Niki Tsongas: “I thank my colleague for bringing this issue up. The June 18 notice to lessees is a great first step toward having worst…”

“I thank my colleague for bringing this issue up. The June 18 notice to lessees is a great first step toward having worst case scenario containment and cleanup plans. But a notice to lessees is not the same as legislation. It is not intended to set policy, and it is not intended to have the force of law, which is why I am offering this amendment today. We need Federal laws, not notices, that require companies to submit worst case scenario oil spill containment and cleanup plans to ensure that another spill like the BP spill never happens again. Our constituents deserve to know that we have required oil and gas companies to plan for the worst, or give them an honest reason why we think no such plan is necessary, given the events last summer. If the majority agrees that we should have a plan, they should support this amendment. It simply requires that oil and gas companies have a plan, nothing more. It is about drilling safely, it protects jobs, oil and gas jobs, tourism and fishing jobs. And again, as I said, if the majority agrees that we should have a plan, they should support this amendment. I yield back the balance of my time.”