Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today I introduce the Survivors Equality Act to ensure that everyone is treated equally under the Death on the High Seas Act. I thank Senator Whitehouse for joining me in this important effort to provide justice for victims. Earlier today, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to examine liability issues related to the British Petroleum, BP, oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The testimony received at this hearing made it clear that several of our laws need updating.

As a result of the BP oil spill, countless Americans in the Gulf Region have been devastated. Waters, fisheries, wetlands, and coastlines, and the wildlife that enriches those environments, have been injured profoundly. Their livelihoods and way of life will take years of hard work to reclaim.

Among the victims of the explosion that led to the oil spill are 11 men who lost their lives on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. Their families, including more than a dozen children, have experienced a terrible loss. As Congress responds to the needs of the Gulf Region, these men and the families who lost them must have justice. The legislation I introduce today is a step toward that goal.

The Death on the High Seas Act is one of few Federal remedies for the survivors of those who were killed on the Deepwater Horizon. The families of these men cannot seek justice under the laws of their states.

In 2000, in response to a tragic airline crash, Congress amended the Death on the High Seas Act to permit recovery of non-pecuniary losses for the surviving family members of air crash victims. While this was the right thing to do, it did not go far enough. Though well-intentioned, this amendment resulted in an inequity based solely on the manner in which a victim was killed. Congress made some strides in modernizing this law then. Now it must finish the job.

Current law provides greater protection to a person killed in an aircraft disaster over international waters than it does for a person killed in a boat or other ocean vessel such as an oil drilling rig. Under the Act today, the surviving family members of a person wrongfully killed in international waters in a boat or other ocean vessel may only recover pecuniary damages. This means they can only seek the lost income of their loved one, and what that person provided to the family in monetary terms.

Not only is this law internally inconsistent, it is out of the legal mainstream. Families who lose a loved one in a workplace accident on land are eligible for more compensation. For example, the families of the 15 employees who were killed in a 2005 BP Texas City refinery explosion had a full range of legal remedies simply because the facility was on dry land. It is unfair that the men on the Deepwater Horizon are afforded less protection because that facility was at sea. Their jobs were no less dangerous, and their losses no less tragic.

In the Judiciary Committee this morning, Senators heard testimony from Christopher Jones. Mr. Jones' brother, Gordon Jones, was among the 11 men who perished on the Deepwater Horizon rig. He died while working to support his young family. Yet simply because of where he was working, his family has less protection under the law than the survivors of a person who loses their life in an aircraft. This is nonsensical and wrong.

Where Federal law provides an exclusive remedy to those who lose their lives in international waters, it should not be unfair. In the law, as in society, great value is placed on the bonds that hold together families. The destruction of those bonds through the misconduct of another is a loss that is recognized by the law. Today, the Death on the High Seas Act fails to recognize universally what it means to a child who will no longer have the guidance of a loving father or a spouse who will no longer have the care and comfort of a devoted wife or husband. It is time for Congress to finish the work that was started a decade ago and make this law fair for all to whom it applies.

As Congress moves forward to address the terrible tragedy that has occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, I urge all Senators to join me in support of this legislation to help the families of the 11 hardworking Americans who were killed during the explosion.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record,

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