lamar mckay, the president and chairman of b.p. america. mr. mckay, please begin when you are ready. >> thank you. chairman markey, ranking member upton and members of the committee, i am chairman and president of b.p. america. before addressing the main topic of today's hearing, i would like to reiterate the profound sorrow and regret all of us at b.p. feel for the loss of life and the oil spill horizon explosion and fire. this is very prnlbole to me and b.p. i am from mississippi. i grew up in mississippi. i spent summers on the gulf coast. most of my family's in new orleans. anha

i asked ceo lamar mckay, how many barrels are coming out, and he said 5000. then i read to him from his own reports that he can handle up to 300,000 barrels a day 10 miles offshore. the question is, why can you handle 5000? obviously that number was not correct. we now have an oil spill that is seven times the exxon valdez, and yet there is no end in sight at this point. the purpose of this hearing is to ask these executives, the people taking the top salaries innthe world, and to get to their spot they have unusual acumen, foresight, energy, business awareness, and obviously have a lot of corporate political savvy to get where they are. they would not get here -- they would not be here otherwise. how can you say to us that america is protected with all the oil rigs that you have? we have almost 3800 in the gulf. can you tell us that america will be safe in that you have backup worst-case scenarios? he did not even tell us the right 5,000 barrels a days. obviously it was not bad. we need to hear from you under oath that you can in the worst- case scenario pro

when the current chairman and president lamar mckay took over, i met with him and he suggested that he hoped to improve the culte enough to make the ombudsman office unnecessary so he could shut it down. i urged him not to eliminate the office because it serves a significant role in investigating employee complaints. i'm more concerned than ever about bp's safety and the role they take in assuming risk. i'm concerned that the corporate culture, the chairman of president of lamar mckay that there's a willingness to cut costs and take greater risks, i look forward to hearing the aners of mr. hayward our many hard hitting committee member also hear today. i hope we will hear honest, contrite and substantive answers. mr. hayward, you owe it to all americans, for the americans who live and work on the gulf coast, it may be years before they get their lives back, for the americans who lost their lives on the rigs, their families may never get their lives back. mr. hayward, i'm sure you will get your life back and with a golden parachute back to england. but we in america areeft with a terrib

when the current chairman and president lamar mckay took over, i met with him and he suggested that he hoped to improve the culture enough to make the ombudsman office unnecessary so he could shut it down. i urged him not to eliminate the office because it serves a significant role in investigating employee complaints. i'm more concerned than ever about bp's safety and the role they take in assuming risk. i'm concerned that the corporate culture, the chairman of president of lamar mckay that there's a willingness to cut costs and take greater risks, i look forward to hearing the answers of mr. hayward our many hard hitting committee member also hear today. i hope we will hear honest, contrite and substantive answers. mr. hayward, you owe it to all americans, for the americans wh% live and work on the gulf coast, it may be years before they get their lives back, for the americans who lost their lives on the rigs, their familiis may never get their lives back. mr. hayward, i'm sure you will get your life back and with a golden parachute back to england. but we in america are left with a

when the current chairman and president, lamar mckay took over, i met with him and he said he odom to improve the culture enough to make the office none yes. i urged him not to eliminate the office because it served a significant role in investigating employee complaints. i am more concerned now than ever about bp's safety and the role they take in assuming risk. i am concerned that the culture from tony hayward down to the chief operating officer, that there is a willingness to cut costs and take greater risks. i look forward to herring mr. hayward answer the many hard-hitting questions our committee members will ask today. i hope well hear honest, contrite and substantive answers. we are not small people, but we wish to get our lives back. for americans who live and work on the gulf of mexico, it may be years before they get their lives back. for the families who lost members on the rig. i am sure you will get your life back, and with a golden parachute back to england. we are left with the consequences of bp's reckless disregard to charne. i yield back my time and turn to mr. burge