Congressman Joe Barton Gives "Sorry" Performance by Apologizing to BP
At a congressional hearing on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill today, Texas Republican Joe Barton sent shock waves across Capitol Hill and along the Gulf Coast when he publicly apologized to BP CEO Tony Hayward for what he called a White House “shakedown” that established a BP-financed $20 billion relief fund for victims of the oil spill.
“I’m ashamed of what happened in the White House yesterday,” Barton said. “I think it is a tragedy in the first proportion that a private corporation can be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown–in this case a $20 billion shakedown–with the attorney general of the United States, who is legitimately conducting a criminal investigation and has every right to do so to protect the American people, participating in what amounts to a $20 billion slush fund that’s unprecedented in our nation’s history, which has no legal standing, which I think sets a terrible precedent for our nation’s future.
“I’m only speaking for myself. I’m not speaking for anyone else, but I apologize,” Barton added. “I do not want to live in a county where anytime a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong, [it is] subject to some sort of political pressure that, again, in my words, amounts to a shakedown.”
Comments this misguided, declared as they were by a high-ranking public official while the nation’s worst man-made environmental disaster continues to grow worse every day, would have caused a stir no matter who said them. But the comments carried extra weight coming from Barton, who is the highest ranking Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and in line to become committee chair if the GOP succeeds in taking back the House in the November mid-term election.
As you might expect, Barton’s comments drew outraged comments from Democrats high and low. Less predictable perhaps was the harsh response of Barton’s fellow Republicans. The GOP leadership demanded that Barton apologize immediately and in specific terms–to the American people this time rather than to BP. Republican leaders also threatened to strip Barton of his congressional seniority, which would have eliminated his chance to chair the House Energy and Commerce Committee and severely limited his influence on Capitol Hill.
Barton’s first attempt was a non-apology that fell short of leadership expectations.
“I want the record to be absolutely clear that I think BP is responsible for this accident,” Barton said during the afternoon session of the hearing. “If anything I said this morning has been misconstrued, in opposite effect, I want to apologize for that misconstruction.”
Barton later issued a written statement that came closer:
“I apologize for using the term ‘shakedown’ with regard to yesterday’s actions at the White House in my opening statement this morning, and I retract my apology to BP. As I told my colleagues yesterday and said again this morning, BP should bear the full financial responsibility for the accident on their lease in the Gulf of Mexico. BP should fully compensate those families and businesses that have been hurt by this accident. BP and the federal government need to stop the leak, clean up the damage, and take whatever steps necessary to prevent a similar accident in the future.
“I regret the impact that my statement this morning implied that BP should not pay for the consequences of their decisions and actions in this incident.”
The point here is that Barton is a longstanding advocate and apologist for the oil and gas industry, a position that has provide quite lucrative for the Texas congressman. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the oil and gas industry has contributed more than $1.4 million to Barton’s campaigns since 1990–the most of any House member during that period. Sadly, he seems to have forgotten that most of his constituents, and the American people in general, are probably more concerned with the Gulf Coast environment, fishing and tourism than with oil company profits.
Barton has also been an outspoken champion of offshore drilling. During his opening remarks at a hearing before the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality in April 2004, Barton was rhapsodic about the safety and other virtues of offshore drilling.
Barton said: “Offshore drilling and production platforms are so technologically advanced that one platform on the surface of the water can handle production from several different wells several miles apart, house a myriad of technologically advanced computer systems, employ scores of personnel, generate electricity, enable people to face and conquer the adversities of living in the middle of the ocean, and do so 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; all without so much as losing a gum wrapper over the side of the platform. It is truly amazing.”
Apparently, Barton’s knowledge of oil industry safety practices and the capabilities of offshore oil rigs is as faulty as his judgment. At that same subcommittee hearing, Barton did go on to call out some of the challenges of drilling for oil in “ultradeep water” before passing the microphone to other members of the subcommittee.
“Who would have ever imagined that a driller would have to string together 5,000 feet of pipe just to get to the dirt?” Barton said. “Drilling at such depths will present a whole host of impediments to production that must be resolved through technology. American ingenuity will find the solutions.”
Well, Congressman Barton, a lot more than gum wrappers went over the side when the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig exploded and caught fire on April 20, killing 11 workers and devastating both the environment and the economy along the Gulf Coast. And so far, neither American nor British ingenuity has found a way to stop the ruptured deep-water oil well from spewing, at the latest estimate, more than 2.5 million gallons of oil per day into the fragile environment of the Gulf of Mexico.
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