Bob Menendez

We need to change that dynamic, in my mind.

I rise once again to ask unanimous consent--and I will do so shortly--to hold oil companies accountable for their spills. This is really a sense of who is on your side. Are we going to take the side of big oil or are we going to take the…

I think that the bill would expand on the successes of community projects all over America, including my home State of New Jersey.

For those of us along the Atlantic, we want to see much more than a pause button.

I opposed it from the very beginning. It puts the New Jersey shore directly at risk.

I appreciate the administration's decision to support moving toward unlimited liability as it relates to the responsibility of oil companies.

The reality is, is that when I look at BP's response plan, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know they couldn't have been very serious.

So I know that you are reforming MMS. The question is are we going to have the right regulatory oversight and vigorous oversight so that we don't relive this.

If in fact we have unlimited liability across the board for the future, that is in essence what we are trying to accomplish.

My opposition had nothing to do with being the Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. It had everything to do with that proceeding with one incident and one company and saying, yes, you have unlimited liability and no…

We need to act quickly to make sure oil companies are held fully accountable for all damages related to an oil spill.

I immediately got on that bill because I had seen what happened to the fishermen with the Exxon Valdez.

We cannot let the victims of the Gulf oil disaster suffer this same fate.

I will not stand for offshore drilling anywhere that can affect my State of New Jersey or my nearby States because the spillover is obvious.

I appreciate the Senator's question. The fact is, as I mentioned earlier in my comments, we have used the National Guard in an unprecedented way. They have been called for deployment abroad, both in Iraq and Afghanistan, and elsewhere in…

The Senator from Illinois is correct. As a matter of fact, the same letter he read from General Jones, the National Security Adviser, and John Brennan, the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, said: There…

Yes. The Senator is correct. In addition, some of the funding they take is from already mandated programs, programs that are critical to citizens and communities and States, and they would, in essence, detract from those mandated programs…

For all of these reasons, I am in strong opposition to these amendments. I certainly urge their defeat. We are going to send billions more after billions that have already been sent to accomplish the same negative result, and your own…

I look at the Senator's proposed amendment, and am I to understand that the Senator has $3.1 billion of rescissions to cover what he wants to do in his amendment?

Absolutely nothing. The only way to ensure the U.S. taxpayer pays absolutely nothing, not just for the cleanup but in terms of consequences to communities that would exceed the liability cap that exists right now under the law and for…

Well, the Senator's question is well put. Justice could not be achieved under the present cap. As a matter of fact, as I said earlier, today the United States declared a fishing disaster in three Gulf States: Louisiana, Mississippi, and…

Yes. British Petroleum made about $5.6 billion in the first 3 months in profits--not proceeds, profits. Right now the liability cap that exists under the law is $75 million, 1 day of BP's profits, based on the first quarter's $94 million…

Well, I appreciate the Senator's question and his concern. I think it is the concern of many. The reality is, I have heard comments that to hold BP accountable is un-American. Well, I think it is un-American to allow BP to go ahead…

Well, I appreciate the Senator's question. The Senator himself has at various times informed this body of something that he has referred to as the loop current, which is, in essence, a natural current that could very well take the oilspill…

I not only acknowledge that those statements have been made, but I know the Senator and others, including myself, have raised the fact that BP's credibility in this respect is not credible. In fact, scientists have gone into the gulf and…