Joe Pitts, June 18, 2010

For two months now, oil and natural gas have escaped from the destroyed Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. In that time, it is estimated that between 75 million and 125 million gallons of oil have flowed from the broken well.

Thousands of ships are in the Gulf of Mexico trying to keep oil from marshes and beaches. Volunteers and BP workers are on the beaches cleaning plants, sand and birds dirtied by the oil. Two relief wells meant to completely plug the leak will not be finished until August.

With so many working to stop the leak and clean up this tragic environmental disaster, what role should Congress play far off in Washington? Hearings, letters, and press releases are not going to stop the leak or clean the beaches.

First and foremost, the leak must be stopped and the environmental and economic damage must be repaired. I believe that Congress must follow the maxim "first do no harm." Indeed, Congress should not become just another impediment to the clean up.

Instead, the House and the Senate need to encourage government agencies to stop the bureaucratic confusion that has prevented state and local officials form mobilizing an effective cleanup.

A prime example of recent government-caused confusion has been the EPA’s convoluted instructions regarding the use of dispersants. Additionally, the Administration has not taken steps to wave a law preventing foreign vessels from assisting close to U.S. shores. This same law was waved during the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has had a host of problems dealing with federal agencies. He recently said, "We've been frustrated with the disjointed effort to date that has too often meant too little, too late for the oil hitting our coast."

Early in the course of the spill, Louisiana requested permission to build sandbars to prevent oil from spilling into the fragile marshland. It took weeks for a variety of federal agencies from the Environmental Protection Agency to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to determine whether this would be an effective strategy. While the bureaucrats debated, oil began washing ashore. The sandbars were eventually approved, but only after a great deal of frustration and weeks of inactivity.

I serve on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a panel with oversight of oil and gas exploration. I’ve personally participated in multiple hearings, including two this week. At these hearings, we focused extensively on the Administration’s response efforts, BP’s actions before and after the explosion, and potential health concerns.

At this week's Health Subcommittee hearing with officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, I was struck by just how little we know about the long-term, and even short-term, effects of the oil spill on human health. While there have been oil spills before, none of them match the size and scope of this spill, or the particular conditions in which it occurred.

Our Committee has a responsibility to make sure that our health agencies get good information to those working in the spill areas. We do not need to add a health disaster to our already evident environmental and economic difficulties.

One thing needs to be made clear, BP bears responsibility for cleaning up the spill and compensating those whose livelihoods have been threatened. President BP has agreed to establishing a $20 billion escrow account to pay claims for damages and lost wages. It is wholly appropriate that BP should pay all costs, and Congress should ensure that any funding mechanism is well-managed and free of political interference.

We don’t need politics as usual right now. In times of tragedy, our nation has a strong record of putting aside differences to achieve a common goal. I believe this is a time when Congress needs to concentrate our federal government on fighting this spill while avoiding bureaucratic entanglements and in-fighting that do nothing to restore the Gulf.

Congressman Joe Pitts, a Republican, represents Pennsylvania's 16th Congressional District, which includes Lancaster County and parts of Chester County and Berks County.