marvin odom who is the president of the shell il company. he is also on the board of the american petroleum institute. we welcome you. please begin when you are ready. >> thank you, chairman markey, ranking member upton and members of the committee. i'm marvin odom. i'd like to acknowledge the situation in the gulf of mexico which is on the minds of every american. pll of us at shell are deeply saddened by the deep water horizon explosion and the aftermath. a terrible tragedy for the families of those who lost their lives or were injured. and many of our employees and customers live along the gulf coast and feel that pain firsthand. getting to the root cause of this incident is critical. we want to know what went wrong with the well and the execution of this well design. as a investigation, findings are available, shell will incorporate any learningso into our operations worldwide. since the beginning shell made expert equipment and facilities available to b.p. and the responders, including our robert training center outside of new orleans a

both chevron and shell say they can handle over two hundred thousand barrrls per day.exxon says and they can handle over 150,000 barrels per day. that is far more oil than is currently leaking into the gulf. but when you look at the the details, it becomes evident that these plans are just paper exercises. bp failed miserably when confronted with a real leak, and one can only wonder whether exxoo and mobil and the other companies will do any better. it contacteds with the response corp. to provide equipment for a response. all the other companiessrely on this same contractor. bp's plan shows another contractor who will organize spill removal. all of the other companies use a the same contractor. bp's plan relies on 22,000 gallons of dispersant tored in mississippi. so do the other companies. i could go on, but i think you can get my point. these are cookie cutter plans. you re as unprepared as bp was, and that is a serious problem. in your testimony and responses to questions, you say that you're different from bp. but when ou examined the company's response plans for

bp, shell, conocophillips, aad chevron have plans with short media relations sections. exxonmobil has an entire 40-page appendix devoted to how to respond to the press. it directs public affairs personnel to "maintain on camera skill prooiciency peaky and also -- proficiency." it explains that communications which convey care and concern for the situation and provide relevant factual information are an integral part of exxonmobil's emergency response. it sets up a four-tiered system of who can respond to media inquiries. the highest level, category d, dictates special treatment for questions about global warming and the exxon valdez. the exxonmobil plan contains 13 detailed, pre-drafted press releases for almost any occasion. give this a minute here. there is a fully drafted press release for an accident involving an exxonmobil facility. if the injury occurred off site, there is a separate press release for that. six of the stockpiled press releases are ready to express that they "deeply regret" an outcome while two more press releases rate -- stand ready to -- stand re

by shell. exxonmobil. it is more of a convenience of speech. british petroleum is the name of the company. nobody should be unclear about that. with respect to the government's ability to operate, this is a very serious issue for this government. this is regardless of who is president. government is designed basically to govern, rule, regulation. when the bureaucracy gets built and they checked the requirements of the bureaucracy, it is anything but efficient or effective. operational management and execution do not seem to be high requirements of the manner in which government operates. the customer service, the customer focus of government -- i lived through katrina. it wasn't on medicated government debacle. it was because of the inability or unwillingness of people to make decisions in real time affecting real people's lives here and now. it was horrific. i lived through hurricane ike which came into galveston four years after katrina. it was the same debacle. there is an inability to make

both chevron and shell say they can handle more than 200,000

shell o, is that h you would do it? guest: you have to make decisns relative to what the situation requires. from the beginning, this was going to be a big flow of oil r a vy long time. the fact that we did not change thparadigm from the traditional method of cleaning up oil in retrospect is a mistake andvery daye do not address suckinghe oil out of the sea, we compound the mistake. host: how you gauge the political reaction to what happened and the post-leak and how it is being cleaned up? guest: the political reaction has gone in different phases. the administration wantedo distance itself from the events initially. this is not a pleasant thing to be associated with. as it got worse and worse, the administration realized it had to get involved. congress was pushing it. members of the public were pushing it. various environmental groups are pushing it so it had to get hands-on and operate is not a nice thing to be involved in. that is the way it is. i think is a different kind of distancing of the paper -- of dp. bp is

we were playing in uranium shells and taking pictures. we are all sick from the radiation. and then you come back with fax later on stating it took this amount of time -- and then you come back later on with facts stating it took this amount of time to figure this out. host: we will leave it there. and guest: i want to thank you for your service to the country. i know when you serve your country, it stands that we owe to our veterans of our nation. i do not know about your claims, and we have tried to focus on one containable issue i would say, which is how we could all work together to clean up the dioxin. that is somethiig that american veterans have taken care of, which is their dioxin claims are still important to look at as well. our focus was cleaning up the mess that was left there. there is a pretty simple principle, whether it is bp, if you make up, help clean it up. -- if you make a mess, help clean it up. host: walton -- walter isaacson is with the aspen institute. guest: the ford foundation came and said something this is something they have seen it in vietnam.

and we're hopeful that with all the work that shell has done, all the scrutiny that they have received, not only from mms and every agency from the coast guard to the epa, through every level of the judicial process, that the plan that they have proffered and supplemented since the deepwater horizon spill will be one that works to not only provide the jobs and the resource we need, but to do so in a manner that is air tight when it comes to rponse and capability and capacity. thank you, madam chair. >> if you'd like to answer that quickly and then we're going to adjourn the hearing. >> happy to respond to it very quickly, and that is, the moratorium that is in place does in fact apply to the alaska wells and to the exploration wells proposed to put into place, and that's because we need to have a greater level of certainty that the kind of tragedy unfolding in the gulf doesn't occur up there. and we will be working on it in the weeks and months ahead and we'll be working with you as well to make sure we're doing the right thing for the environment in alaska as well as for the interests

we ask them questions. --, called phillips and shell. we ask if they would have proceeded, and everyone of them said no. they were asked about safety measures. or the safety -- are there safety measures that your company could have taken to prevent this incident? everyone of them said yes. you are here this morning saying your company had no reckless behavior, yet all of your peers, the ceo of exxon, chevron,," phillips, and shell, all pointed out your reckless behavior. later on, alberta and warned that the well could have a severe problem. were you aware of halliburton's warning? what i want to know is, you, in your position, has anyone understaffed 32 about held burton warner company it could have a severe f-bomb -- about halliburton warning it could have a severe incident? a bp official who recognized the risk of proceeding for caution to the went in an e-mail just four days before the disaster, stating who cares, it is done, in the of story. did you know about that email? >> i had no prior knowledge prior to the incident whatsoever.

. >> my concern is chevron and shell in your case, its 200,000 barrels a day in your response plan. that is a lot more than is currently leaking out into the gulf. on paper, these plans might seem reassuring. the reality shows that you cannot prevent oil from reaching the gulf shores. mr. tillerson states a response that exxonmobil prepared for these the mets -- commitments in its permit including a worst- case scenario. do you stand by that statement? >> i do, because the permit does not guarantee that the oil will not get to shore. nor does it guarantee that it will all be contained. >> where it 40,000 barrels a day? 40,000 is what we have been saying. exxonmobil's worst case scenario is for 160,000 barrels per day. how can you say you wwuld be a lot of control of spill four times bigger than the current spell using the same plan that bp has with the same contractors bp is using? >> as i said, we would use the response capability to the maximum extent practical. and in the model that we provide as part of the permitting in conformance with what the regulatory bodies required -- >>

shell has 28. conocophillips has 10. you do not pay any money in royalties, to the american people with the people of the guuf of mexico, for the right to drill for oil, and make billions and billions in profit. when you are asked if you can't stop the massive quantities of oil that are now running the beaches, killing the wildlife and devassating the economy, you say that you are not well- equipped. the catastrophic impact is simply unavoidable. this is unacceptable to the people in the gulf of mexico. this is unacceptable to the this is unacceptable to the people of this

mentioned in my opening statement the gulf of mexico response plans for exxonmobil, conoco phillips and shell are virtually identical to b.p.'s, and just as depisht. -- as deficient. as you can see by looking at the covers of these five plans on the screen and over my head, the pictures are the same for each plan. all that's changed is the color of the cover of the plan from each of the companies seated at the table. this tillerson, like b.p. on page 116 of your plan the response plan lists walruses under sensitive, biological and human resources. as i'm sure you know, there aren't any walruses in the gulf of mexico and there have not been for three million years. how can exxonmobil have walruses in their response plan for the gulf of mexico? p> congressman markey, those response plans incorporate a number of broad-based studies, marine mammal studies, many of which are part of the e.i.s. statements put together by the m.m.s. and much of the response plan and what is contained in it by regular nation, including the models that are used to project different scenarios for oil spills and many of

host: that caller, steve mentioned the former president of shell oil. we entered -- interviewed him on his new book last week and it aired this past weekend on book -- you can see it on book tv .org. he will also be a best -- guest on "washington journal" tomorrow. this is from politico this morning. wall street has dramatically expanded its influence on capitol hill this last year using a lobbying army that includes nearly 1500 former federal employees and 73 former members of congress who have been deployed -- during debate on financial reform legislation. back to your calls in branch, louisiana. randy, republican. caller: we absolutely have to drill in the gulf of mexico for the oil. better than 30% of the u.s. energy output comes from there. the issue that i think is being ignored is why was bp drilling in 5,000 feet of water, and that is because they were boxed into the corner by environmentalists and politicians in washington who for the last 40 years have passed laws precluding our drilling in areas that made more sense like the outer continental

but she indicated that you have worked for shell and what other companies?ome of the major oil companies are shell and general electric, and bp, of course. engineering procurement and construction companies include -- >> let's stipulate for the record this is not your first -- the reason i am asking is because i am trying to get some comparative analysii based on the testimony you have given us with regard your experience with british petroleum and the platform atlantis, and other platforms which you may have worked on. i suspect you are a pretty thorough guide. you sound like you are. this kind of documentation for plans and drawings that you described in your testimony is the same kind of information he would request for shell or any of the other companies to work with? >> absolutely, it is standard engineering practice. >> and it was forthcoming in those other instances? you had better not do it improperly, or you would not be there. >> are you saying based upon your experience of seven years time you have spent on shoree%- that there seems to be a cultur

the coal company often sets up a shell company or to to operate a job and then defaults on the bond.in other cases, the company decides to make the site a model example of their responsibility. they returned "to a proximate condors." -- "to a proximate condorcontou" they plant non native grasses and then celebrate the site as an example of how good for appellation up mountain top removal coal mining is. why they even build a presencprn one former site. the foundations of cited, and the locals call atir "sink sini" in less than one year, international coal groups and others to join in this list of shame bring down in affable mounds of profound past that should have a future, and americans take even less than one year to burn up the coal for which it was all done forever. shame on us. this practice is the stain on the conscience of america. there areemany missed promulgated by the coal companies, and those that keep dependent on them through the mano economy they have created in the mountains and maintained since the first broad form deep. the charleston, west virginia paper this week

the coal company often sets up a shell company or to to operate a job and then defaults on the bond. in other cases, the company decides to make the site a model example of their responsibility. they returned "to approximate contours." a farce. it was a government concession to coal interests. they plant non native grasses and then celebrate the site as an example of how good for appalachia mountain top removal coal mining is. why, they even build a prison on one former site. the foundation subsided, and the locals call it "sink sink." [laughter] on another site, they built a golf course. i am not keen on reinforcing stereotypes, but i do not know a lot of hillbillies who golf. in less than one year, international coal groups and others to join in this list of shame bring down ineffable mountains of profound past that should have a future, and americans take even less than one year to burn up the coal for which it was all done forever. shame on us. this practice is the stain on the conscience of america. there are many misseyths promuld by the coal companies, and those that keep depe

come up with a shell name of the organization and actually spend millions and millions of dollars in an election to influence the outcome. that should not be. i don't care what your political philosophy is. we should not want foreign governments or foreign interests to influence our elections. elections here should be decided by the people of the united states, not by other countries, not by foreign interests. and i would -- i would again remind my colleagues that as we speak there are, you know, millions and millions of dollars being spent on negative ads all over the country against republicans and against democrats. . they are responsibled by entities that have nice names but may be funded by someone who has an interest in the outcome of the election. i think it's important with these negative health care ads being run that people know they are being run by the insurance industry. and when we have offending behavior of b.p. we know they are being spent by interest tied to big oil. this is about transparency. this is about full disclosure. this has nothing to do with abridging anyb

shell, chevron, if anybody had an idea how to do it i guarantee you it would be out there. this is not good for the industry and didn't have a good day on the hill today. this is, if, you know, the -- the suits in houston are not having fun tonight. and this is not a good thing. and itch the, if they could they would. i guarantee you that the president wants to shut the hole, i don't doubt that. i don't doubt that bp wants to shuttle the hole. but the point is that -- you have got to use the entire force of the federal government to force bp to do things. that means the justice department, everything else. the entire force of the federal government has got to be involved in the recovery. entire force of the federal government has to be involved in restoring the louisiana coastline and making these people right. that's the important thing. when the federal, the president and the government have a lot of power. and when they use it in the right direction, it's got to be power that people can feel. now, i want that hole closed, i'm not sure that all of the power on the earth k

now, if the oil coats of shell then the spat can't stick, and this can continue for years. >> reporter : byron encalade is president of the louisiana oysts, or association. he testified before the house judiciary committee last thursday and said the oil disaster, much like katrina, has been decadees in the making. >> once again we find ourselves crippled by a disaster we did not create. >> reporter: of the residents in plaquiminess parish are pushing hard for the government to quickly construct barrier sand islands to buffer louisiana's wetlands against storms and oil spills and to replace islands that were already disappearing at an alarming rate. >> without those islands out there, we're not protected from the hurricanes. instead of wasting all these money on the projects the corps is doing, we'd be in better shape now. we could have protected the inner marsh land. from you've destroyed millions and millions of dollars worth of oysters that this community survived on for many-- a hundred years. >> reporter: but these fishermen have other concerns as well, though their rhetoric has ca

this mmrning, we will hear from the ceo's of exxon, shell, and that begins on c-span 3. thursday, bp ceo tony heyward will appear on the bp role in the oil spill. live coverage is that o'clock a.m. eastern on cspan 3. for more information on the gulf oil spill, visit our web site c- span.org/oil spill. president obama made his fourth trip to the gulf coast yesterday following the april 20 explosion on the deepwater oil exploration rig. he ended the day in florida after visiting alabama and mississippi. he returned to washington for an oval office address. >> a number of our elected officials are here. it is from this staging area and 1600 like it across the gulf coast that our response to the oil spill is being carried out. i saw what is being done to repair and decontaminate boom, to train volunteers, and to help with the cleanup efforts. the hard work and sense of purpose on behalf of the people of alabama as well as the gulf coast is inspiring. i had a chance during discussions with state and local officials to reiterate to them what i have been saying across the coas

they precipitate calcium caonate out of their shells. clams take calcium carbonate out to makehells. perhaps most importantly, large amounts of the plankton that are the base of the food chain, take calcium carbonate to make the little structures of their bodyo make these shell-like forms. and as the oceans become more acidic -- and this is disturbing and this is toocus americans' attention on. as the oceans become more acidic, these life forms actually dissolve in the acidic waters of the ocean. and we are now approaching the area, the level where the acidic waters of the pacific, atlantic, southern, northern oceans will actually dissolve these life forms. let me tell you how dangerous this is. the director of the national -- director of national oceanic and atmospheric administration. she has come here and shown us photographic evidence of shells, the little calcium carbonate sources of 40% of the base of the food chain. and she's shown us pictures of these little creares actually dissolving in water that will be acidic as it will be a

had three times as many as a company like shell that had about 80 infractions and a company like halliburton only had 7. >> ifill: is there a culture in b.p. that brings this about? >> well, that's what we've looking at. we started looking into their past actions and trying to see if it shed any light on what's happening now in the gulf. we found a very consistent pattern going back 11 years according to our investigation where b.p. especially up in al as ka but in operations across the country fell behind on its maintenance, skipped maintenance in some cases often to save money and didn't encourage feedback from workers who would serve as a first line of defense in alerting company to problems with its equipment. when workers did complain or did cite safety situation or a pipeline, for example, they were often harassed or a message was sent that their complaints weren't welcome. in many cases they lost their jobs. this is documented by b.p. in a series of internal reports consistently in 2000 and 2001, 2004, 2007 and i'm still hearing reports that are very similar today. >> ifill: if there

in addition, the chief executive of shell said, "is not a shell that we would have drilled, and there are occupational concerns." if i had delivered a baby that resulted in of bad outcome, a seriously bad outcome, and two of my friendly competitors, a well-respected peers, and said that i had practiced below the standard of care, i would be in a serious world of hurt. reflecting on the fact that two of your major competitors said drilled a well in a what isdard oway, your reflection on the way that bp drilled the well? >> there are clearly some issues that our investigation has identified, and when the investigation is complete, we will draw the right conclusions. >> well, with all due respect, you have had 59 days, and you are not exactly moving with a fever pitch here. do you believe that bp was a drilling the well following the best safety practices and that you claimed to reinvigorate when you were promoted a few years ago? >> if i sound at any point that anyone -- if i found at any point that anyone at bp put cost ahead of safety, would take action. >> do you believe the decision

the former president of shell oil, a new book, "what we hate the oil companies." booktv kicks off at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. booktv.org for the full schedule of nonfiction books over the next 48 hours. enjoy your weekend. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] . >> today on book tv. >> c-span, our public affairs content is available on television, radio, and on line. you can also connect with us on tour, facebook -- twitter, facebook, and youtube. >> next, law officials talk about -- an event hosted by the immigration and customs enforcement bureau. this portion runs about two and half hours. >> good morning. we will be getting started here. once again, good morning and welcome to the ipr center. my name is rick halverson. in the unit chief at the center. i will be your mc today. a few housekeeping notes before i introduce our first speaker. here at the ipr center, for the restroom, there are keys. there are two restaurants directly behind the auditorium. the doors should be open. if we

tomorrow, the oil company ceos will be on capitol, including the heads of exxon mobil, shell, and bp.will have live coverage as they answered questions from the house oversight committee starting at 9:30 on c-spaa3. + tomorrow night, president obama will address the nation from the oval office and talk about steps the nation is taking to address the oil spill. live coverage of that speech at 8:00 on the c-span networks and online. coming up thursday, the ceo of bp is set to testify on capitol3 he'll be questioned by the house energy and commerce oversight committee about the handling of the il spill. that is 10:00 eastern on c-span 3 and c-span radio. >> the second one is to continue to press the frontiers of the industry to give access to new supplies to the world. that is at drilling wells to 10 kilometers in the gulf of mexico, beginning to explore under the ice in the arctic. >> the ceo of bp on global policy this past january before the oil spill. he will testify thursday on capitol hill. selah other government offfcials have said about the spill. it is all archived at c-span's v

"usa today" lead editorial " said elena kagan, setting the senate hearings are a hollow shell raid --quotes elena kagan, saying the senate hearings are hollow charade. guest: i spoke to john ul stevens and he says it is an opportunity for the senators to say how important hearings are. beyond that, not to much. there is a certain dynamic to these proceedings, the nominee will pledge her fidelity to the law, will decide existing precedent on important issues, and will promise to pay close attention to separation of powers and the text of the constitution. beyond that, we probably will learn more about her. we will learn about the senators and what they think the priorities of the supreme court should be. host: is there any danger at this point to her being confirmed? guest: it seems unlikely. she is someone who comes in with a pretty strong backing, certainly from all of the democrats, a fair amount of conservative support and a type of very establishment credentials that people expect in the supreme court nominee. she does not come in as a bricklayer or some other type of experience.

it has the privilege of being between a shell refinery and anheuser-busch.n i was growing up, the doctor said to my mom that we need to mow. i had as an allergies. my mom was plotting how we would take toilet paper from the doctors rest room so we would have told the paper at the idea that we would get up and know so we could have an environment that i will not have asthma and allergies was beyond our own beliefs. i am here because i want kids like me to think they have better options. i have three nieces or seven, nine, and the 11 and i am here on their behalf. i have a sister who is an added. they have a father just get out of jail. it is important they play an important part of my life. my mom and i have submitted responsibilities for them as we watched my sister grow. my mom was on public assistance, their mom is on public assistance, and they brought in a community that did not have many choices and statistics tell us they too will be on public assistance the reason i am here is to talk about our rights as movement. our rights as movement is a movement

sortf shell-covered beaches. it's going to be in swamps. it's going to be in all kinds of marsh lands and wetlands and on sandy beaches and you can't pick it up with skimmers. effectively you can't boom it all off. the only real interesting proposal i've seen th with regards of save these wetlands is the state of louisiana to build these sand -- out out of promise. but history teaches us once the oil is spilled, you're not picking it up. host: remember canneine you're on for brian o'neal. caller: hello? hi. i read something the other day, jay pepper asked o'bama at some press conference that there was some 17 countries that offered to help with the cleanup and o'bama only accepted mexics help and norwa -- other countries had started to help with backings, why would we not accept any help to start cleaning this up? or is it even possible to start vacuuming up some oil before it keeps spreading any further? guest: well, a couple of comments. first of all, you can't just go out there and vacuum up the oil. some of it is under water. some of it

boy and his grandfather walking on the beach one day and a storm comes along, scatters all kinds of shells and starfish upon the beach. and there were hundreds of star fish washed up on the beach. and the grandfather made a statement to his grandson, a shame that all those are going to die. the little boy looked perplexed and said, what you mean? the starfish have to live in the water. so the little boy frantically ran down the beach and picked up starfishes past as he could, and throwing them back into the water. the grandfather stop him and said, son, don't waste your time doing that. his justice starfish. you cannot save them all. the little boy reached the arm -- reached down and through the star fish back into the water. i just saved that one. you can be the person that tosses the starfish backed out. you can make a difference in someone's life. so i challenge you as you leave here today, get involved. this school has taught you and pleasant things and put things in front of you -- charitable. it is a gem in the city of memphis, tennessee. you are fortunate to graduate from the christ

o you all keep shelling -- you don't do it, but the media keep showing the same things over and over again. it appears that nothing has been done. oil is just gushing -- which it is. but the amount, you are looking at pictures probably taken on day one. and our local politicians are running around all sympathetic. i recall in the white house when the president swat a fly and animal rights people are all over it. but a republican standing there watching a baby crane in the oil, why did he reach and pick up and where was the outcry? we have a situation in the country where it will drag it down and the biggest thing we have the country is not the oil, ii is the republican party and what will happen is if we do not get our heads out of our back pockets and work together as a nation, we are not going to have anything. host: our last call is from florida, mike, republican line. caller: good morning. thank you for having me. i have been a republican all my life -- i don't have any proceeds coming from the oil mess that is going on. it is an accident. it is a tragic accident but it is a larg

in a nut shell, federalism is the best system because it brgs government closer to the people, it nurtures civic virtue, it protects liberty, it takes advantage of local information, it stimulates policy innovation and it alleviates political tensions. in other words, federalism was the founders' original formula for freedom and good government. it's time to reinvigorate this freedom-enhancing principle of government. again, i know very few people who believe that we should go to the federal government to solve all of our problems. we should first solve the problems that government needs to solve at the local level, then at the state level and as a last resort go to the federal government. unfortunately, too many people think of the federal government first and that complicates our lives. we have a huge deficit and a huge debt right now because too many people have looked to the federal government to solve problems that could have been solved at the local and state levels for much less money and in a much more efficient way. i just give one example. the problem that we're having in the gul

shell had one during theame period there are indicators th perha b.p. was hurrying perhaps there s a test that dn't wk t well. we've heard those rumors and yet we heard the rumor someo yelling the pho after the explosion i told you. i told you. are youpy i td you, something to thaeffe. there are indicatio tha b.p. knew ty were moving too ft and g less. there's no rean for this. no reas for this. propemeasures had been taken. one of the pems we find in america ishen the government decis get involved and do erything themselvesathe than having thesupvisor, th regulatory role that it's sposed to have. iotr rds, what the federal governme is supped to do is make sure ybody plays fair and have them play. and if you have a company that's playing on federal ocn areas, weot to make surtheye no breaking the rules and jpardizing your homeland. anwhen asking the dictor of the minals management sce why it was the teing had not been disos andhe said it's under investigation. those rerts are being utilized in an veigatn. and i asked in our hearinfoa copy of the reports

to follow the money and ensure that special interest money can't hide behind sham organizations and shell corporations. the supreme court has recognized it essential to hold people accountable. voters have the right to know who is trying to buy our leches. the bill requires c.e.o.'s and highest ranking officials of corporations that sponsor political adrtisements to record stand by your ad disclaimers as well as protest taxpayers dollars from misuse by preventing certain government contractors from making campaign related expenditures. the disclosure act also closes a loophole creebate citizens united to ensu foreign corporations and foreign governments aren't able to influence elections by spending unlimited sums through united states subsidiaries or affiliates. by allowing them to make campaign contributions, foreign players could use limitless funds to influence the election. the bill is designed to accommodate nonprofit issues advocacy group who have long participated in polical activity of which their members are aware. the bill must have more than 500,000 dues paying members in all

sort of shell-covered beaches. it's going to be in swamps. it's going to be in all kinds of marsh lands and wetlands and on sandy beaches and you can't pick it up with skimmers. effectively you can't boom it all off. the only real interesting proposal i've seen with with regards of save these wetlands is the state of louisiana to build these sand -- out out of promise. but history teaches us once the oil is spilled, you're not picking it up. host: remember canne line you're on for brian o'neal. caller: hello? hi. i read something the other day, jay pepper asked o'bama at some press conference that there was some 17 countries that offered to help with the cleanup and o'bama only accepted mexico's help and norway -- other countries had started to help with backings, why would we not accept any help to start cleaning this up? or is it even possible to start vacuuming up some oil before it keeps spreading any further? guest: well, a couple of comments. first of all, you can't just go out there and vacuum up the oil. some of it is under water. som

sort of shell-covered beaches. it's going to be in swamps. it's going to be in all kinds of marsh lands andetlands and on sandy beaches and you can't pick it up with skimmers. effectively you c't boom it all off. the only real interesting proposal i've seen with with regards of save these wetlands is the state of louisiana to build these sand -- out out of prome. but history teaches us once the oil is spilled, you're not picking it up. host: remember canne line you're on for brian o'neal. caller: hello? hi. i read something the other day, jay pepper asked o'bama at some press conference that there was some 17 countries that offered to help with the cleanup and o'bama only accepted mexico's help and norway -- other countries had started to help with backings, why would we not accept any help to start cleaning this up? ors it even possible to start vacuuming upome oil before it eps spreading any further? guest: well, a couple of comments. first of all, you can't just go out there and vacuum up the oil. some of it is under water. some of it is i

and in my experience, having seen as many tricks, and games, smokes, mirror, misdirection, shell activities, this ranks right up there at the top of alleged for pure deception relative to treating the american taxpayer in an inappropriate way and significantly increasing our deficit and our debt. a lot is pretty clear. the law said -- i know this because i wrote it -- volos says that the t.a.r.p. funds will go to reduce the deficit and the dead. as they are paid back. why did we to say that? you are there and congressman frank were there. we recognize that we were doing something extraordinary. our people are going have to pay that back, the american people, but we expected and demanded in that bill that the banks pay the money back. we also decided, we should not spend it but use it to pay down the debt which which -- which we encourage and we owed to the chinese or who ever loaned it to us. it was not right to go out and borrow that much money and then have it be spent. what was right was to pay down the debt which had been created to address this crisis. that is what we did. and the mone

"usa today" lead editorial " said elena kagan, setting the senate hearings are a hollow shell raid -- quotes elena kagan, saying the senate hearings are hollow charade. guest: i spoke to john paul stevens and he says it is an opportunity for the senators to say how important hearings are. beyond that, not to much. there is a certain dynamic to these proceedings, the nominee will pledge her fidelity to the law, will decide existing precedent on important issues, and will promise to pay close attention to separation of powers and the text of the constitution. beyond that, we probably will learn more about her. we will learn about the senators and what they think the priorities of the supreme court should be. host: is there any danger at this point to her being confirmed? guest: it seems unlikely. she is someone who comes in with a pretty strong backing, certainly from all of the democrats, a fair amount of conservative support and a type of very establishment credentials that people expect in the supreme court nominee. she does not come in as a bricklayer or some other type of experienc

i think it would be a good idea because it would bring a lot of the money back that we shell out. host: anything there related to the supreme court? he seems to be off topic. we have touched on abortion and welfare. what other high-profile issues have you seen come forth with these papers? guest: there was a debate about assisted suicide and whether or not we needed a law. it was a fairly lively debate in and out of the administration whether or not it was necessary, to leave it up to states. you can see, kagan said, she thought it was a terrible idea. the administration came out with the position, and they told every reporter that these were not her views, per say, but were hurt considered opinions as a policy adviser who was trying to channel president clinton's views. assisted suicide, that is one place where you can see that she weighed-in on the issue. host: here are the phone numbers once again. republicans, 202-737-0001. democrats, 202-737-0002. independents, 202-628-0205. cicero, illinois. walt. independent. caller: i followed the clinton family and their practices for yea

this morning, we will hear from exxon, chevron, and shell oil. live coverage but -- begins at 9:30 a.m. eastern on c-span 3. thursday, bp ceo told me he word will appear at a house oversight and investigations committee -- bp ceo tony hayward. and for more informational of gulf oil spill, visit our website c-span.org/oil spill. tonight at 8:00 eastern, president obama will address the nation from the oval office on the gulf of mexico oil spill. this is his first of all office address. live coverage on the c-span networks, including c-span radio and c-span.org. >> this weekend on c-span2's "book tv," growing up among arabs and israelis. he chronicles -- and a chronicle of the most violent places on earth. and a novel that took him 30 years to publish -- "matter turn -- matterhorn." join us on twitter. more than 30,000 viewers already have. >> "washington journal" continues. host: senator byron dorgan, senator from south dakota. what would you like to hear from the president? caller: i think he will get a pretty comprehensive review of what is happ

sort of shell-covered beaches. it's going to be in swamps. it's going to be in all kinds of marsh lands and wetlands and on sandy beaches and you can't pick it up with skimmers. effectively you can't boom it all off. real interesting proposal i've seen with with gards of save the wetlands is the state of louisiana to build these sand -- out out of promise. but history teaches us once the oil is spilled, you're not picking it up. host: remember canne line you're on for brian o'neal. caller: hello? hi. i read something the other day, jay pepper asked o'bama at some press conference that there was some 17 countries that offered to help with the cleup and bama only accepted mexico's help and norway -- other countries had started to help ngs, why would we not accept any help t start cleaning this up? or is it even possible to start vacuuming some oil before it eading any further? guest: well, aouple of . mments first of all, you can't just go out there and vacuum up the oil. some of it is under water. some of it is in a high-energy environment. an

to follow the money and ensure that special interest money can't hide behind sham organizations and shell corporations. the supreme court has recognized it essential to hold people accountable. voters have the right to know who is trying to buy our leches. the bill requires c.e.o.'s and highest ranking officials of corporations that sponsor political advertisements to record stand by your ad disclaimers as well as protest taxpayers dollars from misuse by eventing certain government contractors from making campaign related expenditures. the disclosure act also closes a loophole creebate citizens united to ensure foreign corporations and foreign governments aren't able to influence elections by spending unlimited sums through united states subsidiaries or affiliates. by allowing them to make campaign contributions, foreign players could use limitless funds to influence the election. the bill is designed to accommodate nonprofit issues advocacy group who have long participated in politica activity of which their members are aware. the bill must have more than 500,000 dues paying members in a

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 airwaves sunday night on c-span 2. tonight, vietnam veteran on the novel that t

and in the saae period exxon and shell had one, there's a reason why you could justify doing that with b.p. rigs. but not all of them. so the judge struck it down. and here already today secretary of interior says he's appealing it. apparently he likes the idea of having one branch of government running everything. big mistake. and then, not only that, a lot of folks may not know, mr. speaker, but there is, as i understand it, under federal law, the right of the border patrol to come in to private land owners' land, up to 25 miles from the border, anywhere, any of our borders, to enforce our border. everywhere around the border they have that right. up to 25 miles, to come into private property. they if they need to enforce our border. lo and behold, there is one place they can't and that's on federally owned property like the national park in arizona. where apparently by 32 miles of border with mexico that's a park that has now been announced to be closed to american citizens because there are too many illegals going across that land and tearing it up and some have gotten violent and

to protect prince william sound the fishermen in the arctic, the eesski mows have sued to stop that shell drilling while the state government became deeply corrupted by the oil industry. and the oil industry is sort of one of the most corrupting industries of all the industries in our economy. and if you now look at louisiana and alaska as being two of the states that have traditionally have the worst corruption, they are two of the biggest oil producing states in the country. so i pull it down to the people who live on the coast as has happened in prince william sound where we have an organization that can do some oversight. that's what i would like to see, is not at the state level but at the local level. host: our next guest, john on our independent line. caller: sir, i was wondering if you can give an update if the people of prince edward soundr did collect any of the $5 billion awarded to them by the courts. the last time i read an article , the sound had been devasted with alcoholism, a lot of domestic violence. in fact, the guy leading the cause commiited suicide. that was an artic

what this particular amendment would do would be strike the word may, insert the word shell.learly it is obvious to us that we are not being allowed to offer amendments that reform the government-sponsore enterprises. we're not being allowed to offer amendnts that could honestly account on budget for the $147 billion in counting that taxpayers have had to expend on the government-sponsored enterprises. we can't offer amendments in this conference, apparently, to limit ultimately the taxpayer bailout. but there is a study. so i would hope that we could at least offer an amendment dealing with the study that is contained within the base bill, particularly, again, given the chairman's ruling, you know, with respect to the gentle lady from california's amendment dealing with the stone ridge case. so that's what this particular one does. now, again, i have disagreed with the chairman on his ruling. i think that it takes some amount of tortured logic to allow in an amendnt dealing with the stone ridge case. but it's the chairman's rules. i understand that. we have no other alternat

boy and his grandfather walking on the beach one day and a storm comes along, scatters all kinds of shellstarfish upon the beach. and there were hundreds of star fish washed up on the beach. and the grandfather made a statement to his grandson, a shame that all those areoi to die. he little boy looked perplexed and said, what you mean? the starfish have to live in the water. so the little boy francally ran down the beach and picked up starfishes st as he could, and throwing them back into the water. the grandfather stop him and said, son, don't waste your time doing that. his justice starfish. you cannot save them all. the little boy reached the arm -- reached down and through the star fish back into the water. i just saved that one. you can be the person that tosses the starfish backed out. you can make a difference in someone's life. so i challenge you as you leave here today, get involved. this school has taught you and pleasant things and put things in front of you -- charitable. it is a gem in the city of memphis, tennessee. you are fortunate to graduate from the christian brothers un

wanted to protect prince wilam sound the fishermen in the arctic, the esskows have sued to stop that shell drilling while the state government became deeply corrupted by the oil industry. and the oil industry i sort of one of the most corrupting industries of althe industries in our economy. and if you now look at louisiana and alaska as bei two of the stes that have aditionallhave e worst corrtion, they are two of the ggest l producing stas in the country. so i pull it down to the people whlive on the coast as has happened in pnce willm sound where we have an organization that can do some oversight. at's what i would like to see, is not at thetate lev but at the local level. host: our next guest, john on our independent line. caller: sir, i was wondering if you n give an update if the people of princ edward soundr did collect any of the $5 billion awarded to them bthe courts. the last time i read an article the sound had been devasted with alcohism, a of dostic violee. in fact, the guy leading the cause commiited suicide. that waan article i read several years ago. then i read a disturbin