is not to repeat the mistakes of history. it is not to treat the

plaintiffs in that case, the fishermen and their families, who waited decades for compensation from exxon, we want to work together to make sure this claims process works fairly and efficiently and in a manner that is promised. we need to make sure that those accountable, bp, are held accountable to the fullest extent. is going to take a commitment to make sure that the people of louisiana and the fishermen and their families are not treated in a similar manner that we saw played out some 20 years ago. know that we are committed to working with you so that the mistakes that were made in alaska are not repeated here in the gulf of mexico. >> thank you. we are here to represent the senate, particularly the senate committee and the environment

committee which will have a lot to do with overseeing this and making sure the preparation continues effectively and an incident like this does not happen again. we are here from a variety of states, including the largest coastal state in america, and the smallest coastal state in america, in solidarity with the coastal economy and the coastal way of life of this part of louisiana. many of us are here because we know firsthand what a relentless and formidable advocate for the was siena mary landrews is in our caucus. we want to make sure we did not get into trouble with her because she is a powerful advocate for louisiana. we are looking forward to making sure the work continues. we have been impressed by the unprecedented nature of the

involvement of the administration in getting this done. more people, more boats, more action than before. the continued need for further action and to bring this home to a point where the people of louisiana can say the water is clear, the leaf is capped, and we are made whole. thank you, very much. >> thank you. we are happy to take questions. i want to reiterate one more time, bp is the responsible party. we are going to make sure they do what is necessary. if we need to put more supervisors in the field to get it done, and have already said yes, we will do that. boom is an issue. we are dealing with that. senator vitter mentioned a special type of dredging and

boom. admiral allen who is the national commander has already said that it is on an expedited review process. looking at that and whether there are options that would be as effective or more effective and last environmentally sensitive. we will hopefully have some response on that within the next few days. we move forward and understand the urgency and uniqueness of this situation and the importance of holding bp responsible. >> you have expressed some optimism about the drop. how confident are you that it can work? >> secretary salazar was in houston yesterday. i will let him answer.

we hope it works. we do not want to hope unrealistically. our work is preparation, the cleanup, booming, skimming, manpower, all of that continues unabated until this is capped. if that happens this week, all the better. if not, we move with the same or greater levels of intensity. >> we are always hopeful that this will get stopped because until you stop the source of the pollution, it is difficult to contain the problem. the president has directed that the highest level of the federal government be involved in the oversight. as trip to china was canceled. he is on his way to china. he is joined by the directors and other personnel of all of the federal laboratories of the u.s. geological survey so we can be confident that the best

science mines in the entire " are focused on this issue and focus on stopping the pollution from pouring into the gulf of mexico. >> what to use it to the people of this day and -- people of this state? they said the pressure is on bp. the bottom line is the bottom line. oil is coming out of the ocean and oil is coming on to the beach. people did not see the light at the end of the tunnel. what do you say to them? >> i would say 30 some days ain, frustration, anger, disappointment. i understand all of those things. those feelings need to be channeled into a way that recognizes that we are doing everything and will do everything we need to do to get bp to stop the sleek, clean thii

ocean, and pay these claims. we can say that bp this going to apply another fix this week. they are looking at other things. the best engineers in the world are overseeing this. we can say that the coast guard is on bp. there are more than 1000 vessels on c dealing with this spill. we can say that over 1 million feet of boom has been deployed and more is on the way. we can say that we are talking directly with parish presidents and local government. let's make sure we get that last couple of hundred yards to where it needs to be. we keep working the problem. >> can you explain the situation

with the federal government allowing initial permits for drilling and bp has said on the issue of dispersing the table continue to use the dispersant despite the epa saying that they prefer a different one. where does that stand? >> the president has been very clear to us. until we make another announcement that will be made in the future, we are bringing things to a halt until we can learn some of the lessons and safety measures and decide how we will move forward. this president is always thoughtful and wants to make sure that we're getting it right and we do get it right. with the dispersants, i will comment on not only to say the federal team led by secretary napolitano and it is a

continuing dialogue. it is better to use the dispersants then have the oil make landfall. >> you talk about barrier islands. to what extent can thh federal government [inaudible] >> argued talking about protective barrier islands? let me talk about the barrier islands and the overall role of the federal government. we need multiple lines of defense along our coastline. the best visual examples i can give you is it took the national guard for days to fill in a 783 gap on an island. they used black hawk helicopters, and they are filling gaps on different

islands. you can see the products of their work. they are not completely done but we can provide pictures. you can literally see where they filled in that cut, you have the land bridge where it used to be open water. you have heart boom, absorbent boom, pom pom boom. it is stopped by that land bridge. . .

that is why for over two weeks we have been asking the u.s. corps of engineers to issue an emergency permit. we modified the original plan to change. the bottom line is this. the environmental damage being done by not building the sand dunes is happening today. the oil is there. there is damaged by not doing it. on the boons and the sand and operation, we're doing everything that we can to fail and the gaps that we have identified. the larger gaps, we're ignored -- we're going to need dredges. we need that permit approved as

quickly as possible to pre position dredges. the state has already approved contracts. so that we can move as quickly as possible. from the day we get approval of the permit, you will see land being built. and we're going to start in the most sensitive and critical areas to keep the oil out of the wetlands. we have a very good and frank conversation with secretary napolitano and the president. want more things to make this more robust. we do want to see more coast guard officials with that addition to make an authority deployed in the bay area so that request and not have to go to subcontractors or back to robert to be of blue -- to be approved. we need to move quickly. the second request was for at

additionalboons. many of the parishes have been waiting. you can see the oil coming into the bay while there are skimmer's sitting on the dock. the mayor of one town commandeered one being used and finally yesterday we went to an island where the pelicans were nesting. he was an askingboon and had been denied. he put out more of a soren -- more absorbent boon and was denied. we need those permits approved and need to deploy additional coast guard officials with the fish -- would commit -- with decision making authority. >> what this is say to the

federal response the to have a governor of louisiana saying with their situational awareness to identify the oil coming ashore? [inaudible] >> secretary napolitano will answer your question in more detail. it was when she and i were here that will unleash the national guard to do what the national guard does. whenever any matter has been let -- any matter has been raised to our global, -- i have visited a number of places along the gulf coast were obscene fish and wildlife services and others out there doing everything that they can. this is a massive effort, and no

resource is being scared. secretary napolitano will answer the specific question. >> the answer is no, overflights were not canceled because of fuel budgets. i would emphasize to the people of louisiana and anyone impacted by this and anyone in the country as to what is happening on the ocean here is that every prayer resource that can be deployed if is being referred -- is being deployed. i was sure the first friday after the spill. the governor asked for authority. the federal government is paying for the card to be out there. as any governor will tell you and i am a former governor, that is a great resource to have and that is how the national guard is being deployed 3 over 17,000 have been approved for the gulf coast region alone. and as the oil moves, and this

is an important point, which is to say that over the 30 days, the oil has not been static and the issue has not been static. the oil hasn't been one big pond of oil moving in one direction. it has broken into pieces and it has gone to different places, when, current, all but been were the oil goes. -- when the wind -- wind, current, all affecting were the oil goes. the national incident commander is the commandant of the coast guard who was one of the league responders in katrina. he takes all of these requests into account and moves them. with respect to louisiana, the

governor and i have agreed that what we need here -- now that we note that the wind in the current is moving in this direction, we want to make sure that the coast guard is actually on the ground making sure that bp and its subcontractors and contractors are doing what they need to do it as quickly as possible. that is and will happen. with respect to the overflight issue, as i began my answer, i have commander landry here. she is shaking her said -- her head, saying no, there were other ways of doing that. there is no fuel budget issue. there will be no fuel budget issue. they're going to make sure that british petroleum pays the taxpayers of the united states back for what we're now having to expand. thank you. [inaudible]

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> now from the white house, a briefing with the commandant of the coast guard admiral allen. this briefing is just over one hour. >> good afternoon. as we get started today, we are going to hear from a couple of different people that are working on the administration's response to the oil spill in the gulf. first you will hear from admiral allen, and then we will be happy to take your questions. i will say as a point of

introduction, though he rarely needs an introduction, he would normally be in louisiana were it not for today. his vice commandant is retiring. tomorrow he is leaving the command of the coast guard. but the president and the secretary of homeland security have asked him to delay his retirement and continue to serve as the national incident commander for this bill in the gulf. so let me turn this over to admiral allen. >> thank you very much. thank you for the opportunity to talk with you here today. i thought i might start out by giving low background on the command-and-control system and how oil spills work. i would underscore that i would much rather be down in louisiana dealing with this problem because i know it is of concern to everybody. as someone who has worked on water all his life, nothing is more disturbing than oil on any water in our country. the current paradigm really dates back to the legislation was passed after the exxon valdez, the oil production act

of 1990. it mandated a paradigm by which the responsible party or the spiller would be held accountable. also created an oil spill liability trust fund to fund responses where there was no responsible party or to fund operations and have those funds recouped from the responsible party. its premised on the country being divided up into areas for the purpose of developing contingency plan. we have these areas called captain of the port zones -- the coast guard commanders that are responsible for that area. they get together with the state and local stakeholders and they develop areas to protect the most sensitive areas within those areas, and they are called area contingency plan for there is one for every single part of the coastline of the colts -- of the united states. when the half activate a response, the local coast guard commander who is designated the on scene coordinator coordinates with the state and local government and directs the responsible party in the

cleanup. if this bill was in one, epa would be -- would be the federal on since it -- the federal on scene coordinator for it because part and epa share that. this entire framework is called a national contingency plan and that is how we have been prosecuting this case since the explosion on the deep water rise and on the 20th of april. -- deepwater horizon says the 20th of april. even in advance of the sinking of the drilling unit, we were staging equipment that was against the scenario we would have a worst-case spill. so the command-and-control structure down there right now is the commander officer of the coast guard in new orleans is the federal on scene coordinator for the response. we of elevated that responsibility to mary landry. she is in robert, louisiana, and she is called an area unified commander. you take one of these zones and

you combine them under a larger command. so we have a summit -- a single command in the gulf. the commander is rattle mary landry. -- rather admiral mary landry. she is supervising subsections. one is new orleans. the other one is over in mobile, and mobile covers mississippi, alabama, and the western portion of florida. there is another command at st. petersburg and another one in key west and upper around east coast. they all for this purpose report to the area command in robert, louisiana. at a higher level we have what is called a regional response team. those are all the federal players that have responsibility for all of oil spill response. they look at resource requirements across a regional area. let's say that you have a decision of where to put boom between mississippi, alabama, or louisiana, they would coordinate with the regional response team. if something gets large enough where there is a national issue about how much boom is in the entire country or where to move dispersants, it would come up to

the national response team. and the national response team is the same player, except in washington in the interagency. so the coast guard is on the response team. we co-chair it with epa. there's a way to bring up resource issues or policy issues that cannot be resolved at the lowest level and work those all the way up the chain. there is also the allowance in the national contingency plan that if the resource agitation process or the coordination becomes complicated -- and it is complicated in this place -- in this case -- that the present as has the option of declaring something and -- a spill of national significance. and also have the option to designate a national incident commander, which the president and secretary napolitano have designated me. now this is not policy. this is a command-and-control structure. so when you hear us talk about responsible party or the federal on scene coordinator, we're talking about legal definitions

that are derived from statute -- the oil pollution act of 1990. so there are actually clear definitions, and sometimes we lose the distinction of what a responsible party or federal on scene coordinator on. and we would be that -- glad to go through and answer questions related to this bill response, especially as it relates to bp's role as a responsible party in the roles of the federal ones in corporate dollar that is a good intro. we will start with mr. fowler. >> let me start with you on that born about who is in charge and the quality -- a quality of the response so far. secretary salazar said yesterday, "if we find that they are not doing what they're supposed to be doing, we will push them out of the way appropriately." what does that mean? what more could be done? >> i was said that that is more a metaphor for it will need to make sure that they execute their responsibilities, the responsible party, and we carry out our responsibilities and be accountable as the federal on scene coordinators.

if we want something to be done some other way, they are issued an order by the federal on scene coordinator and they comply. and there have been adjustments made all along the way. and i need to, i call tony hayward myself. they are the responsible party. >> their role is to be in charge of this operation and the federal government's role is to be in charge of oversight and that is not when a change? >> i think that would differentiate in charge. that they are responsible for the cleanup, that is affected. ultimately we are accountable from the federal government side to make sure they do it. the law requires them to play a certain role, to pay for it, to provide equipment so forth -- and particularly with trying to do with the leak on the bottom of the ocean. they are 5,000 feet down. bp or the private sector are the elements that have the means to deal with that problem down there. there's got to be a way where private industry can address the problem with proper oversight by the federal government. i was a is less of a -- classic

case of "in charge." >> can the government push bp out of the way if it feels like the company's not doing the job? >> to push bp out of the way would raise the question to replace them with what? >> de think that this government right now is doing the best that it can? >> i have been related would -- i met all of the technical decisions made, and they are pressing ahead. we are overseeing them. they are exhausting every technical means possible to do with that leak. >> is there a solution? >> there are a number of solutions and they're doing them in sequence based on risk. the ultimate solution will be to drill a relief well, take the pressure off that well, and cap it. i will be sometime in august. we do not want to wait that long. we're trying a series of interventions, starting with the insertion tube, the top kill shot that will be scheduled for early wednesday now to try and force mud down the blowout

preventer. there is a series of events. they are trying the least risky ones first and moving on down. but we cannot stop. we have to stop this leak. >> you said before, and you just mentioned mr. hayward -- you said that before, you trust him. others administration officials do not seem to share that trust. is there a difference between your view and others in the administration about bp and its ceo? >> i think there may be a difference in how we characterize our interactions with him. yet a case where this problem is good to be solved with the private sector working with the federal government. you do not have confidence in each party, you do not have the ability to call and speak frankly -- and you can characterize that as trust, being responsible, what ever you want -- that has to be present for this to be successful. i have to maintain that. i don't personally my communications with anybody including tony hayward, and i would characterize when i tell them something, he says he

understands it and he follows up. >> use that as well in response to bands question if bp were to get out of the way, it raises the question of who would step in. mr. suttles from bp said it would be within the government's area to step and if it wanted to. what does that mean? could the government step in? does it have the capacity? >> i hear everybody saying it. i am not sure what that term really means. to work down there, you need remotely operated vehicles. you need to do very technical work at 5,000 feet. you need and equipment and experience -- you need equipment and expertise that is not generally within the government. there may be some other way to get it by and a national incident commander and right now the relationship with heat -- with bp is the way we think we should move forward. >> if the epa says to bp, we do not want you using this dispersant, we think it is too toxic, and bp says, ok, but we do not care, we are going to do

with what we want to do anyway, then what avenue does the federal government have to challenge that? jetting you want to the first part? ok -- if we want bp to do something, even if it appears they do not want to do it, they are issued an administrative order by the federal on scene coordinator that has the effect of law. dea>> but they are not doing it. >> there are a series of meetings going on. they started last night. lisa jackson is in the area and there will be a press advisory letter today. they're trying to understand, are there alternatives available? how rapidly can they be made available? are they in fact less toxic? there are a number of issues that have to be work for it. but there is a way to stop them if that is where this discussion ends. >> admiral allen, the governor of louisiana has said that on may 2nd he requested 3 million feet of absorbent boom, 5

million feet of hard boom, 30 jack up barges, and so far all they have gotten is less than 800,000 feet of boom. he said a couple of weeks ago the as the army corps of engineers to approve an emergency plan to set up barriers at highlands and they are still waiting to hear. he seemed very frustrated that the federal government was not being responsive to the request that he had specifically made. >> i'd like to divide that into two parts, the boom and the barrier island. and in the last couple of days i have been talking to governor jindal every day trying to fill him in on where we're going and what the status of operations is. regarding boom, our baseline that we start from for boom decisions has to do with those area contingency plans that i explained earlier. within those plans, they identify the most sensitive resources that need to be report -- that need to be protected within a particular geographic area. this is based on consultation with other government agencies. those plans preexisted this

bill. so what we have done is say we want everybody to go back and validate their area contingency plans and we're going to source the food -- the first boom we have got available to cover those areas. and since we did not know where the spill was going to go was started, and it is no longer a monolithic. it is in patches, huge circumference, we got tar balls and some places or coming to shore around southern louisiana. we've got sourced boom for a wide area to meet the minimum requirements of the area contingency plan sensitive areas. if more oil is coming and you identify extra requirements, then we are trying to fill those. but we thought the most equitable way to do it would be to use the plans that the states were part of approving as a baseline distribution of boom. we're taking care of the area contingency plan first and additional requests that are coming in, we responded to those. >> how much boom do you have to give out? >> i did not have -- we put out

a daily boom report every day. we have well over 2 million feet deployed and we are warehousing -- a virtual warehouse set up in louisiana. when we started out, everybody was ordering their run boom. we had different areas competing against each other and even bidding up the price, in some cases offered we've gone to a centralized distribution system for the entire coast. we can give you those details. >> can you answer my question about the army corps of engineers? >> yes, i'm going to give you my characterization of the army side and i do not want to get into too much detail because it is a process they own. the state has applied for a permit that would take a look at establishing a system of barrier islands and berm structures -- one to the east of the mississippi river on the chandeleur islands or breton sound, the other basically from around grand isle over to the west -- to ease toward the mississippi river. the army corps engineer is evaluating or that right now. they're looking at the cost and

schedule, the feasibility, you have to go get them from somewhere to deposit them there. what the implications of where you remove the sediments from? cowhide you build the berms if you were going to build them and what is the ecological impact associated with that? we've got finished that review. what i promised governor jindal personally is that we would start looking at now, so we would not have to wait for the corps of engineers to hear the coast guard -- what you think about it. we're looking at it in parallel with them. we need to understand that building a set of barrier islands and berms that large is going to take a long time even by the state's own estimate -- six to nine months in some cases, and a significant amount of resources associated with that that might be applied elsewhere. we're looking at everything having to do with the proposal. i have been in touch frequently with governor jindal. we're trying to drive to a decision that we can announce as soon as we can. jindal what kind of reassurances did bp give you about being able to stop this leak quickly?

>> the discussion has mainly revolved around the fact that the technologies that are being employed here are not novel or new. i think one of the mistakes that is being made by a lot of folks who don't understand the industry is that the procedures to try and stop this blowout or this wellhead down there are the same that they would use on land or anyplace else. the problem is exacerbated by the fact that it is 5,000 feet below the surface. there is no human access. the only information we have down there is what is derived from remotely operated vehicles or other sensors that are down there. everything we see is a two dimensional video rapid as a nation of what we consider any particular time. so instead going out and putting new hoses onto a well and jamming mud down and on the surface, you have to replace the umbilical cord that existed in the riser pipe that was there to begin with and completely rebuild that system and test every section and you are ready for that top kill shot. the things that are going on are absolutely logical fear they're consistent with practices done on land. they're just being done in a place where it has not been done in the history of oil drilling

before. >> what did they give you in terms of a timeline early on when they thought they could get it capped? >> the ultimate timeline is august for the relief well, for the permanent solution. >> so they told you that early on? we may not be able to do this until august? >> they said the altman solution is to drill a relief well and cap the current well and that will be at least 90 days. in the meantime, there are a series of sequential steps they have tried. to the tip -- the insertion tube appears to be working and now they are looking at the top kill, or putting under pressure this very heavy mud that would stop the column of hydrocarbon so that they can seal it. there are a series of other steps they are considering. these steps have been provided to us. secretary salazar and secretary chu have seen them. there are gantt charts associated with dates. the dates have slipped to the right and some of the cases because the systems are working out as they deploy to the seabed. there has been total visibility of that since they started.

>> the secretary judgments and secretary chu of the department of energy. when you're talking about oil, the department of energy's only purview over oil is the strategic petroleum reserve, but are -- but as a result of the fact that we just happen to have a nobel prize-winning physicist on our staff, along with hundreds of others of the brightest minds in all the world working out of the national laboratories, secretary chu has been in the command center and has spent hours on the phone with the scientists from the private sector as well as with the company and ordered to go through a lot of different calculations to set up a process so that this can work -- or that this is the best chance of working on wednesday. >> so they basically laid out all these different steps. this is where we're going to try first. if that does not work, we're going to try this. ultimately august may be the

only sure solution. >> i think it would generally characterize that they have four or five of what i would call lines of effort. the overall -- the overarching line of effort is the relief well. they tried the capture devices, piped oil to the top, there were two evolutions of that and then finally the insertion tube is working. the next one is to try and kill the well as they would say. that is one to be done by inserting a very high pressure area -- high-pressure of heavy mud to drive the hydrocarbons down so that they can seal it. if that does not work, they have two options after that. one is to sever the marine riser pipe and attempt to put about them. they are not doing that first because when you sever that marine riser pipe, you don't know how many hydrocarbons are going to come out and how much oil is being held by the fact that that riser pipe is bent. then they could take a lower riser package which sits above the blowout preventer and just physically remove it and put all whole new blowout preventer right on top of it. there is a series of events with backup actions behind them and

they are sequentially trying the ones that involve the least risk in that order. i was out on the rigs last thursday. i looked at the program -- the blowout preventer. that makes sense. they're going in sequence and they are dealing with problems as they arise. >> at the relief well as the permanent solution. so even the injection of the heavy mud and the ceiling is still going to be -- is done in place for the relief wells, which is the more permanent solution. and carol reminded me that we instructed them not simply to drill one but two relief well so that we had some margin on that. helen, if you have something? are you good? >> is there a blame game going on? >> if there is, i am not playing it. >> first and foremost, we're trying to do everything as i've said, human and technologically possible, first to plead the slug -- plug this leak and then

deal with what has spilled and both the environmental and in our model impact of that oil, understanding, that because of the nature of the dispersants, the currents, the wind, the weather -- we are watching where this oil moves, the degree to which that it could get into the loop current, and a whole host of other things, order to get ahold of this. >> helen, i did not mean to be glib. whenever there is oil in the water, nothing good happens and nobody should be satisfied. and when oil was on the water, it is an insult to the environment, quite frankly. and we have been working very closely with the state of louisiana. all the states down there have needs that go beyond their area contingency plan that like to see met. it's a matter of adjudicating the resources you have the time.

but we are involved with these folks every day. >> thank you for being here, admiral. clearly plugging the leak is number one at this point. and i do understand, i think we all understand, that it is bp that has the expertise and equipment. but what exactly is the role of the federal government in plugging the leak? to what degree are you working with, commanding, offering advice, bringing in the best minds? what is the role of the federal government in plugging the leak? >> i would say we rashly defining that as we go, because i've never dealt with a scenario like this. i've been dealing with oil spills for over 30 years. this is an unprecedented anomalous event. and as we move forward and we look at how we're going to control the leak ultimately, it requires bp to say that this is a standard industry practice. before they go for it and do that, they consult with the spirit we have a veto authority if we think that they do not -- if we think we do not want to do it, keeping in mind they own the means of production.

we ask a lot of hard questions and i can tell you some sessions have been inquisitorial in nature regarding the assumptions they're making on thresholds inside the pipes. >> i guess that is one of the things that the admiral just said, the reason that inquisition is taking place is that secretary chu and others, scientists from the national laboratories, secretary chu and others will be going back down to houston tomorrow and have been working throughout this process on having the best ideas come ford, tried, worked out on paper, so that they can be executed to stop this leak. >> the terms that i would use is due diligence. >> you just said they own the means of production. but that could change, the president could simply decide that we now own -- you're going to do the work, but we're glad to tell you how to use the people and equipment here. is that not true? >> i am not a lawyer. that may be true. i would not be my

recommendation. >> secretary salazar says he is not sure they know what they're doing. >> they have the means of production per day of logistics in place. they have the rov is that are down there. we're jointly operating in their command post out of houston. everyone that has a stake in the fighting there. and i'm satisfied with the coordination that is going on. i think secretary salazar is right. he is probably sitting the immense amount of frustration we all feel, and we need to keep pressure on and make sure that they are accountable and doing their jobs. the means of production is in the hands of bp. they just need to do their job. >> would you said the federal government is monitoring what bp is doing? or is the federal government actively involved in plugging the leak? >> if we are actively involved in the consultations regarding the technical issues related to the strategies provided by bp. there proffering, ok? they are proffering. >> it sounds like you've said that before. and have you brought in the greatest minds in the business?

jayden yes national lab at sandia. >> the government is done this? >> yes, yes. >> are there any assets that you would like to have that you do not have? had u.s. for anything that you of our receive from the federal government? >> know, and we have asked for some pretty interesting things. we have c-17s moving boom from alaska. we're using navy sight scan sonar. we're using air force plans to deliver dispersants. we have a request for assistance process that was worked out with assistant secretary stockton and our staff. it is a critical need, we go to him and he will seek a verbal order from secretary gates. the government does not have everything we need to solve this problem. >> so there is no schism with the bp strategies and u.s.? >> that bp strategy as related to leak control, i think everybody understands that is the logical sequence. i have talked to other industry leaders to get triangulation, as

we would say in nautical terms, and the feedback i am getting it that the sequence of events is the sequence that should be followed in this type of case. >> helen, if i can say that, i think everybody standing up here, everybody that works over there including the oval office, are we frustrated that there is still all hole in the bottom of the ocean leaking oil? you bet. and he is not want to be satisfied. he is not one to be satisfied until it is plugged, until we have dealt adequately with what has leaked both in the water column and on the surface. >> last question, do you have all the authority you need for to mark could to pick up the phone and call secretary gates to the president if you wanted to? you have that kind of authority and are you doing that? >> not routinely. [laughter] i have all the access i need to do my job, yes sir. >> chat. >> admiral, do you have the same sense of satisfaction with what

bp is now doing onshore as this oil is coming in? can you explain now that it appears it's almost a two- pronged disaster with oil that is coming onshore, what the federal government is doing there? what role is bp playing onshore? >> that is a great question. there are three fronts. we have the emissions at the bottom of the ocean. we have where the oil is coming to the surface and trying to fight it as far offshore as we can. and then how you deal with it when it makes contact with shore. and the three types -- the three kind of distinct operations require different sets of capabilities. we're fighting a three-front war basically at once. if i were to be an area where i had more conversations with bp than any other, it has been on the difference between wholesale and retail. bp does wholesale really good as far as massing logistics, moving stuff around, getting it into the warehouses. that last mile of retail, where you get the siting of the well, you've got to get the boom -- you got to coordinate all of that, that is where the

formation has got to be tightened up. i had a conversation with tony hayward this weekend on that. we're trying to do with the resources there. >> so that the first responders on the cleanup as well? >> we have what we call shore assistant clerk -- shore cleanup assist teams, and they are made up of a combination of federal, state, and local contractors, bp representatives, because you need almost everybody there to coordinate what is going on. their staff by the local federal on scene coordinator. >> dealing with the whole, bp has the technical expertise and you guys have veto power. is the role the same here on the cleanup? or is this a case where the government is pushing bp? >> on the shore cleanup side, we have more degrees of freedom and more capability and competency we can bring to bear and a greater, wider set of authorities allow us to affect the outcome on rigid ban on the seafloor. that is true.

>> you have less confidence in bp on how they're handling this? >> know, is further away from their central business competency. these guys are drilling for oil. this is an oil spill response. we've created an industry in this country called oil spill response organizations. we actually created the demand for companies who would build oil spill equipment and could be contacted cleaned up. a lot of work anticipated that this would happen. there would be a reason for them to capitalize on the market. we use a lot of folks that are not bp or coast guard to do these things. their contract it -- bp paying for it -- and it will have to be coordinated. and that is where there is a larger role for us than there is probably on the seabed. bp is involved in the execution. and to the extent there is a problem there, then we can bring our authorities to bear, and we do. >> let me add one aspect to what

the admiral said about what we are also working through, and that is changing the liability law in congress and lifting that cap, and setting it to a place that would insure that the economic damages currently capped at $75 million, per the oil pollution act of 1990, recognize the breadth of this disaster. >> is there a moratorium in place right now on new drilling? >> carol is better on that. >> the president has said no new holes. >> what are these permits? >> modifications to existing permits. it is quite routine where you are currently drilling and you need to make a modification, if you have encountered something that cheap -- that you did not anticipate, and so you go back and, and it is called a permit. i think it is better to think about it as a modification to an existing permit. there are 23 permits out there for new drilling activities that

are not -- have not begun. so what the president said is that we're going to stop -- those have been stopped. there were two that were issued shortly after the accident. those have also been stopped. so all deepwater permits that are currently drilling are not going forward at this point in time. >> jonathan. >> two question. you talk about what would be the alternative if bp was moved aside. have you considered hiring another oil company like chevron, or an oil spill contractor to take over day-to- day response from bp? >> when i have the ceo of a large petroleum company and oil drilling company tell me that they would be following the same sequence of events, that tells me that there would not be anything to be gained by doing that. and what they're doing is largely in line with industry standards. it's exponentially more difficult at 5,000 feet.

>> have you actually had those discussions with other oil companies? >> i have. i will not attribute. >> and the second one, are you looking at a contingency plan in case the relief wells themselves do not work? we were talking to some contractors to do is -- contractors who said that is not a 100% sure either. >> no one should give 100% guarantee on anything associated with this incident until it is done. i am not had a conversation with bp beyond the two relief wells. there's talk that could be about a third relief well. those are discussions we have not had yet. the focus right now was to get the two wells that are under construction started. >> cabral, you said it would not be your recommendation for the united states government or you to be in charge of every aspect of this and to push bp out of the way. are you saying that if the president said, this has gone on too long, it is day 35, admiral,

take it over, you would argue against that to the president? >> any military leader would give his best military advice to the president and then follow orders. >> but your recommendation -- your recommendation to us, who you do not have to follow our orders, would be that it -- [laughter] you said that your recommendation would be against that. >> you are moving into a hypothetical case. given the operations as we understand now an alliance of our effort that are being accomplished by bp, there is no reason to make a change. >> why is it taking so long? >> it is very difficult period is 5,000 feet below the surface and it is never been done before. >> are you saying that the federal government is doing everything it can be doing and that bp is not doing? >> note, bp's provide a series of proposed actions to address not only the permanent capping of the well, but how to deal

with the leakage in between time. they provided those lines of effort with the charts, key dates on when they're going to be accomplished. those are briefed to secretary salazar. maybe it is a mistake to set a date saying the top kill will be done on tuesday and now what is going to be a win state. because they are sequentially starting to light off these systems and bring pressure down the pipes -- if they find a faulty valve and have to replace it with an rov, that's maybe 12 or 18 hours added on to it. the sequence is going as planned as we discussed. >> so that on the permit modification, if i could ask, ms. browner, given what is happened, why shouldn't we go back and revisit these modifications? >> what the president said is no new holes until we get through the 30-day report. that is what we're focused right now. this report will be made

available later this week. we will make decisions about how we proceed going forward. in terms of the permitting, what is important to understand that we're doing exactly what we said. the people holding permits, they were holding them prior to this accident, they are not moving forward with drilling at this point in time. >> on the series of interventions that the admiral talked about, is there no way technologically to have them more in an overlapping series of attempts? >> that is a pretty good question. i ask that same one myself. i would be the best example of why that cannot be done through the first time we tried to put the insertion tube in, if you remember, it actually backed out and had to be put in twice. that happened because the rov was dealing with the insertion tube. became entangled with the rov tried to monitor the subsea dispersants at the leak site. it's what they call sim-ops in the industry -- simultaneous operations. what you have right now in a radius of 5,000 feet around that well site is 5,000 feet of

crumpled riser pump, an upside- down mobile drilling unit, and on the surface in between 12 and 20 ships. some of these things have to be done in sequence because you cannot operate on the same patient at the same time and do three so different surgeries. >> is it not possible to federalize this? as a matter of law, can you not do that? and as a matter of practical solution creation, if you do not want to do it -- even if you could? >> i am working without a net and without a lawyer, but the federal on scene coordinator has the legal authority to direct a responsible party, so i'm sure there is a legal rationale to do it. i'm not sure there's cause for action. >> ms. browner, do you have anything to add? you implied earlier that these conversations about dispersants -- you expect them to be resolved today? and the share some of the concerns that have been expressed to me and others here

from environmentalists that the use of these dispersants could be creating a secondary environmental catastrophe that we may not fully understand? >> we have the experts talking to each other right now. let's let them get through today. they will be announcing where they are, where a decision had been made, or where they are in those discussions this afternoon. >> a decision to use dispersants does not do away with the problem. it means we're willing to accept the effect of the oil in the ocean rather than on land. it is a tradeoff of where the impact of the oil is court to be made. by dispersing it, it goes into much smaller pieces and can biodegrade rather quickly. regardless of the relative toxicity of any dispersant, the difference in the toxicity between the dispersants and the oil is in order of magnitude three >> -- is in order of magnitude. >> gov. jindal as today if you could provide more readily available law authority for those in the coast guard closest

to the scene in parts of louisiana said it can call or deal with directly. can you tell those are going to be provided? >> he raised it and actually necklet -- secretary napolitano raised it over the weekend. we're going to take all look at where those teams are being deployed, and no matter where they are out, there's somebody in a blue suit providing supervise and -- supervision or coordination related to that. i have deployed an officer to governor jindal's staff to be that personal liaison between me, him, secretary napolitano, or a body of. -- or anybody else. that is our intent and we're moving there. >> you about one very clearly how complicated this is and why it is taking so long. looking back, we're in a situation where you are pumping mud down, we've heard about maybe stuffing garbage into this hole -- are you exasperated and dismayed that you are in this position? from what you learn, how can you make sure that it does not happen again?

>> i think you ought to be exasperated or dismayed if there is any oil in the water. it is an insult to the environment. i would not call it garbage. it's a technical issue -- pieces of tire that can tolerate certain pressures and temperatures to be of a clogged up the blowout or better. go ahead and finish your question. >> obviously you are improvising in the extent of the a disaster -- and the extent of this disaster and looking back on those incidents and what was not in place that could be drawn on now, how you feel about that? and is this not going to happen again? >> request and. there was an assumption that these blowout preventers were failsafe. we know that is not true. i don't think anybody ever contemplated dealing with the scenario that we have right now where the blowout preventer would fail. you would have 5,000 feet of riser pipe and then several leaks in that riser pipe from the residual oil coming out of the blowout preventer that did not close all the way. i think we need to look at our

plans to respond and how we position to do this in the future. it just was not contemplated in the planning scenario. when the will pollution act was passed in 1990, it was only four or five years before that we had moved into our deep sea drilling. an oil pollution that was and that the problem of the days, large tankers. and they will pollution act of 1990 has generally solved that problem. but all the things that are in place regarding command and control and technology and so forth, like the use of dispersants and in sick to burning that were major breakthroughs approved after the will pollution act of 1990, there not been done on such a large scale that we had never contemplated that at this point we would have 600,000 gallons of dispersant applied to the surface. we are in a new era. we're going to learn something from this. we will probably just a role. >> i am from a part of california where 40 years ago there was a huge oil spill. they're still oil pumping out of the seafloor. there are tar balls on the beach every day. does this ever get entirely

shut? >> in california, without getting into a lot of detail, they have natural seepage out there that causes tar balls because there is oil that has open access to the subsurface. we can do everything we can with what we control with manmade technology and how we use technology down there. they're going to be natural seepages of oil. >> let me just add from the president's perspective for this, scott. failsafe has to mean that. if it does not, then we have to examine why it does not in the circumstances around that and have that impact our decisions going forward. in terms of the reviews that the government is looking through to look back at what got us to this point, we have the president's instruction for secretary salazar and the department of interior to report back to him. that will be thursday. thursday, the president will receive the report iraq the

white house. there is a separate national engineering report on this incident. as you know, the president set up an independent commission headed by a former epa commissioner and a former u.s. senator from florida that will be charged with looking at both the role of industry and the role of government in regulating industry. and the president has been very clear that we should not spare any expense in looking at both of those aspects of what may or may not have caused this. >> a question for you and also the admiral perry the president is receiving this report thursday. should we expect the president to respond to it immediately? >> eis bet that the president will speak to you all about it and answer some question about it. >> and my question for the animal -- two steps that are in the immediate future, but top kill and the junk shot, what you

think the odds of success are for both of them? >> i quote doug suttles from bp who said this morning it was around 60% to 70%. >> you describe sort of a disconnect between the dangers involved in drilling this deep and the sort of conventional means there are of dealing with a spill if that happened. ms. browner, what the government aware of that disconnect when they allowed this kind of drilling to proceed, and they let it proceed? or were they illness led by minute -- or were they misled by industry as to their capabilities in dealing with a disaster of this kind? >> there has not been announced -- an accident of this magnitude. these preventers have word for it now we need to understand why they did not work and what we need to do going forward. as robert just said, but when the deal i report, the national academy of engineering, and the

commission, the presidential commission, we should be able to get to the bottom of this. if there are changes that need to be made, they will be made >> when i was testifying before the senate last week, i made three areas where i thought we might want to look it going for the secret to do better. one of them is the overall inspector -- overall inspection regulatory regime. and maybe we can do a mandatory inspection, a regime regulated by somebody, some independent third party like the american bureau of shipping that with certified drilling systems. that is an area we need to look at 3 on the coast guard side, all are inspected authorities for drilling units offshore are contained in title 46 of the u.s. code. at the outgoing commandant of the coast guard, i would recommend to my successor to take a look at fire prevention standards, how we issue certificates -- certificates of compliance -- this was a vessel registered in the marshall islands -- and make sure that there is the disparity between the standards we are meeting under the international standards issued by the marshall

islands and our certification of that. or maybe actually hands-on inspection rather than just taking the certificate as proof that they are in compliance. and the third area, the spill response plan submitted to the mms as part of the permitting process need to be reviewed by the local coast guard commanders in terms of these area contingency plans to see that they are better integrated. >> i have a question of topic. there are a number of media reports saying that the white house and the hill are meeting in support of repealing "don't ask, don't tell." does the white house endorsed that congress potentially takes up that issue this week? >> i've seen some of those reports. i have not seen what exactly is being discussed. it is likely that congress is when act this week. if they decide to do that, we will examine what those efforts are. >> following up really quickly, is it possible that some kind of compromise could be reached at the white house could endorse,

and if so, what would the details of this compromise entail? >> let me go find out what they are discussing and that might be pertinent. >> de no who initiated the meeting? >> i think we did, but i will check. >> has this incident influenced your thinking on the wisdom of drilling at 5,000 feet? the admiral talked about the difficulty in plugging these holes at this depth. going forward, has this changed your mind about drilling? >> i can say that we have had a number of meetings with the president on this. i did not believe that the president, as frustrated as he is, was to make a death grip without the investigations that he will see starting thursday with the national academy of engineers and ultimately with the commission. i will say this. i repeated it just a minute ago to scott and i heard him say this a number of times. failsafe has to mean it. as carol said, we have been very

fortunate that blowout preventers have worked. we have a dealt with something like this in the gulf since 1983-1984 off the coast of mexico. the incident that scott talked about was even before that, off the coast of california. we have been fortunate. we have had to ensure that we have not become too trusting of those circumstances around not having had an accident. and that is one of the things specifically that the president wants to be investigated. we have to ensure -- and you have heard him say this -- investigate this relationship between the regulation at the department of interior -- and that's why secretary salazar has taken steps to break apart mms -- and ensure that we have the robust regulatory structure in place. >> the kentucky senate candidate on the republican side has talked about how "accidents

happen." is that the white house's view? >> we are actively involved in figuring out how that accident happened, because how that accident happened, if it does not inform how you move forward, whether it is a mine in west virginia or a mine in kentucky or oil well off the coast of louisiana -- if that does not inform what you do going forward, i think the american people expect that there is a regulatory structure that is in place that ensures high safety standards and that companies are living up to the standard. >> one for the admiral. i think he said on april 21 you started moving equipment even before the rig collapsed. why then are you still having to fly equipment and, i think you said by c-17, from alaska this late, a month later? >> a great question. it gets back to the statement i made earlier that this is not a monolithic spill. you ever radius of 200 miles out there, and patches of very thick

corporate at the goal came to the surface, sometimes we were able but treated wood burning, sometimes mechanical skimming, sometimes dispersant, sometimes the wind changed direction -- so what you have is a number of spills that surfaced and went out in many directions. there's a general perimeter. they tended to flow one way depending on the prevailing wind. but they're very spread out. early on we had to take precautions to protect the central coast of louisiana clear down to pensacola, florida. and if you're going to boom that entire all -- that entire area, you put a stress on the system. we are deploying to make sure that we can move beyond the baseline level of sensitive areas that are identified with these plans and do more. >> so you are not prepared on april 21, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th? >> we were prepared for a catastrophic spill. as we got into the first four or five days, we started fanning out to where we felt we had to put boom to the east and west

clear over to pensacola. if you look at the plans for a blowout there, generally as when it cut somewhere about -- it is going to cut somewhere are around plackman paris, which has been impacted by it at the area you're going to have to defend. the time the oil and out there, when the winds come out of the west and start pushing it, or out of the south, we have to start thinking about mississippi sound and alabama. when they come out of the southeast, we have to think about plackman spares. the direction of movement and the threat has changed on us, and it required a larger area to be boomed it was contemplated and now we have to redeploy. >> when we did our original briefing with the president's team, with secretary napolitano before admiral allen was announced as the incident coordinator, we were discussing at that point that oil would soon make landfall. but because of wind and wind currents -- wind and water currents, dispersants have broken stuff up. we're just not seen the larger

impacts of this. as a result of that, we are moving resources around. >> given the deep water drilling in the gulf, should more of this equipment be based there rather than say in the west coast or in alaska? and will be permanently located now in the gulf coast? >> i think a reconciliation of the resources required by the plan will be ultimately employed a rump a much broader threat area than we anticipated, as a natural reconciliation of any inquiry will be part of it. >> even as we have to take into account the informal impasse of what surrounds it. you're dealing with a fundamentally different environment >> thank you for being here today. i'll like to ask ms. browner and admiral allen, i am sure you have heard complaints from the scientific community that it has been a problem operating with 10-year-old maps, and that government should spend the invested -- the estimated a $11 million it needs to update the informal sensitivity maps. you agree with that complaint?

>> i'll almost have to defer that to jane lubchenco. i had been emboldened and -- in conference calls and press calls and i think she considers that a priority. >> she said the same thing, and certainly is something we're looking at. we're working with congress to craft legislation right now. it may be appropriate in that. there will also be a meeting of scientists, scheduled for june 3rd in louisiana bringing together scientists both from the government and outside the government to understand what questions we need to be asking and what resources we need to make sure are available? >> that will be a science summit at lsu on the 3rd of june. >> who will determine the scientists there? >> id is being worked by an interagency team. we are soliciting input right now. we have not finalized it. >> there is no guarantees and this is an accident of a magnitude that you have not seen before. is it time that as bp right now to start paying?

>> ask who to start paying? >> bp to start paying >> they are paying right now. they are. >> he is saying that they need to start now and pay at the exorbitant amount of money starting now, be a stop paying smaller amounts throughout time. >> i don't know how much the cleanup as been, but my guess is that their accounts with think that it is an exorbitant and it being paid as we speak. >> his say it -- he is saying it is going to get worse before it gets better. >> undoubtably. some of these grants have been and that -- advanced by bp knowing that there is a much larger -- there are partial claims. >> when is the president expected to go to the gulf coast to make an assessment himself? and also who from the white house is on the ground with you, admiral island? >> there is a federal on scene coordinator, real -- rather admiral landry, and robert, louisiana which is where the president visited on his trip a few weeks ago.

as we speak, secretary salazar, secretary napolitano, and then minister uttered jackson are in the area and may be director sutley -- i will double check. and i think people will go in and out of the region. as i started this by saying, were not for change of commands, admiral allen would be speaking to us via speaker phone from louisiana itself. >> when is the president going? >> if there are changes to that schedule, we will let you know. >> there is a daily conference call every day. every evening, the admiral, myself, john brennan, secretary napolitano, salazar, jackson -- every now we run the phone. >> and the call that was done today with the president with the governors of the states is done on a daily basis through the office of public engagement admiral allen is generally on that call and speaking with the

five governors so that if there are points of cause and concern. they're brought directly here on that call. . >> i can go and get to the actual slide.

i am sure there are both criminal and civil penalties. >> over the weekend, and responding to sarah palin on the subject of the oil spill, she said that the white house has been slow in responding and the assertion was possible because of campaign donations. you said that she needs to be more well informed. this is it their fourth time somebody on fox news has made a similar assertion. do you think the problem is a lack of information? >> lack of information on what? i will say this. every day, for almost one month, we have sent out to each one of you all, from the joint information center, exactly what has been done each day on the response. i think if you hear admiral allen speak for about 30

seconds, you realize, the coast guard and federal government had been there since this accident happened and since that rig exploded and caught fire. there is a lack of information if you believe somehow that the response that not begin at the very point of this accident. >> what do you think of the continued assertions of there are nefarious purposes delaying the response? >> i have heard people say that somehow we have delayed our response for whatever reason. there have been notions made by people that this was done intentionally. again, you have to have a license to drive a car. regrettably, you can get on a television show and say virtually anything.

>> do you want to license pundits? >> yes. [laughter] 6 speaking of blowout preventers. >> you put out a fairly harsh statement toward the end of last wait about republican senators holding up this liability cap. i am wondering what the white house has done to actually moves that legislation on the hill other than that statement. >> we have been working with congress and we will have three administration officials testifying tomorrow morning before the energy and natural resources committee. >> let me see if there are any additional calls made on that. >> going back to offshore drilling, i am sort of shocked. he said the president has to wait until the investigation comes back to decide how he approaches this issue in the future. isn't there enough issue --

evidence that has been seen to look at the issue of offshore drilling? >> there has been enough evidence to look at it. that is why he has asked the department of interior to conduct what they have done and to shoot -- and to ensure the independence of any review, we have appointed an independent commission to do that. understand a couple of things. 30% of our domestic oil production comes from the gulf. we talk about the fact that for many years, we have had the luxury of not many accidents. we have to figure out why this accident happened. that should and will inform what we do moving forward. i cannot imagine that that hypothetical statement would be backed up by anything had said in the past three weeks. >> on korea, can you give us any updates or conversations the president has had? with the president has had his

intelligence briefing and has spoken with the national security team. he spoke with president lee last week. the statement we put out fairly early in the morning after president lee spoke to south korea, we believe north korea should stop its belligerent and threatening behavior. we support president lee's actions. secretary clinton will be traveling to the region and seeing president leave very shortly. >> the president spoke with secretary clinton? it's not that i am aware of. >> i am from germany. the world is absorbing -- observing how the world -- how america is handling this. to use the -- do you see any other country with expertise to

solve this problem? >> i would like to address the policy issues. a couple things we have gone. i have asked my staff to take a look at the other regulatory regimes around the world and how countries to the regulation of blowout preventers. the other thing we are looking at is there is an international group called imo. we are a signatory to that convention. they establish international standards for a lot of different things including drilling systems. we will go back and compare the u.s. inspection regime with those regimes of other countries and compare those to international standards that are out there to see if there is any real levelling that needs to be done. i am aware of this anecdotally but i am under the impression that nor has it system for blowout preventers. thank you. >> we are bringing all expertise

to bear. i would have to go back and check exactly. [inaudible] >> the fact that the epa's orders were ignored. >> go back and read the letter. there is a time period of 72 hours to go through this. they were meeting late last night and i believe in about 10 minutes, the administrators -- >> the live feed that did not come until 10 days later. not everything to have asked for they have done. what do you say went even supporters of the president says you have not been tough enough on bp? >> admiral allen can tell the

story. and he told the story of speaking with the ceo of bp. if he believes something needs to happen, that behavior is changed. we will continue to do that. >> perhaps a good example, which have a group set out. we responded much higher than that right away. it was not consequential to the response. it will be consequential to the total amount of oil out there in terms of natural resource damage mitigation. we have set up a team and they're putting together the best estimate from satellite imagery, overflight, and looking at the video imagery available from bp. we are trying to figure out how many frames per second we are looking at so we can establish the density of the flow at any given time and differentiate gas from the other hydrocarbons. it will probably be a range with assumptions attached to it with

what is the best estimate of the flow rate in the total amount of oil. we have asked for information. >> thank you. >> sometime this week. as was said on the call, they are looking at the actual flow rate and average flow rate. there are looking at total volume of oil spilled. what the admiral talked about is what initial estimates were based off of over satellite photos and overflight photos that are obviously one- dimensional. the video is one dimensional. the best and brightest, headed by the director of the u.s. geological survey, with a team of scientists are the floor right technical group that are

finding out many of the answers to that rate, understanding that there are a lot things involved once a flow rate is determined. the admiral has says it is less to do with response but it does impact ultimately on the penalty. >> could you use your veto [inaudible] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] >> whitehouse economic adviser lawrence summers talks about budget deficits and growth in the u.s. economy. after that, remarks on former nypd officer frank serpico at the whistle blower's conference. tomorrow morning, former secretary of state henry kissinger testified about the

strategic arms reduction treaty signed last month by the u.s. and russia. live coverage from the senate foreign relations committee begins at 9:30 eastern. later in the day, also on c- span3, a committee investigates fraud against senior citizens. the president of aarp testifies. that is why the 2:30 eastern. >> just weeks after the british election which produced a new prime minister and coalition government, queen elizabeth ii will formally announce her government's legislative agenda for the new session. we will travel from buckingham palace to parliament and inside the house of lords for one of britain's most celebrated occasions bridget the state opening of parliament. live, tuesday morning at 5:00 eastern on c-span2. >> one of the president's top economic advisers said the u.s. will not be able to tackle the budget deficit until economic growth back on the -- on a

sustainable track. larry summers spoke at the johns hopkins school of advanced international studies. this is about one hour 15 minutes. >> good morning and thank you for joining us on such short notice. i must say, we were quite confident that people would come out, even with just a little bit of time. i am did dean of science and i am delighted to see students, alumni, other moments of the community and the media. it is my great pleasure to welcome all of you here this morning for a most timely presentation by larry summers, who is surely amongst the most thoughtful and influential public servants of his generation. it is easy to say that he needs

no introduction. it is true. in particular, for an audience on massachusetts avenue. for students and perhaps some of the family members that are here for commencement, let me offer some introduction. i first met larry summers in the early 1990's when he joined the world bank as a young in billion economist. haven't been awarded the john bates clark medal as the most outstanding economist under the age of 40, he was leaving the ivory tower to take on the challenge of applying knowledge to help alleviate poverty through economic development. he used empirical research to on earth and cites, which he could then expand with startling sensitivity. for example, many of my colleagues at the world bank recall his trip to pakistan representing the bank. when he stood before his

audience and proclaimed that research demonstrated that the most powerful investment pakistan could make in growth would be to educate its women. no preaching, no cultural hesitancy, just the facts. educating girls packed the biggest plunge for economic growth. on another occasion, larry spoke about when he looked at the data on the company performance across and within countries, the distribution was clear. state owned companies clustered on the poor performance and of the spectrum in comparison to privately owned companies. his conclusion, once again, not based on pre-existing values, was ownership matters. in an immortal summers metaphor, he said nobody ever seems to wash the rented car. it was in sites like these, simply stated but never simplistically of pride --

applied, that made larry such a strong force in public policy. he took his curiosity and his towering intellectual capacity and to the u.s. government where he became the secretary of the treasury succeeding his mentor, bob rubin. together, they steer the u.s. and global economies through dramatic crises and into a golden period of growth, low inflation, and culminating in a budget surplus. it is easy to stand 10 years on and look back on history to find a place with a crystal ball was hazy. that is the gold period and finance and economic management. elections brought in a new administration and he became president of harvard university. he brought a vision and new direction for a great university in which he had grown up. with all the controversy surrounding that tenure, i have not heard anybody take issue

with the insight and inspiration of what he thought education at a great university might become in the 21st century. in the interest of full disclosure, i was a part of the group of former women colleagues of larry's, some said bridget -- some distinguished leaders who wrote a blog to dismiss and acknowledge the notion that larry underestimates the ability of women. indeed, the striking characteristic is to disentangle from bridging good ideas from the messengers and harness the best ideas for public good. back in the 1990's, he started to give speeches about the worrisome cloud on the economic horizon. at that time, the administration decided that it's best contribution would be to stop government deficits so as to not to make the problem worse. as head of the national economic council, that emerging problem of u.s. savings and government borrowing is likely to dominate

his tenure in office. we are very privileged to hear his thoughts on how our country can get ready to tackle the looming challenge before us. the podium is yours, prof. summers. [applause] >> with introductions like that, i will come here more often. thank you very much. it only reminds me of what lyndon johnson is said to have said when he was introduced very generously. he said i wish my parents had been here for that. my father would have appreciated it. my mother would have believed it. i am glad to be here at an institution that has contributed so much to our

national life. jessica was kind enough to praise some of the thinking i had done over time on public policy questions. i do not know if that was deserved or not but i do know that if the united states has -- the united states is been uniquely successful among nations. one of the sources of that success has been our ability to turn creative intellectual energy towards public policy problems. towards public policy problems. and institutions likehis one are very, very important and part of that process. when we list our national strengths, i think we too infrequently acknowledge the contribution of institutions like this one. my topic today is fiscal policy and the united states economic

strategy. there is an old joke about economics exams, the questions change -- questions never change, but the answer's always do. economts at some point seem to be saying that budget deficits need to be reduced to grow the economy to private financial armageddon or keep the country solvent. at other times, to be asserting the budget deficits need to be expanded to prevent depression, prevents public investments, and promotgrowth. then of course, there harry truman's legendary two-and economists to offer one list on the one hand and the other list on the other hand. the questions about fiscal policy are especially pressing right now. fiscal issues are at the center of economic concerns in europe, and almost everything about fiscal policy is debatable in debate, i suspect that a wide array of observers across the political spectrum would agree

that the fiscal policy choices the united states makes over the next several years will be as consequential as any we have made in a very long time. i say this in part because the cyclical position of the american economy, and in part because the magnitude of projected deficits and the nature of fiscal trends. turn first to the cyclical. we can be hard and by the fact that, due in part to the strong acons taken in the recovery act, the american economys growing and creating jobs again. a combination of tax cuts, emergency support for newly unemployed, fiscal support for states, and a range of catalyzing investments, infrastructure improvements to in a jeep have played their intended role. the depression scenario that appeared a very real threat a year ago now appears remote. by and large, forecasters

debate the likely pace of recovery rather than the magnitude of double risk. yet, the observation that the economy is again a sending does not mean we are out of a very deep valley. far from it. when we're nearly 8 million jobs short of normal employment and about $1 trillion or $10,000 per family short of the economy's potential output to in town. and when recent events in europe have introduced uncertainty into the prospects for glal growth. shortfalls in output and agreement stunt the economy's future potential as investment projects are put off and as the skills and work habs of the unemployed atrophy. this last point is especially important, when for the first

time since the second world war, the typical unemployed worker has already been out of work for more than six months. and behind these statistics, like men -- lie millions of stories of americans who have seen the basic foundations of their economic security erode. beyond the economic projections and equations that we economists like this struggle of communities devastated by the pact of this recession. whatever the judgment of groups of economists about the official parameters of the recession and the growing signs of recovery, for millions of americans, the economic emergency runs on. the challenge we must thus confront is the imperative both to do everything in our power to accelerate the momentum behind recovery so that it addresses the imperative of job creation, and also, addressing the challenge to growth and

prosperity of budget deficits in the medium and long term they cannot be ignored. the federal budget this year is projected to be $1.50 trillion. to be sure, over thnext two to three years, a recovering economy and the president's policy choices, like the freeze in on security spending in the expiration of highly income-tax cuts, will cut this budget deficit in half as a share of the economy. measured relative to gdp, we will enjoy the fastest rate of deficit reduction since the second world war. but deficits on current projections will still be in the 4% to 5% rae of gdp, implying steady and unsustainable and unacceptable increases to the ratio of our national debt to

our income. so in the tradition of two- handed economists, i emphasize both the seriousness of our current cyclical situation and the magnitude of the budget challenge we face, because as a convinced it is impossible to sensibly address either challenge in isolation. many commentators focused either on the need for strong fiscal actions to assure economic growth and job creation over the next several years or the need for strong measures to reduce the budget deficit. and they largely sterile debate continues about breaks versus accelerator's, about opening loss reverses tightening purse strings, and so for. i want to begin by laying out what i believe represents a set of views on fiscal policy that would command a cent from a wide

cross-section of economists. by stating three propositions. first, in a normal economic times, we'reore precisely over any horizon at which output is determined by supply factors or equivalent only at which the federal reserve through monary policies able to achieve its desired level of output, a government budget deficits will impact composition but nothe level of gdp. budget policies in this medium term can influence the productivity of the national economy and its success in creating jobs for the distributionf income, and much else. but they are unlikely to have a large immediate impact on aggregate demandr gdp. why? deficits. under these conditions will raise private and or public

consumptions. but because interest rates and adjust upwards, balance supply and demand at full employment or at federal reserve is desired level of output. these increases in consumption will be offset b reduced investments and net exports so that fiscal policy will have little contemporaneously impact on output for employment, and over time will reduce the national income. financing government spending through deficits should not be viewed as an alternative to raising taxes or cutting alternative spending in such circumstances. because of compound interest, the only delays and eventually magnifies the need for these steps. the settings, such as those that arise in emerging markets or have arisen recently in southern europe, where there is doubt about the ability of government to subsequently raise taxes to

cut expenditures to rey neay incurred budget debt, increased budget deficits raise the prospe of inflation or default th the dire consequences for financial markets. and in these kinds of normal oscars -- normal circumstances, there for other considerations. sustainable budgets and economies not suffering significant output caps. excessive budget deficits for as reliance on external borrowing. they raised a question for the united states as they did through much of the last decade of how long the world's greate borrower can remain its greatest power. excessive budge deficits limit the ability to respond with fiscal policy when circumstances require it in an economic downturn. and excessive budget deficits, when associated with spending

that is wasteful, erodes confidence in government and trust and public institutions. ironically, this may make it more difficult to bring about reforms that are necessary to make the public sector function better and enhance our long-term productive capacity. second, proposition about fiscal policy is equally important. in settings where an economy's level of output is constrained by the band and where the federal reserve is unable to relax that constraint, fiscal policy will, through the multiplier process, have significant impacts on output and employment. i their direct government spending or tax cuts that promote private spending will

raise demand directly, and then as increased demand raises incomes further, further raise spending. the result will be economic growth and reduced joblessness. moments like the present, when the economy faces the liquidity trap and when the federal reserve is constrained by a zero bound and interest rates, and when the financial system is nctioning in perfectly because of credit problems in financial intermediaries and because of overleveraged borrowers, there are moments when these conditions for fiscal policy to have an expansionary impact are especially likely to obtain. most economists believe that in demand-constrained economies, $1 of extra government spending generates between $1 and $1.50 an extra output. an believe in possibly quite

smaller figures for tax cuts. assuming that they do not have any major effect one way or the other on the continents of consumers and businesses, fiscal actions that add to confidence by increasing expectations of economic recovery or reducing tell risks aociated with depression are likely to have larger than normal positive impact on demand and benefits that may persist for a significant time span. conversely, fiscal actions that raise questions of future governments and taxing spending policy or ultimate sustainability can reduce confidence, and so can actually depress output. third, while the impact of contemporary news deficits on an economy depends on

circumstances, there is a very strong presumption that reductions in the budget decits expected after an economy has recovered and is no wonder demand-constraints are likely to havbeneficial economic effects. the increased confidence. e reduce long-term capital costs by reducing the prospect of federal borrowing on interest rates and tend to encourage investment, raising the economy's long run potential. i belabor the record -- the macroeconomic analysis of budget deficits because it points of the broadly correct path for fiscal policy in these years. it has in recent years been the essential for the federal deficit to increase as the economy has gone into recession.

it has been severely constrained by demand. i cannot agree with those who suggest that if it somehow threatens the future to provide truly temporary high baying for the blood jobs and growth measures. -- high bank for the buck gross measures to its strengthens our future economy and future prosperity as with many benefits, including the greater ability to manage our debts. on the oer hand, those who recognize the fiscal and growth benefits of strong expansionary policies must also recognize that it is simultaneously desirable to provide confidence that deficits will come down to sustainable levels as recovery is achieved. such confidence both the spurs recovery by reducing capital costs and reduces their risk of

financia accidents. to put these points and differently, it is not possible to imagine sound budgets in the absence of economic growth and solid economic performance. equally, assurances that deficits will come down once an economy recovers are integral to the maintenance of confidence that is essential for economic recovery. in the year 2000, the end of my last tour in government under president clinton, the united states ran a budget splus. projected surpluses wou have grown even larger had the country remained on the fiscal policy crse, we've equi in the year 2000. but i that eight years that followed, the budget deficits grew from surplus to deficit.

by theime president obama took office, the congressional budget office was projecting an annual deficit of $1.30 trillion in 2009. after accounting fully full lift -- for the full impact ofhe economic crisis, the administration faced humility d deficits in the range of $10 trillion over the 2010 to 2020 decade. this deterioration haven't for a combination of reasons. the most consequential and fundamental was the break during those eight years from the common-sense principle of paying for new initiatives from tax cuts, new benefit programs,o the war in iraq. in 2001, 2003, the tax cuts and the unpaid for prescription drug benefits alone are projected to add nearly $6 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.

the recession and the necessary response contributed an additional $3 trillion of those $10 trillion in projecd deficits. these facrs are at one level the dominant reason f a sustainable fiscal situation. because of the power of compound interest, success in fiscal policy its success and failure begets failure. remove these factors. the unpaid for major steps taken during the 2001 to 2008 timespan, and our deficits would be well within the range necessary to reduce the debt to gdp ratio over the medium term. yet, as we look beyond the next decade, there will be a larger and larger role in our nation's fiscal challenge. these challenges are profound

and entrenched because they reflect structural changes that have taken place over the last several decades. we as a country, democrats and republicans, have chosen to make a commitment to the elderly. and to health care. these commitments reflect our values as a society. we believe the elderly musbe kept from living in poverty, as so many did before the enactment of social security, and we believe that illness and suffering should be minimized. these are commitments that found expression, even before president obama's health care reform program. they are the right values, and we have accepted the they have costs. the costs of these commitments are growing more rapidly than the rest of the economy. not because government is doing more, but simply because of

changing demographics and rising health-care costs. consider the following -- the share of health care in our gdp is now rising by about half of one percentage point for yeaper. since the federal government pays about 40% of health-care costs, it follows that the federal government spending on health care is rising by about .2% per year or by about 1% every five years. in other words, if they're no policy changes and we simply maintain the programs that we have, the federal share of gdp spent on health care rises by one percentage point every five years.

what appears to be an increase in spending as a share of the economy does not reflect government bloat or inefficiency. simply reflects changing demographics and, on current policies, and increasing cost of health care throughout the economy. the nexus between economic growth and our fiscal prospects, along with the recognition of the structural demographic factors drivi our long-term fiscal challenge, has shaped the administration's strategy toward both. as we l ahead from our position today, a position that is far stronger than anyone would have anticipated a year ago, there are four key components to our strategy to putting the budget on a fiscally sustainable path. first, promoting a sound economic recovery. consider three ways to reduce

the share -- reduce that debt as a share of gdp by half a percent. cut spending by $75 billion. you can raise revenues by $75 million. or we can enjoy an extra three quarters of a% of nominal gdp growth. resulting in more tax collections, lower benefits spending, and higher incomes relative to debts to make the arithmetic comparison is to point out the importance of economic growth. spurring growth, if we can achieve it, is by far the best way to improve our fiscal position. that is why job creation and economic recovery remained president obama's top priority. it is important to recognize that the ultimate consequences of stimulus orndebtedness depend critically on the macro

econom conditions. when the economy's demand- constrained, the impact of the dollar tax cuts will be at its highest, and the impact on deficits at its lowest. that is th defining characteristic of our current economic environment. it is important to different from the economic challenges that our countries face in the early 1990's. at that time, and this man was held back by high capital costs associated with respect of budget deficits, rather than look vastly -- rather than low capacity utilization associated with lack of demand. growth was lagging due to inadequate investments. in contrast, over the last several years, our problems have been on the demand side. in areas where the government as a significant opportunity for impact, it would be penny wise and pound foolish not to take advantage of our capacity to encourage near term job creation. this explains the logic of the

recovery act success and rationale fo taking aitional target actions to increase confidence in our economic recovery. consider the package currently under consideration in congress to extend unemployment and health benefits to those out of work and support to states to avoid budget cuts as the case in point. it would be an act of fiscal shortsightedness to break from a longstanding practice of extending these provisions at the moment when sustained economic recovery is so crucial to our medium-term fiscal prospects. at the same time, legislation properly emphasizes the importance of taking additional measures, including higher matches on medicaid to avoid dramatic cuts in state budget that would not only contract the economy but hurt the most vulnerable additional subsidies through emergency fund for parents looking for work. a summer jobs initiative will attend the thousands work through the smer, and continue

sending for -- continued funding for initiatives to know support credit for these small businesses. in addition to these measures, the president would like to see congress moved quickly to prevent the layoffs of hundreds of thousan of teachers. first, doing everything we can to assure economic recovery. look at the situation in japan over the last 20 years. look at the budget picture in spain or in ireland, countries that were in surplus just a few years ago and then experienced a profound slowdowns. the first step in any sound fiscal strategy has to be doing everything we can to ensure recovery. second, proposing and taking tough steps to bring down the deficit. much of the deficit reduction,

the fastest deficit reduction since the second world war that will take place over the next five years will stem of the economy's return to growth and from the phasing out of recovery act programs. the president has made other important commitmentto bring down the deficits in an additional $1 trillion. he has proposed a three-year freeze on discretionary spenng outside national security. he supports letting the 2001 to 2003 tax cuts expire f the very richest americans, and will oppose any exceptions to this. he has put forward budgets that would read out wasteful, outdated spending in every area, particularly defense,ere secretary gates has suggested that his procurement reforms would save $330 billion over the

life of the eliminated programs. financial fee an international tax provisions together save $200 billion. the president has also proposed, and at a time of these kinds of challenges prosals of this kind are, i believe, very imrtant. a number of steps to restore faith in the federal government's capacity to use money wisely. there is, contrary to what you hearbout economists filling up empty holes comment at me be absolutely clear. there's no macroeconomic rationale for wasteful spending. that is why waste is being cut and more cost-effective ways are found to deliver needed services. today, the administration is sending to congress a proposal to make it easier for the president to ratify and

eliminate wasteful spending from appropriations bills passed by congress. and working with the congress, we have restored, at long last, pay as you go rules, requiring that new mandatory spending or tax cuts be fully paid for. we're living by those rules with respect to any permanent legislation. third, putting in place a framework that offers the potential to contain health-care costs. health-care costs are at the center of the federal budg challenge. total spending on health care in 2009 exceeded $2.5 trillion. that is 18% of gdp. twice the share of gdp in 1980. last year, the congressional

budget office estimated that health care spending would comprise a quarter of gdp by 2025, and a third by two thousand 40. the growth of health care represents, as i mentioned earlier, the growth of health care represents the daunting calculus that federal health spending as a share of gdp rises by one percentage point every five years. it is for these reasons that the president believe and acted on the conviction that reforming our health insurance system had to be the top priority in renewing our national economy. the legislation -- legislation enacted this year represents the most serious prospect for addressing health-care costs and public policy in more than fo decades.

a prerequisite tfor any serious attempt at cost control is ensuring universal coverage. otherwise, cost constraints will have man the best -- manifestly unacceptable human impacts their shifted from one provider to the other. in the easiest way to reduce your costs is to stop providing uncompensated care. if you look carefully at the legislation, it embodies essentially all the ideas, ranging from encouraging prevention to cost effectiveness research to reimburse an reform, to altered insurance incentives that experts have put forward for containing health-care costs. we're under no illusions. this legislation is not self- executed.

its impact will depend on decisions made going forward. legislation takes an important step by establishing the independent payments advisory board, a kind of permanent medicare commission specifically empowered with the ability to bring about the presumptive implementation of its recommendation so that a congressional veto, rather than congress congressional action, is necessary to stop its recommendations from taking effect. we have made a very important start. but success willepend ultimately on our ability not just to contain federal health care costs, but also to contain all health care costs. because the situation in which federal payments come to lag far beyond private insurance payments would be unacceptable

for our seniors. fourth, we will follow through on a bipartisan process centered around the bipartisan fiscal commission. deficit forecasts are uncertain. no one ever looks at these numbers, but one of the most striking members in the federal budget projections made by the congressional budget office or made by the office of management and budget, is the width of the confidence, the range of uncertainty surrounding budget deficits even five years away. that range can exceed three to four percentage points of gdp. and that is taking no account at

any policy choices that we make between then and now. we have to live with and plan for the reality that he's deficit projections will, in all likelihood, changed substantially over the years. it is just that we do not know in what direction. they could change in substantially positive directions, as they did during the 1990's. they could change in substantially negative directions, as they have in recent years. but we must also recognize that the current projections suggest the preponderant probability that major changes affecting the way the government spends and collect money will be necessary, even after the measures i have described.

experience suggests that these tough choices that are necessary to put the budgets into what economists call primary balance, a situation whe taxes and expenditures cover each other, excluding interest payments, or what is essentially equivalent a situation where the debt to gdp ratio is stabilized will require the cooperation of both political parties. experience suggest that achieving this kind of cooperation will require deliberation outside of the immediate cuts and the rest of political debate. that is why president obama has convened a bipartisan commission with leaders from both parties and with private citizens, tasked with producing clear recommendations to cover the costs of all federal programs

by 2015, and to meaningfully improve the long run fiscal outlook. that is why he has won agreement from congressional leaders to bring forward to the floorf the senate and the floor of the house any recommendations that the commission makes. for the commission, everything is on the table. the esident has stressed the importance of maintaining his base for the commission to consider all possible options to achieve its objections -- its objectives. we should not downplay the magnitude of the challenge the commission faces. it's proper functioning will weigh heavily on confidence in our country's capacity to make the tough choices necessary to confront our fiscal challenge.

remember this, the question is not whether excessive deficits will be sustained indefinitely. we know the answer to that question, as herb stein famously observed, the unsustainable will not be sustained. the question is whether the adjustment will take place in a planned sttegic way, directed at increasing condence, reducing capital costs, and motivating future investments or whether it will take place in a lurch with renting cts that will disrupt economic activity and performance. a final thought, i have spoken about the necessity for sound

management of macroeconomic policy, both in the short run and the long run, about the reality that sound short run and long run policies are not, as many believe, opposed, but in fact complementary. but let us be under no illusion. no matter how wisely fiscal policies are set, no matter how wisely the dials the monetary policy are turned, a nation's prosperity depends on much more. misguided fiscal or monetary policy can do enormous damage, but th cannot open cells that create prosperity or opportunity. and that is why the much

broader agenda of economic renewal, embracing health care reform, energy, policy, education, and much more that president obama has spoken about is so urgent for us as a country. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you. we have a little time for some questions, so we would like to open up to the audience, and thank you very much for that eloquent and very soulful speech. we're going to ask for a show of hands. we would like to keep thiso the students in the community.

please, when you get up, just tell us who you are. and as one brief question. if you a two, our speaker will have to choose between them. so try and choose one. >> actuay, if you ask two, i can dodge the hard one. [laughter] >> who would like to start? a microphone will be coming to you. >> i am an alumnus, and i am wondering if you see any compelling evidence that there is a bubble in china, and if so, what it is? >> i will tell you, my government colleague, geithner, and a substantial fraction of the president's cabinet,