112th Congress Hearing Archives

Oversight Hearing on the "BOEMRE/U.S. Coast Guard Joint Investigation Team Report"
Thursday, October 13, 2011 10:00 AM
Full Committee
1324 Longworth House Office Building

COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Part I: Thursday, October 13, 2011, 10:00 a.m.
Part II: Wednesday, November 2, 2011, 2:00 p.m.

• Official hearing transcript, Parts I and II
• Press Release - Committee Dismisses Sudden Democrat Demand for Subpoenas, After Democrats Don’t Bother to Appear to Question Companies on Oct. 13th (11/2/2011)
• Committee Action - Energy and Minerals Subcommittee to Hold Hearing on Obama Admin’s Proposed Rule to Block Coal Mining, Destroy Jobs (10/26/2011)
• Press Release - BOEMRE/Coast Guard JIT Report Hearing Confirmed for October 13th (10/4/2011)
• Press Release - Hearing Postponed on BOEMRE/Coast Guard Spill Report (9/22/2011)
• Committee Action - Chairman Hastings: Committee to Hold Prompt Hearing on BOEMRE/Coast Guard Spill Report (9/14/2011)

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

• "The BOEMRE/U.S. Coast Guard Joint Investigation Team Report"

OPENING STATEMENT:

The Honorable Doc Hastings
Chairman

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Part I - Panel I

Captain Hung Nguyen
Co-Chair of the Joint Investigation Team
U.S. Coast Guard

David Dykes
Co-Chair of the Joint Investigation Team
Former BOEMRE Staff

Vice Admiral Brian M. Salerno
Deputy Commandant for Operations
U.S. Coast Guard

The Honorable Michael Bromwich
Director
Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement

Part I - Panel II

Ray Dempsey
Vice President
BP America
(Truth in Testimony Form)

James Bement
Vice President, Sperry Drilling
Halliburton
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Bill Ambrose
Managing Director, North America Division
Transocean
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Part II - Panel II

COMMITTEE ACTION:

The Committee on Natural Resources resumed the Full Committee oversight hearing on “BOEMRE/U.S. Coast Guard Joint Investigation Team Report” on Wednesday, November 2, 2011:

A motion was made by Mr. Markey to subpoena Day 2 witnesses.

A motion was made by Mr. Lamborn to table the motion made by Mr. Markey.

A roll call was requested and the motion to table was AGREED TO by a roll call vote of 17 yeas and 13 nays.

BACKGROUND:

This hearing will focus on the recently released Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report conducted by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement and the United States Coast Guard into the rig operations, and subsequent explosion, fire and sinking of the Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) Deepwater Horizon owned by Transocean and operated by BP on April 20, 2010. After repeated delays, the federal government has finally released the findings of its investigation into the tragic Deepwater Horizon incident. This is another significant report on the disaster that provides a clearer picture about what caused the tragedy and how Congress, industry and the Administration can move forward to ensure that U.S. offshore drilling is the safest in the world. American offshore energy production is vital to jobs, our economy and our national security. Any reforms must be thoughtful and must be done right. Our goal must be to ensure offshore energy production can be done effectively and efficiently, while still meeting the highest safety standards.