House Lawmakers Holding Recess Hearing on Oil Spill

[babylonsister]

http://washingtonindependent.com/95084/house-lawmakers-holding-recess-hearing-on-oil-spill

House Lawmakers Holding Recess Hearing on Oil Spill
By Andrew Restuccia 8/18/10 9:36 AM


A key subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will hold a hearing tomorrow in an attempt to sort out varying accounts of the amount of oil that has been taken care of in the Gulf of Mexico. The hearing will also touch on seafood safety, another big issue now that shrimpers in Louisiana have gone back to work.

Expect Reps. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), the chairman of the subcommittee, and Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), the full committee chairman, to go after officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency over the report released last week that said much of the oil in the Gulf has been dispersed or cleaned up. The University of Georgia released yesterday a report countering those claims, arguing that up to 79 percent of the oil in the Gulf “remains a threat to the ecosystem” there.

At the same time, the committee has invited an official from the Food and Drug Administration, as well as representatives from the seafood industry to talk seafood safety. While Louisiana opened up its waters to shrimping this week, the Washington Post noted yesterday that fishermen are concerned that any discovery of tainted seafood could severely hobble the industry.

Here’s the full list of witnesses:

http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2106:heairng-on-the-bp-oil-spill-accounting-for-the-spilled-oil-and-ensuring-the-safety-of-seafood-from-the-gulfq&catid=130:subcommittee-on-energy-and-the-environment&Itemid=71

Hearing on “The BP Oil Spill: Accounting for the Spilled Oil and Ensuring the Safety of Seafood from the Gulf"
Hearings - Subcommittee on Energy and Environment
Tuesday, 17 August 2010 16:24

The Subcommittee on Energy and Environment will hold a hearing entitled “The BP Oil Spill: Accounting for the Spilled Oil and Ensuring the Safety of Seafood from the Gulf” on Thursday, August 19, 2010, in 2123 Rayburn House Office Building.

Invited Witnesses

* Bill Lehr, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Office of Response and Restoration, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
* Paul Anastas, Ph.D., Assistant Administrator, Office of Research and Development, Environmental Protection Agency
* Donald Kraemer, Acting Deputy Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration
* Ian MacDonald, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Oceanography, Florida State University
* Mike Voisin, Chief Executive Officer, Motivatit Seafoods, LLC
* Acy Cooper, Jr., Vice President, Louisiana Shrimp Association
* Dean Blanchard, President, Dean Blanchard Seafoods, Inc.

[jdlh8894]

1. What is the point?

Shrimpers know when their catch is bad. Why do they need a committee hearing of people who have never caught a fish in their life telling them to stop?

[babylonsister]

2. I imagine the point is to get to the truth. Is there or isn't

there oil remaining in the gulf, and if there is, as scientists in GA have asserted, why were we told otherwise?

It's not about telling shrimpers to stop catching shrimp.

[jdlh8894]

3. Then why were they just "invited"

to a recess "hearing" instead of being forced to testify?

[babylonsister]

5. Congress is on recess, for starters. And that's how it's done

anyway. Subpoenas aren't usually issued if someone needs to testify, unless they refuse to show up.

[jdlh8894]

6. Since they are in recess,

then what is the point @ this time? It can't wait a couple of weeks? I mean it's been over 3 months now.

[babylonsister]

I don't understand why you're arguing. Two Dems are doing the

right thing by calling attention to this. Whether they get the deserved attention is a question that remains to be answered, but at least they're trying.

[Subdivisions]

7. Why don't you call the committee and ask them yourself? n/t

[jdlh8894]

8. Considering they are in recess

nobody will answer the phones.

[Poboy]

4. k&r