we now know the oil industry and the government agency tasked with regulating them determined that thhre was a 0% chance that this kind of undersea disaster could ever happen. when you believe that there is a 0% chance of a disaster happening, and you do zero% disaster planning. and the oil industry has invested nearly zero time and money into devvloping safety and response effort. the oil companies before us today amassed nearly $289 billion in profits over the last three years. they spent $39 billion to explore for new oil and gas. yet the average investment in research and development for safety, accident prevention, and spill response was a paltry $20 million per year. less than 0.1% of their profits. the oil company may think it's fine to produce carbon copies of their safety plans, but the americannpeople expect and deserve more. it is time to expect more from the oil industry. and that needs to start today. first, congress must ensure that there is unlimited liability for oil spills by oil companies. while we try to cap this well, we must lift the cap on oil industry liability. se

certainly the people in the fishing industry and tourism industry want answers to this problem and thhre's plenty of blame to go around. i don't think the administration or the government ageecy has done everything that they have -- that they can to be prepared. incredibly, seven weeks after that deepwater horizon explosion, we're still lacking resources for containment. the booms, the skimmers, the things they should have been readily available, they're still not apparently there in the ways that we need them to go. weeks ago i introduced legislation that would require ready access to the things necessary to contain the problem if a problem developed in the gulf. we're learning more and more every day about the failings of both the industry and the government, and the regulators leading up to the incident. however remained focused today and the next few weeks knees to be to stop and do what we can to stop this problem, and then to study the problem and see if it does not occur again. i am convinced that we can protect the car and firemen and our economy as we continue in our pursuit of fo

thhre have been a lot of issues about disbursements, helping or hurting in the long term. or without dispersants, what doh you see? if we shut it down tomorrow, which would be wonderful, what do you see in he timeframe for recovery in the gulf? and for the estuaries, should >> a very long term recovery. that estimate is better served after we have stopped the flow of oil and we have got rid of the slick as well as the water coluun. then we will haveeinformation about contamination both in the margins, the wetlands, and they will be able to figure out an estimate of how long. >> that was why i said if we shut it down tomorrow. it is somewhere in the range of 1 million barrels each day, 20,000 barrels -- sorry, 25 million barrels each day. -- 25 million gallons each day. in your mind, what is in your thoughts. what do you eel is the future for you right now and the community? >> just like you i am a fisherman. i have been trying to discuss it. -- trying not to discuss it. i hhve four children and 14 grandchildren. this is a part of our culture. it is really devastating to th

out if thhre's public support d for such protection, and whether or not that support indicates it oughto be a national park versus a national wild live refuge or something like that. it is a comprehensive system based on a national conservation strategy that suggests future growth for the national park system without being prescriptive. and obviously those remarks apply on the cultural resources side. many of the parks that have been created recently under chairman are parks that we would not have imagined creating 20 years ago. and some commemorating events that the mountain was mentioned that the country would never have considered adding to the national park system. so we see a need for strategic direction but we also see a need for grass root support and developing this vision. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. a question to everyone here today. as the commission was deliberating, taking into conversation that each park across the country is unique, that we all have special places, that we want to make sure that we're providing protection to, access to, but the importance of tak