mr. doyle: of course, the biggest winners last night were our two charities, the national literacy council and the boys and girls club of washington, d.c. the final numbers aren't in as donations are still coming in, but we've gone over the $150,000 mark for our charities last night. i want to commend our republican team for a hard-fought game. they gave us a tough game right up until the last inning and kept all the fans in their seats until the very end. we had a couple outstanding plays on the democratic side. all of us woke up with great chagrin this morning to watch espn's top 10 and see anthony weiner as number nine top 10 -- and also some outstanding leading from steve driehaus. but the m.v.p.'s on the democratic side were killer bees, joe baca, mr. boccieri and mr. baird. all had outstanding games. so, madam speaker, once again, the coveted roll call trophy stays blue and i'd like to recognize my good friend, the republican manager, joe barton. mr. barton: madam speaker, there have been

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 need for a serious review of safety practices in the entire oil and gas industry. just this weekend, chevron spilled as much as 500 barrels of oil into a stream in utah, and in the last few weeks, there been

mr. doyle, opening statement. >> mr. chairman, thank you for convening this hearing today so we can begin to understandhat went so tragically wrong on the deep water horizon. we're now 59 days into this tragedy and oil continues to gush into the gulf of mexico. the estimates for how much oil spills into the gulf each day continue to rise and we still have no way to cap the well in the near future. we sit helplessly as we wait for a relief well to be completed. as the details and facts about deep water horizon come to light it is clear to us all that the decisions made by officials at bp that refleked bad judgment at best and criminal nemps at worst, thrgh this committee's investigation, we've learned that at nearly every turn, bp cut corners. and n well design, the number of centralizers they used, whether to run a cement bond lock, circulating drilling muds and securing the well head with a lockdown sleeve, bp took the path of least resistance. on tuesday, colleagues and competitives from the oil and gas industry provid

mr. doyle, opening statement. >> mr. chairman, thank you for convening this hearing today so we can begin to understand wwat went so tragically wrong on the deep water horizon. we're now 59 days into this tragedy and oil continues to gush into the gulf of mexico. the estimates for how much oil spills into the gulf each day continue to rise and we still have no way to cap the well in the near future. we sit helplessly as we wait for a relief well to be completed. as the details and facts about deep water horizon come to light it is clear to us all that the decisions made by officials at bp that reflektded bad judgment at best and criminal nemps at worst, through this committee's investigation, we've learned that at nearly every turn, bp cut corners. and n well design, the number of centralizers they used, whether to run a cement bond lock, circulating drilling muds and securing the well head with a lockdown sleeve, bp took the path of least resistance. on tuesday, colleagues and competitives from the oil and gas industry

mr. doyle, opening statement? >> mr. chairman, thank you for convening this hearing today so we can begin to understand what went to tragically wrong on the deepwater horizon. we are now 59 days into this tragedy, and oil continue to gush into the gulf of mexico. the estimates for how much oil spills into the gulf each day continue to rise, and we still have no way to cap the well in the near future. we sit helplessly as we wait for a relief well to be completed as the details and facts come to lying, it is clear to us all that the decisions made by officials at bp that reflected bad judgment at best and criminal negligence at worst. there this committee's investigation we have learned that at nearly every turn, bp cut corners, in well design, the number of centralizers they used, whether to run a cement log, surry county lating drilling muds and securing the drig head with the lock-down sleeve. bp took the path of least resistance. on tuesday, testimony was given that they beliefed bp had delinquencies in well stein and

quips mr. doyle for questions, please. >> thank you. in your testimony, you said that some of the best minds and the best expertise are being brought to bear on the oil spill and it is difficult to imagine a gathering of a larger, more technically proficient team in one place at one time. i know that is meant to reassure us that everything possible is being done, but it makes me wonder who was making these key decision before the accident. one of these key decisions was which type of pipe to insert in the well -- a single tube from the top or a two piece liner with a tiebacks up. the second offers more barriers to unintended flow. on tuesday, the other oil companies we talked to told us they would have chosen that design. looking back at the decision, it seems to have had serious consequences. were you involved in that decision? >> i was not involved. >> were you aware of that decision? >> i was not involved or aware of any decisions being made in this well as it was being drilled. >> we asked senior executives. they told us it was in t

the gentleman recognizes mr. doyle. >> would you all agree that america's confidence in the ability to go to deepwater safely has been shaken by this statement? and it is in all of your best interest to restore the confidence, because we want this resource, but this price is way too high of a price to pay for it, what we're seeing right now? let me ask you this question. i get asked this a lot. mr. tillerson, you said we need to stop this before it happens because once it happens we don't have a good way to stop what's going on here, right? a lot of people have suggested this idea of why isn't it required that we drill a relief well at the same time we're drilling the main well so that if this situation that is occurring right now, if that relief well was already drilled and sitting there, that we would have been able to cap this well certainly a lot quicker than we're doing right now. i'd like to hear from each one of you whether or not you think it is a good idea to require that a relief well be drilled simultaneousl