(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) delivered a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate urging the Senate to
move forward with eliminating
the liability cap on big oil companies for covering the cost of oil spills. Murray also called on BP to put forward $20 billion to set up an immediate fund
for cleanup and damage compensation and expressed her frustration that BP
officials have yet to come before her Senate Subcommittee on Workplace Safety to
discuss their poor worker safety record.
More on the Big Oil Prevention Liability Act & Big Oil Bailout Prevention
Trust Fund Act
Senator Murray’s full remarks are below:
Madame President, as we close in on two months since
the deepwater explosion that set off the Gulf Coast Oil Spill the toll of this
disaster continues to mount.
From the oil soaked pelicans we see on the front cover
of the newspaper each day, to the tar balls that dot a previously pristine
coastline, to the closed fishing grounds and half empty hotels, to the human
impact felt in Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and throughout the Gulf Coast
region.
This disaster has reached into our economy, our
environment, and the way that we see our energy future. But there is one place
that it also threatens to reach – and that’s into our pocketbooks.
Madame President, when it comes to BP’s promises to
cover all the costs associated with this disaster – I’m sorry – But I’m not
ready to take them at their word. And that’s because as a Senator from the
Pacific Northwest, I have seen first-hand what happens when big oil is allowed
to make promises and not required to take action.
When the Exxon Valdez oil spill happened in 1989, I
remember that company assuring the public that the economic and environmental
damage would be paid for. And then I remember them fighting tooth and nail – all
the way to the Supreme Court – to deny fishermen and families from my home
state the compensation they were due.
So, I’m not impressed by BP’s promises and I’m not
ready to take the word of a company with a track record of pursuing profit over
safety. Instead, I believe it’s time for us to answer some very fundamental
questions, like:
Who should be responsible to clean this up? Who should
bear the burden for big oil’s mistakes? Should it be the taxpayers? Families
and small business owners who are already being asked to bear so much?
Or should it be the companies responsible for this
spill? Including BP—a company that made 6.1 billion dollars in profit in the
first three months of 2010 alone?
Madame President, I co-sponsored the Big Oil Bailout Prevention
Act because to me, the answer is clear.
I believe BP needs to be held accountable for the
environmental and economic damage of this spill.
And I will fight to make sure taxpayers don’t end up
losing a single dime to pay for the mess this big oil company created. To me,
this is an issue of fairness if an oil company causes a spill, they should be
the one to pay to clean it up—not our taxpayers.
This bill eliminates the current 75 million dollar cap
on oil company liability. So taxpayers will never be left holding the bag for
big oil’s mistakes.
This is straightforward. It’s common sense. It’s fair.
And I have to say, Madame President, I am extremely disappointed that this
common-sense bill continues to be blocked by the Republicans every time we
bring it up.
But I am going to keep fighting for the Big Oil
Bailout Prevention Act to pass. But that alone is not enough.
That’s why this week I also signed onto a letter to
BP’s CEO asking him to back up promises their making to pay with action by
requiring them to set up a $20 billion fund to begin covering the damages we
will see.
And it’s also why I’m working to ensure this never
happens in any other parts of our country.
I’ve always been opposed to drilling off of the coast
of my home state of Washington, and this tragedy is just one more painful
reminder of the potential consequences of opening up the West Coast to
drilling.
The economic and environmental devastation caused by
the Exxon Valdez disaster is still impacting the people and families and
industries in my state.
Washington state’s coastal region supports over
150,000 jobs and generates almost 10 billion in economic activity – all of
which would be threatened if drilling were allowed to happen off the West
Coast.
That’s why I’m going to keep fighting for legislation
that bans drilling off the West Coast and makes sure big oil companies are
never allowed to roll the dice with Washington state’s economy and environment.
Madame President, we need to hold big oil accountable
and make sure disasters like this never happen again.
But we also need to remember the workers who were
killed and injured in this tragedy. We can’t forget that this is an issue that
is larger than this one tragedy – the entire oil and gas industry has a deplorable
record of worker and workplace safety. We need to make sure every worker is
treated properly and protected—and that companies that mistreat workers are
held accountable.
Madame President, we know that the oil industry is
able to operate under stricter safety standards and regulations, because they
are already doing so in Europe, Australia, and even in Contra Costa County,
California, where the county has a set of stricter guidelines that have reduced
injuries and fatality rates
But we also know that worker safety shouldn’t be
measured just by injury rates—we should be looking at reducing dangerous
conditions like fires, hazardous spills, and release of toxic gases. And when
accidents do happen—we need to record them, learn from them, and build on a
program to prevent them from ever happening again. And we need to make sure our
workers are treated with respect and their rights are protected.
Like so many, I was appalled to read reports in the
Washington Post last week about BP’s history of worker safety violations and
numerous reports of worker intimidation.
No worker should ever feel that reporting safety
violations could endanger their job. And no company should ever pursue the
bottom line in a way that endangers their workers.
The Senate deserves answers from BP on worker safety
conditions and how suppressing worker complaints could have contributed to this
disaster.
So, I was extremely disappointed last week when I held
a hearing to examine worker safety issues in the oil and gas industry and
representatives of BP failed to show up. Failed to even show up.
Workers everywhere should be able to feel confident
that their employers are putting their safety first, and companies that betray
this trust need to be held accountable.
So Madame President, I am going to work to make sure
that happens and I look forward to addressing these issues with BP in the
coming weeks so we can get up to the bottom of this. I am also going to
continue fighting to keep drilling away from the Washington state coastline.
And I am going to keep pushing to make sure taxpayers
don’t have to pay for big oil’s mistakes.
Thank you, I yield the floor.
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