Washington, DC - Congressman John D. Dingell (D-MI15) made the following remarks after President Barack Obama addressed the nation from the Oval Office about the BP oil spill, the government response and the future for the Gulf Coast as well as clean energy legislation.

“It is clear that the President is taking this spill seriously.  He is personally invested in cleaning it up and seeing it never happens again.  President Obama is in a difficult situation – this tragedy happened during his term, but the seeds of this failure were laid in the deregulatory policies of the previous Administration which starved agencies of resources and allowed a culture of corruption to take root in the Minerals Management Service (MMS).  I applaud the President’s actions redirecting the work done by MMS.  We need an oil industry watchdog, not a lap dog.

“But make no mistake, to balance the interests of the environment, safety and the economy of not only the Gulf Coast, but the whole country will be one of the greatest challenges he will face. 

“All of this said, I was disappointed President Obama did not call for an increase in the liability cap.  BP made $16.8 billion in profits last year.  BP, and oil companies in general, have been making money hand over fist over the past few years – even while our economy falters.  Meanwhile the cost of this spill, well God only knows.  Increasing the liability cap should be the cost of doing business.  Moreover, I urge the President not to waiver on the moratorium on deepwater drilling.  We need to make sure our environmental and safety laws are sufficient to deal with the unique character of deepwater drilling.

“Finally, the Senate must move forward on clean energy legislation. Our economy needs it, our people need it and the precious Gulf Coast needs it.”