We don't have right now a real commitment on Category 5 flood protection.

I completely agree with what both you, Senator Conrad, and you, Senator Gregg, said at the beginning about our longer-term fiscal issues.

If the more difficult fiscal scenarios that you, Senator Conrad and Senator Gregg, were outlining in the beginning start to play out, we should expect an increase in long-term interest rates.

I am very concerned that a major fiscal issue is completely missing from this discussion.

The spill is in his backyard, and he arrived armed with a powerful picture: a brown pelican.

I still, to this day -- for over a month now, I have not seen a sense of urgency from BP or the federal government in the fact that you need a change -- chain of command where decisions can get made quickly.

I mean, look, Anderson, one of the big frustrations is, our local leaders seem to be the only ones who were coming up with ideas to protect our marsh from the oil.

Our local leaders seem to be the only ones who are coming up with ideas to protect our marsh from the oil.

There's no excuse for that.

I want to ask you: who is in charge on the ground?

It's taking five days, is what most leaders are telling me.

All they're being told from both BP and the federal government is no.

I want to ask you: Who is in charge on the ground?

If they would have said from day one that 60,000 barrels of oil was the worst-case scenario that was coming out of this well...

All they're being told from both BP and the federal government is no.

I wanted to see a sense of urgency from Tony Hayward.

They have literally just underestimated and downplayed the severity of this damage from day one.

There's no excuse for that.