Frank Lautenberg: “this amendment is simple. It says that the parties responsible for the gulf oilspill must reimburse the government for…”

“this amendment is simple. It says that the parties responsible for the gulf oilspill must reimburse the government for every Federal dollar in this bill that goes to the oilspill response. To me, it is just a statement of pure logic. I thank Senator Murray for joining me in cosponsoring this amendment. It has been 36 days since BP's blown-out well began spewing damage from hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil uncontrollably into the Gulf of Mexico, and there is no end in sight. The spill is causing unimaginable devastation to wetlands, wildlife, and the way of life across the gulf. The prospect of oil entering the Loop Current in Florida, hitting the east coast of Florida, is becoming more likely. Now, President Obama--in addition to the funding provided for the wars in the supplemental and the Haiti disaster--has dispatched the Coast Guard, the Interior Department, the EPA, the Defense Department, and NOAA to the gulf to contain and clean up this disaster. Now we are about to provide millions of dollars in emergency supplemental funding for these efforts. The question for us today is simple: Who should pay for this effort? Should the American taxpayers be asked to pay for it or should big oil, the companies that caused this disaster, pay for it? I say it is the responsibility of these companies. They were unprepared to deal with this catastrophe. It was not our taxpayers. Therefore, the companies should pay all the bills, as expected.”