after that, kenneth feinberg on the government's role on executive pay and the gulf of mexico oil spill compensation fund. and lawrence summers on plans to extend the commercial sector to wireless devices. >> c-span is available in over 100 million homes, bringing you washington our way. created by america's cable companies. >> senator robert byrd became the longest serving member of congress last november. he was elected in 1953. he died late monday morning at the age of 92. his colleagues offered distribute. mr. reid: mr. president, our senate family grieves today with the byrd family over the loss of one of the most dedicated americans ever to serve this country, one of the most devoted men ever to serve his state, one of the most distinguished members ever to serve in the united states senate. robert byrd's mind was one of the greatest the world's ever seen. as a boy, he was called upon when he was in elementary school to stand before the class and recite not paragraphs from the assignment of the night before but pages of the night before. he did this with memory. from his graduatio

. >> kenneth feinberg will oversee the payments. he ran the 9/11 victims' compensation fund and is currently the government's pay-czar, setting salary limits for bailedded out companies. in addition, b.p. upon contribute $100 million to help oil industry workers who have been idled by the federal moratorium on democratsea drilling. after today's talks, the b.p. chairman also announced the oil giant will suspend dividend payments to its shareholders for the rest of the year to ensure it meets commitments to the gulf coast. >> i would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the american people on behalf of all the employees in b.p. many of whom are living on the gulf coast. i hear comment sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care. but that is not the case in b.p. we care about the small people. >> woodruff: since the spill began 58 days ago, b.p.'s stock has been hammered down to half its previous value, and in recent days, talk of a claims fund raised new concerns in britain. prime minister david cam

this fund will be administered by kenneth feinberg who oversaw the 9/11 victims compensation fund at a number of other things. this would replace the current bp claims process in which you are in charge of. what discussions have you had with your colleagues at bp and the federal government about this proposal and how your team will transition to the new process? >> as you have mentioned, this was recently announced. after conversations between our executive team and the administration. there are lots of discussions taking place over the next few days and weeks to determine how the transition will take place. at this time, i do not have those details. >> i understand. senator mccain, thank you. >> just a follow up on the chairman's question, mr. newman, you stated that you feel that your liability is only that that may have been caused by diesel release from the rig either above or below the surface, is that correct? >> yes, sir, that is my understanding of the company's responsibility under the opa. >> miss fleming, do you have you of that? >> this is not my level of expertise. but i

kenneth feinberg has been in that job for about a year. hosted by american university, this is about an hour. >> let me get started and welcome everybody. i am the director of the summer institute on law and government at the american university washington college of law or the are doing a couple of weeks of exciting and timely programming on law and government related issues. as part of that program, we have had a number of different lectures and speakers on a variety of subjects. in line with that, it is a great privilege and honor to have ken feinberg with us today. i have known him for longer than 30 years. i was a boston globe reporter in the washington bureau and ken was working for senator edward kennedy and his legislative staff in the 1970's. can is here for a very different reason. his career in the last two decades really this bruce the assumption that lawyers go into law because they cannot do math. in fact, it can has done the opposite and made a career out of working with a rather important numbers. most visibly, i think the

additional means of ensuring a fair and transparent process, today, an independent mediator, kenneth feinberg has been appointed to oversee the claims process. bp has committed to setting aside $20 billion in an escrow fund to pay legitimate claims. i would also like to briefly discuss the reimbursement of the federal government response costs. to date, the coast guard has sent bp and other responsible parties two invoices for federal government costs, totaling slightly more than $70 million. bp has paid these invoices promptly by wire transfer. in closing, i would like to add a personal note. my ties to the gulf coast run deep. i was born and raised in louisiana. i went to high school and college there and graduate school there. my family has spent many summers on the gulf coast. my mother lost her home of 45 years in hurricane katrina. the recovery process was sometimes time consuming and incredibly frustrating. i know firsthand that the people in this region cannot afford lengthy delays in addressing economic losses caused by this spill. i volunteered for this assignment because i am passi

mississippi republican governor, mary landrieu, massachusetts democratic governor ed markey, kenneth feinberg, the independent administrator of the bp escrow fund and a former shell oil president. on abc's "this week," jake tapper will talk with rahm emanuel. on "face the nation, got you will hear a louisiana congressman and senator richard shelby. you'll hear the florida democratic senator and the california democrat barbara boxer. on cnn's they will have dianne feinstein and the alaska and senator and a connecticut independent joseph lieberman. you can listen to all five of the sunday morning talk show starting at noon eastern on cspan radio on90.1 fm. we are on the web at cspan radio.org and you can follows on facebook or twitter. >> he was a volatile, emotional, very complicated kind of the press of young man. he was very adventuress. when he was in america, he was 25. >> take a new look at alexis de top fell and his 1831 tour of america. abroad -- alexis de tocqueville and his 1831 tour america. fcc commissioner robert mcdowell talks about the use of public airwaves for emergency airwave