WASHINGTON - Republicans on the Natural Resources Committee today voted to protect the CEOs of the companies responsible for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Republicans voted down a Democratic effort to compel the heads of BP, Halliburton, Transocean and Cameron to appear before the committee through a subpoena after the executives refused to testify.
"Republicans have put the CEOs from the companies responsible for the worst offshore oil spill in our history into a witness protection program, when they should be helping to produce these witnesses before the committee so they can answer questions about their spill," said Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the committee who offered the motion to subpoena the witnesses. "For these companies, CEO doesn't just mean Chief Executive Officer, it also stands for Continuing to Evade Oversight."
Rep. Markey made a motion to subpoena the witnesses at today's hearing when the witnesses did not appear in response to a request made by House Democrats. Following a call for members of the committee to appear for votes, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) issued a "motion to table", which essentially ends debate and does not allow an up-or-down vote on the subpoena. Republicans on the committee voted unanimously to protect the CEOs from testifying by a 17-13 vote, with all Democrats present voting to move forward on the subpoenas.
Even as BP and the other companies involved in the oil spill are now seeking to resume drilling operations in the Gulf, the
