fleming and for mr. bennett. in your testimony today, the testimony of one of you, you stated that bp may choose to pay a claim with less documentation and the government would require them to obtain. a lot like for you to but take a moment and explore that comment further. if that statement is true, that bp is providing payment for claims that the government would not pay, what will that mean for the independent trust fund? could this third party process actually be less liberal in its payments standard than bp? >> mr. chairman, i can first address that. we know that bp is paying for things that are not necessarily defendable. they are entertaining personal injury claims that are specifically precluded. and as a private entity, they are not bound by the same federal laws. they are leaning toward very hard. if people are on from the event, whether strictly opa or not, bp is being liberal and in some cases, i am sure some people are not happy, but they're getting paid. we know that there are claims that we could n

and sam fleming to you first, how closely is the british public following this story of the spill? and what are they saying about it? >> well, i think for the past few weeks the british public have been watching this disaster with horror and have largely seen this as an environmental disaster in the united states. it has not really-- been seen as a story which has huge direct ramifications for the u.k., however, despite the involvement of b.p.. however i think that situation has changed somewhat in the past few days. now people are really honing in, zoning in on the fact that this is a u.k. company involved in a major catastrophe in the u.s. and they are becoming more acutely aware that there are ramifications both in the u.s. and also in the u.k. because it is a company which has iconic status in the u.k., and is also a company which has huge corporate clout and also economic impact for the u.k.. >> woodruff: well, expand on that. corporate clout, iconic status, help us understand how important b.p. is there. >> well, b.p. has a very long history in the u.k. going back many decade

finally a question for miss fleming. how does the deep water horizon spill -- we have beat than one enough. i'll ask you, is reflect back on the conversation we've had here today. the questions have been asked. the similar responses given. maybe some of the questions not asked. make some short, closing thoughts for us. >> i think we have covered the fact that we are dealing with a spill. >> let me just interrupt. >> for you especially. maybe a question that should have been answered. maybe a question that my colleagues and i should have asked but didn't. ask sf you could think of that, that would be good too. go ahead. >> sure. i think we basically have covered the fact that we are 3 unprecedented in nature. it is clear that it is going to take many years to have a real good sense of the cost. we already have determined that it is probably going to be a greater magnitude than we have seen in history. the fund is in place. the trust fund is in place to cover liability costs for parties responsible that can be identified o

fleming, or is that about your pay grade as well? >> i think the biggest concern that we do not know what the true cost of this bill are going to be. we're dealing with an unprecedented -- >> that was my next question. >> and the impact, what it will be in terms of the pond, how will it impact on the responsibility to pay for future spills as well as ongoing claims. so there is a lot at stake here. >> you did not answer my question but it does not matter. the oil spill liability fund henceforth known as the fund, that is clearly going to be exhausted, right? >> i think that this fund definitely -- the catastrophic consequences could have a severe strain to the fund. there are other issues as well. if bp honors its claim to pay if bp honors its claim to pay all of the

fleming: i thank the gentleman for the time. i stand in favor of the -- of h.r. 5481, which gives subpoena power for the national commission on the b.p. deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling. as we stand today here, madam chairman, oil is still pouring into the gulf of mexico off the coast of louisiana and 242 miles of louisiana shoreline is impacted by this oil. the highest priority for us must be to stop this leak and %+ get this mess cleaned up. bullpen must be held 100% accountable -- b.p. must be held 100% accountable and we must be responsible for the oversight. many questions are left unanswered, the most pressing is, what went wrong? the bill we have before us today would provide subpoena power to the national commission on the b.p. deepwater horizon oil spill and offshore drilling. this commission has been tasked by the president with providing recommendations on how we can prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills that result from offshore drilling. future tragedies we are currently experiencing

fleming: to address the house for one minute. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, so ordered. mr. fleming: enrollment in high-deductible health plans associated with health savings accounts grew by 29% in 2009 to a total of 10 million americans. these plans which often provide the lowest priced health insurance are targeted and in the newly enacted health care bill. obamacare will increase taxes on h.s.a.'s from 10% to 20% and will prevent over-the-counter drugs being reimbursed tax-free from the health savings accounts. millions of americans rely on h.s.a.'s to cover deductibles, insurance co-pays, a plethora of other medical expenses. furthermore, h.s.a.'s are an excellent tool to cut health care costs while obamacare itself provides no such tools. if you truly support health care affordability, i ask you to support my legislation, h.r. 5126, which restoreshe valuable tools that saves costs. with that i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back the balance of his time. for what purpose does the gent

john fleming, gastrointerology, the specialty of dr. bill cassidy, psychologist, the specialty of tim murphy, ob-gyn, again the specialty of mike burgess and phil roe, orthopedic surgery, the specialty of my colleague from georgia, tom price, family practice, indeed house call medicine, the specialty of my colleague, again, from georgia, dr. paul broun. i could go on and on. these are members on our side of the aisle who are just begging, calling, writing letters to the white house, let us participate. let us -- we know, we know about that sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship. we know what rationing will do and the fear that our seniors have of being rationed because they're too old to have taxpayer dollars spent on their hip replacement. so you just say, no, take a couple ofed a vill and we'll buy you a -- of advil, we'll buy you a walker, maybe even a wheelchair, although that's debatable as well. and, mr. speaker, you know, to compound this problem, obamacare, now our president has named the new director of medicare, c.m.s., c

fleming: mr. speaker, the sein o obamacareo the americ publicas been trade marked by one ety promise afr another. on september 9,2009, president obama infamously promised amerans, and i qote, if you are ong e hundreds of millions of amerins who ready have heah insurae thh yo job, nothing this plan ll require u your empoyer to change the coverage othe doct you have. twist the ama ministration released dra rations indicating that to 6 of employer provided plans may be rced to change their health pls when the new health care mandates and requirents begin. speakelosi was quoted as saying tt, we wll he to pass this bill tfi out wh's in it. as t fine print iseing placed we are learning bad news daily about this unpopurw. mr. speaker, i aga ask, how many promises will obacare have to break with themican peleefore we repeal this distrous legtio i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentlemas time hasxpired. for what purse does the gentledy from illiisise? >> taddress theouse for o minute. revise and

she lost her wife, kate fleming -- and charlene is here along with kate's mom, who said on behalf of all mothers, thank you. because we think it's the right thing to do. [applause] in addition, i've issued an as many partnership benefits to gay and lesbian federal employees as possible under current law. and i'm going to continue to fight to change the law: to guarantee gay federal employees straight employees - including access to health insurance and retirement plans. [applause] and in an announcement today, the department of labor made clear that under the family and medical leave act, same-sex couples - as well as others raising children - are to be treated like the caretakers that they are. [applause] because i believe in committed -- i believe that committed gay and lesbian couples deserve the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country, i have called for congress to repeal the so-called defense of marriage act. [applause] we are pushing hard to pass an inclusive employee non- discrimination bill. [applause] no one in america should be fired

fleming: from the bailouts to the failed stimulus bills to the government takeover of health care to the failure to respond timely to the b.p. spill disaster, americans are sick and tired of being ignored by their government. americans have heard this outcry -- republicans have heard this outoy cy and believe it's time to allow the americans to have a voice. america speaking out was created as a platform for americans to share their priorities and ideas for a national policy genda. in addition to open forum town halls across the country, we've launched americaspeakingout.com, an online tool where american cans go and express their opinion about what issues they believe government should be addressing, regardlees of what party affiliation. through initiatives like america speaking out, americans can make their voices heard in washington. now is your time to speak out, america. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back his time. for what purpose cause the gentlelady from texas rise? >> to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the spea

this is the perspective of the prosecution and i will discuss each one or from fleming just quickly list them. first second, rules of confession. third, rules gverning clsure of court rom, fourth, here sables and fifth, classified evidence rules. so proof requirements. the militarycommissions the burden oof is the same as the civilian court. that is proof beyond a reasonab doubt innd on capitacases only wo-thirds of t juro rather than all of them are needed for the conviction. under the law of he war, it is tested through a tedous the government needs to persuade not only one person that's he judge and by the preponderance of the evidence the petitioner, prisoner is part of al qaeda or a seceded forces although it turns out that is not always as easy as it might be as our tough results in the gtmo case. the risk of leaving it on too thick to back up and emphasize the point that the stone is getting across the water and the sort of depth it's true in the commission you only need two-thds of the jurors in the non-catal case. from t cover my pspective that is a advantae. but i just wnt to p