mr. upton: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i, too, want to compliment the members on our committee, both republican and democrat, not only in our subcommittee that mr. markey chairs and i'm the ranking member, but also chairman waxman and ranking member barton. this has been a multiyear effort, it really has. this bill is the product of that work. we have had a number of classified hearings and discussions and briefings over the last couple years with members attending for hours at a time. we have had some public hearings as well. and this bill is a part of that which is exactly why the bill passed out of full committee 47-0 on a roll call vote. the security of our nation's energy infrastructure from attack is one of the most important issues that this congress might address this year. and it's not an issue that we could take lightly. energy as we know, electricity, literally powers our economy in everything that weo. even small price spikes and supply havoc on our economy for perhaps who knows how long, and it is

let me turn and recognize the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. >> thank you. mr. mckay. you indicated b.p. is looking toopay all legitimate damages. are you will to put in an escrow account enough money to pay as such chair damages as might be expected? >> we've been very clear from day one that we as a responsible party under open 90 we will be responsible and living up to the obligations of open 90. i cannot comment whether there will be a fund set aside or not. we made it clear the company stands behind these commitments. we've got a trong balance seat and intend to stand behind note. i cannot commit one way or another whether the fund would serve that if nurtance. >> not a this point? >> i can't comment yes oo no. >> why not? the buck stopts there. >> we'll honor all legitimate claims and the full company stands behind that. >> have you asked the federal government for any help you've not received? >> not that i know of. >> what grade would you give the administration in its efforts to stop the spill? >> we've been cooperating in every way we know how with the admini

like to recognize my distinguished colleague from michigan, the ranking member of the subcommittee, mr..upton. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i thank you for calling this very important hearing. what happened on the deepwater horizon rig was truly an american tragedy. also like was heartbreaking and the environmental and economic damage that worsens by the date is that wwenching. as i've said many times before, it needs to be crystal clear to all of yoo that the polluter will pay. the american taxpayer should not and will not be on the hook for the cost of this accident. but economic and environmental. nor should consumers be punished with tax increases passed in the name of the bp sppll that would only serve to add cost to hard-working americans and further weaken our economy. we now have the opportunity to look bp america in the eye and demand that they fulfill their responsibility for the disaster in the gulf, and the important step is the creation of an esccow account that will insure american taxpayers on not left holding the bag. in the wake of this tragedy, we must work

i should mr. upton is here from michigan member of the full of kmeeft and -- >> mr. hayward, according to the occupational safe taken health administration there is mounting evidence that bp is one of the worst safety records of any major oil company operating in the united states. is there a culture that led to disasters like the refinery explosion in texas city, texas and the alaska oil pipeline spill? >> i think we've acknowledged in 2005 and 2006 that we had serious issues and as a consequence set out to implement systematic change in the culture and safety of bp. i set the tone from the top by saying very clearly safe, reliable operations were our number one priority. we invested billions of dollars in the integrity of that plan. we've recruited many thousands of engineers and technologists into our company including many from other industries such as the nuclear industry and other parts of the chemical and oil and gas industry and we have changed fundamentally a whole approach to the management of our operations through the implementation of significant changes

mr. markey. >> turn on your microphone and move it in a little closer. >> thank you chairman markey and ranking member upton. >> move the microphone in just a little closer. >> ok. very good. thank you, mr. chairman and ranking member upton. my name is john watson and i do lead chevron. as we meet today the tragedy in the gulf of mexico does continue to unfold. our thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones. workers who were injured and communities that are dealing with the economic and ecological damage. for chevron this tragedy is very personal. our employees knew people who died on the deep water horiion. more than 13,000 chevron employees live and work in the gulf region. we have a very personal stake in operating saaely but it is our home, to. for our industry, this is a humbling experience. the american people expect that the energy we need will be produced safely and reliably aad that did not happen here. this morning i'll focus our comments on what chevron did immediately following the accident and why i believe deep water development can be done safely. after the deep water horizon accident

i now yield two minutes to the gentleman from michigan, mr. upton. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from michigan is recognized for two minutes. mr. upton: it's a great day in michigan. thank you, madam speaker. i rise in support of defeating the previous question which is next vote here on house floor. i worked for ronald reagan. we have a $1.5 trillion deficit this year. the last thing that we should do is to raise taxes. the first thing that we should do is cut spending. as many folks here know, the republican side has been offering five different proposals every week for the last month or so letting folks across america vote on the proposal that they think merits the most sense. this week was my proposal that, one, that is we are going to tell the i.r.s. that we're not, not going to hire another 15,000-some i.r.s. agents in the next couple of years to monitor health care, and we will save the taxpayers $5 billion to $10 billion. billion as in big. that's not a bad proposal. save the taxpayers some money by not hiring 15,000 more bureaucrats

i should mr. upton is here from michigan member of the full of kmeeft and -- >> mr. hayward, according to the occupational safe taken health administration there is mounting evidence that bp is one of the worst safety records of any major oil company operating in the united states. is there a culture that led to disasters like the refinery explosion in texas city, texas and the alaska oil pipeline spill? >> i think we've acknowledged in 2005 and 2006 that we had serious issues and as a consequence set out to implement systematic change in the culture and safety of bp. i set the tone from the top by saying very clearly safe, reliable operations were our number one priority. we invested billions of dollars in the integrity of that plan. we've recruited many thousands of engineers and technologists into our company including many from other industries such as the nuclear industry and other parts of the chemical and oil and gas industry and we have changed fundamentally a whole approach to the management of our operations through the implementation of significant changes

mr. upton: i'd echo the remarks. i knew marv esche as a staffer. he was a wonderful man dedicated to this house. we will all miss him and it is sometimes tough to be a wolverine and he was a great wolverine. i yield back the balance of my time. mr. dingell: mr. speaker, i ask that the house have a moment of silence in honor of our former colleague and friend, marvin esche. the speaker pro tempore: members rise in a moment of silence. the speaker pro tempore: without objection, five-minute voting will continue. the unfinished business is the vote on the motion of the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. kind, to suspend the rules and pass h.r. 5552 as amended on which the yeas and nays were ordered. the clerk will report the title of the bill. the clerk: h.r. 5552, a bill to amend the internal reven knew code of 1986 -- revenue code of 1986 so that the payment of the excise tax be paid quarterly and for thh assessment by the secretary of the treasury of certain criminal restitutions. the speaker pro tempore: the question is will the house suspend the rules

mr. chairman. and thank you for having this hearing together with the ranking member upton. the title of the hearing is drilling down on america's energy future, safety, security, and clean energy. i am not sure that the title is appropriate as well as listening to some of these opening statements. the bottom line is that all of us are frustrated in congress as well as the gulf coast residents. we do not understand wwy bp did not act more quickly. 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 the