McMahon Supports Coast Guard's Efforts to Aid in Gulf Oil Spill; Places Liability on BP

Press Release

Today, Rep. Michael E. McMahon, Vice Chair of the Maritime Transportation and Coast Guard Subcommittee, supported S. 3473, legislation that permits the Coast Guard to receive advances from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund.

Under current law, the Coast Guard can only access a maximum of $100 million from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund in one fiscal year to finance their emergency response to oil spills. The Coast Guard, which has been integral to our reparative and protective measures following the BP/Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, is about to run out of this initial $100 million influx. S. 3473 will allow the Coast Guard to access additional funds as it continues its efforts in the Gulf.

All funding from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund comes from oil companies. BP is required to repay any funds distributed from the Fund in response to the Gulf spill. Thus, S. 3473 will cost taxpayers nothing and the Congressional Budget Office has scored it at zero.

S. 3473, which complies with Congress' Pay-Go rules, was passed unanimously in the House and Senate and will be signed into law by the President.

Rep. McMahon, as a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which authorizes the United States Coast Guard, has been working to ensure that BP is held accountable for arguably the largest environmental disaster in U.S. history. He remains fully committed to making sure that BP pays every dime in clean up costs and reimburses businesses and residents in the Gulf Coast for economic and environmental damages.

"The explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico led to what has become the most tragic environmental disaster for our country in our lifetime," said Rep. McMahon. "First and foremost, BP, along with its contractors, need to be held accountable for the entire clean-up cost from this disaster. BP also needs to pay damages to the tens of thousands of people and businesses in the Gulf Coast region who are out of work or losing income as a result of the spill. Finally, the amount of money that has been expended by the Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Interior and other State and Local agencies needs to be reimbursed by BP, without limitation. The ongoing and vigilant response from the Government, coupled with resources provided by BP, will allow us to restore this critical ecosystem to a state where fisherman can fish, beachgoers can swim and wildlife can thrive."

Below is Rep. McMahon's floor statement on S. 3473:

I rise today in strong support of S 3473. Since Day 1 of this disaster the Administration has brought all resources to bear to address ensure that damage to the environment, wildlife, and public health of the Gulf Region was as limited as possible.

In particular the United States Coast Guard has done outstanding work. As Vice Chair of the Coast Guard Subcommittee I know how hard the men and women of the Coast Guard have been working to contain this disaster. Led by Admiral Thad Allen, who has taken charge of federal on-the-ground response as National Incident Commander, the men and women of the Coast Guard are on the frontlines and deserve our gratitude and support.

This legislation is critical to maintaining continuity in the federal government's response. It amends current law to allow the administration to take multiple advances of up to $100 million from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. Without passage of S 3473, the Coast Guard could run out of funding for cleanup and prevention as early as next week. This cannot be allowed to happen. I urge all of my colleagues to support this straightforward, common-sense legislation. It is the least we can do at the moment to help ongoing efforts to help the people of the Gulf region.

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