bingaman. >> i have a splendid statement which i am sure you will enjoy reading. in order to save time, as a unanimous consent to inserted into the record. >> without objection, so ordered. the gentleman's time has expired. tte chaar recognizes the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. doyle. >> thank you for convening this hearing today to examine the impact of our nation's dependence on oil and the safety of drilling operations. we're 57 days into this informal tragedy, and the response effort is ongoing. we of learned that this is the largest in u.s. history, new estimates showing that unlike barrels each -- leaking into the cult each day, it is likely 40,000 barrels leaking, but no one really knows. as such, president obama has issued a moratorium on all 33 of the deepwater horizon drilling rigs for six months or until th3 of this bill. -- of the spill. his hurricane season beginning with conditions right for pottntial disaster storms, i think the administration is avoiding an even more catastrophic event read in fact, recent events all over the country merit the n

>> senator bingaman, i hope that in the next several days we will number that is based on science andes pressure readings and the visuals of the plume that it's coming out. we have at my direction and under the command of admiral thad allen had marsha mcnutt, the directo of the united states geologic survey come up with our own independent numbers. we did not want to rely on bp to come up with their s, and before the riser was cut off, e scientific group had come up with an estimate that was between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels per day. now that the riser has been cut off, there is an additional effort to take a look at what is coming out of the leaking well and we hope to be able t have the scientists that are looking at that issue have some numbe that we will share with the american public and obviously th the membersf this committee in relatively soon. >> is there anyht that perhaps the procedure that bp went through to cut off the riser added to the quantity of oil coming out? >> you know, chairman bingaman, i think -- i mean, i will say this, something that you might want to confirm

senator bingaman, recognized the need to be thoughtful as congress formulates policy for its response to the disaster. and the first order of congress' business should be to take care of the families who this affected (inaudible). everyday day through the walks of life. >> hi, david. >> morning, sorry to be late. and senator bingaman laid out a position on terms of legislation that congress could use to create the organizational resources and principles for say development going forward. and senator mccowski's tone whose support of legislation and to improve. his tone was very similar. and was directed at, look, let's get these right as we do them. and i think that, that tone is quite a contrast to what you discussed, to what you raised this morning, marte. and we all hope as part of developing new public policy as it relates to oil and gas activity on public lands. where congress has carte blanche under the policy to establish the rules and regulations. that, that bipartisan tone would continue. and we would see improvements and congress would look at what action they take. i had thi

>> you know, chairman bingaman, i think -- i mean, i will say this, something that you might want to confirm with secretary chu and the scientist from the labs that have been involved in this, but their view is it has been communicated to me that the range of increase may have been somewhere between 4% and 5% over what it was before. >> okay. all right. let me ask what -- what d you expect this other report, the one the president continues to refer to which is this six-month report, what do you expect that to yield in the w of -- is it going to make another series of recommendations similar to the recommendations that came out of your 30-day report, or i it going to be trying to do something different? >> i will have deputy secretary david hayes respond to that because he's in charge of the investigations and helping with setting up of the commission, but there are multiple investigat going on, many reports that are coming in and we are getting to the root causes, and everything that is happening here and will happen over the next several months will be fed into the presidential comm

resolution 33 was introduced by the chairman of the senate energy and natural resources committee, jeff bingaman, which raised concerns of the constitution of the united states virgin islands. in order to adopt their own constitution, congress in 1976 enacted legislation to authorize the people of the virgin islands and guam to convene constitutional conventions and write their own local constitutions. this act, public law 94528 sets up parameters that the supremacy of the united states constitution must be recognized and adhere to as well as a process of federal review for any proposed amendments. review of any proposed constitution, including 60 days periods for both presidential and congressional reviews. we are at the very end of prescribed time for congressional action. the u.s. virgin islands, an unincorporated territory, acquired by the united states from denmark in 1917, is one of only two u.s. states and territories that does not have a constitution written by the people that determines its basic governmental organization and structure. instead, for more than half a century, the virgin

federal energy regulatory commission authority and preserving the language supported by senator bingaman, senator chambliss, and others. thirdly, we rejected a number of whistle blower provisions. some of my colleagues believe these will weaken the cftc was a lower production program. fourth, we rejected the house offer on the lynch amendment, which imposed strict ownership caps on dealers and other investors in clearing houses and related entities. we strengthens the base text language to require legislators to -- regulators to write rules to permit -- prevent conflicts of interest, including limits on the control and ownership of clearing houses, exchanges, and other entities. we have added some language requirements to require the leg relators to consider any -- the regulators to consider any, but that may arise. i would also add there are other proposals which may be rejected, but i wanted to provide -- highlight at least those that . title vii is possibly the most complex of all of the titles we grappled with. the financial reform bill. many of our colleagues have spent countless ho