Oilspill Response

Floor Speech

Mr. LeMIEUX. Mr. President, I come to the floor, as I did yesterday and last week, to talk about the economic and environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the lack of response by this government in dealing with the disaster. Everything that can be done should be done to stop this oil from coming on our beaches, from going into our coastal waterways, and from damaging our way of life on the gulf coast.

I specifically come to talk about what is happening to Florida. For the last week, I have been making statements and questioning why there are not more skimmers off the coast of Florida. I have been asking for more skimmers to be sent to the Gulf of Mexico for many weeks.

A week ago today, I met with the President, ADM Thad Allen, and other State and local officials in Pensacola to address many issues concerning the response to the oilspill. At that time, we were told there were 32 skimmers off the coast of Florida. Today, we are told there are 20. It makes no sense
that there are not more skimmers. Admiral Allen has told us there are 2,000 skimmers in the United States. We have heard reports of offers of foreign assistance of skimmers that are still under consideration or have been declined. Why are there not more skimmers in the Gulf of Mexico skimming up the oil before it comes onshore? We can't even get a straight number as to how many skimmers are off the coast of Florida.

I have two documents, which I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record. One is the Deepwater Horizon response of Monday, June 21, from the State of Florida. The second is the National Incident Command response for June 21 from the Coast Guard.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record

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Mr. LeMIEUX. The first of these, the Deepwater Horizon response from Monday, June 21, says there are 20 skimmers off the coast of Florida. The second, from the National Incident Command, says there are 108 off the coast of Florida. Last week, we had this same discrepancy between these two reports. We questioned the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard told us the information contained in the national incident report was not, in fact, correct. We can't get a straight answer as to how many skimmers are currently off the coast of Florida, but it appears from the most reliable information--and I am still waiting for a straight answer--that there are only 20. One percent of the skimmers of the United States are off the coast of Florida, with the worst economic and environmental catastrophe looming off our shores. Huge swathes of water are washing up tar balls all the way from Pensacola Beach, now to Panama City, FL.

We received a briefing this morning from the Navy and the Coast Guard. I thank Secretary Mabus of the Navy, who provided RADM John Haley as well as a captain from the Coast Guard and other folks from the Navy to brief me on the status of what skimmers the Navy has and what they are doing in the gulf. We found out there are 23 naval skimmers, relatively small skimmers that can fit on the back of a truck or be put on a train or in an airplane. That is how they were transported to the gulf. They are welcome. We are happy they are there. There are 6 on the way and 29 skimmers total.

There are another 35 skimmers they would like to bring down, but they are under a category called legally constrained. What does that mean? That means that for some reason, the law is prohibiting the Navy and the Coast Guard from getting these skimmers here. Why hasn't this been waived? Why hasn't the President signed an Executive order? Where is the sense of urgency 62 days into this to get these skimmers to the gulf coast? We are going to look into what Federal law may be prohibiting and legally constraining the Navy and the Coast Guard from getting the skimmers. I will offer legislation, if need be, to waive that. I have already offered legislation to waive the Jones Act, which has been cited as a prohibition or perhaps an obstacle to bringing in skimmers from foreign countries.

Let's talk about that issue. We know there are 2,000 skimmers in the United States. Yet only 20 are off the coast of Florida, if that is the correct information. We know the Navy wants to bring an additional 35 skimmers, but they are legally constrained and we have not yet undone that or secured those skimmers, some 62 days after the oil started flowing.

Let's talk about foreign offers of assistance. There was a State Department report last week: 17 countries have made 21 offers of assistance. The Associated Press reported that they had not been responded to or had been declined. We have more current information than that. The State Department reports about 56 offers of assistance from 28 countries and international groups. Of the 56 offers of assistance, 5 have been accepted. That includes booms--people could use the Internet to send a message about navigation in the gulf--and skimmers or skimmer equipment. BP has accepted three offers of assistance, including booms and skimmers. Two offers are categorized as ``unknown'' or ``declined.'' Forty-six offers are currently under consideration, 62 days into this incident. Where is the urgency? Where is the alacrity of the response to get this done and get these skimmers in the gulf?

I have a document, ``U.S. Department of State Chart on Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response: International Offers of Assistance from Governments and International Bodies,'' dated June 18, 2010. I ask unanimous consent that it be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record

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Mr. LeMIEUX. This document goes through the various offers of assistance and what is the current status of the response. So if we go to the European Maritime Safety Agency, skimmers, under consideration. May 13 is the date of the offer. As of last Friday, no response. Republic of Korea, skimmers, under consideration. May 2, the offer is made. As of last Friday, no response. Sweden, April 30, skimmers; more skimmers offered on June 15. Under consideration. No response. United Arab Emirates, skimmers, under consideration, offer made May 10. No response. Why are we not welcoming all of these offers of assistance to bring these skimmers and put them in the Gulf of Mexico to suck up the oil?

I wish to show an example of an offer of assistance made to the United States. The ship here is from a Dutch company called Dockwise. The name of this vessel is the Swan. Unlike some of the skimmers being used and deployed by the Navy, which can be put on a train car or flown on an airplane to the location--and although very welcome are relatively small--this is a massive ship that could take in 20,000 tons of oil or an oil-water mixture off of the water. They rig the ship with skimming equipment that hangs off the sides.

So on May 7, Dockwise offered the Swan to the United States. The offer went under consideration. After 48 days, the offer for this massive ship with 20,000 tons of skimming capacity is still under consideration. But the ship is not available anymore because Dockwise now has employed the ship for other purposes because the U.S. Government, from all the information we have, never got back to them. Here is a Dutch company offering us a massive ship to skim 20,000 tons of oil and water off the top of the Gulf of Mexico, and the U.S. Government doesn't return the phone call. They never hear whether we want the ship. People involved with the situation believe the Swan was rejected due to Jones Act considerations and that a similar vessel, the SEAcorp vessel named the Washington, was chosen instead. The Washington is an American flag vessel. Its capacity is 1,000 tons, one-twentieth the capacity of the Swan. I am for America first, but why aren't we using both of them? There is plenty of oil to skim up. Use the American vessel, but don't fail to respond to the Dutch company that has this massive ship that has a 20,000-ton skimming capacity. Why would we not employ both?

I could not be more frustrated with the lack of response. I could not be more frustrated with the lack of a sense of urgency from this administration in getting this job done.

The people of the State of Florida are scared to death about the oilspill. When I was in Pensacola last week, I met a woman who works at the pier on Pensacola Beach. I asked her how things were going. She serves food at the pier.

She said: It has been very harrowing for us.

I asked her: Are people coming out?

She said: People from north Florida are coming to the beach. These are people who haven't been to the beach in a long time.

I said: Why are they coming?

She said: They are coming to see the beach one last time, as if they were going to visit a friend who was on his or her deathbed. They don't believe the beach will ever look the way they remember it looking.

Why we are not deploying every available national asset, military asset, and accepting every offer of assistance from foreign countries is beyond belief, and it is not acceptable. I will continue to meet with the Coast Guard and the Navy. When I see the President tomorrow at the White House, I will raise this issue with him. I will do everything I can to keep clamoring for this. It is not acceptable that in this, the greatest country in the world, our response would be this anemic.

I yield the floor.

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