Republicans Urge BP to Pay Up & Caution Against Closing Down Small Businesses

Press Release

the Republican leader of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he was informed today that the emergency oil spill liability fund was nearly depleted, as funds were spent to clean up the Gulf oil spill. Mica said that BP is responsible for the spill and should immediately repay the trust fund, adding, "The spill costs should not be front-funded by the government."

Mica and other Committee Republicans and Democrats also cautioned that the Congressional response to the incident must not accidentally drive small businesses out of business.

At today's Committee hearing on oil spill liability and financial responsibilities, Mica said he is not opposed to raising the amount of funds coming into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and that he would also support an appropriate increase in the cap on liability. Mica cautioned that any Congressional response to the spill be appropriate and directed at large and risky drilling deepwater ventures.

"While BP or any responsible party should never be left off the hook for their responsibilities, we must be careful not to raise the liability cap so high that small businesses will not be able to afford insurance," Mica said. "We don't want to drive smaller businesses out of business, leaving only the large operators like BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and other foreign operators."

The Committee Republican Leader noted that the oil spill trust fund's emergency fund, which provides the Coast Guard with the resources necessary to respond to the spill without waiting for parties to repay the fund, has nearly run out, and BP hasn't paid for costs incurred to date. He cited the need for government access to funding for emergency response efforts, which under current conditions, will be scaled back once the emergency fund limit is reached or will cause the Coast Guard to reduce other maritime safety, security and environmental operations.

Mica called for BP to immediately reimburse the trust fund so that taxpayers would not risk getting stuck with the growing tab. He pledged to take the necessary action to ensure that the Coast Guard has the authority to access funds to support response efforts and to encourage BP to front-finance government operations directly related to the response.

Mica also called for making those in the Gulf region who have suffered economically to be made eligible for trust fund emergency funds. He urged improvements to the claims process so that both the trust fund and BP more quickly address the needs of those economically impacted by the spill. Mica expressed concerns that the claims currently sit idle and the process has not adequately provided funds to make up for lost income and business.

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