It was almost as if two different hearings were happening in the same room as the Senate Commerce, Science and Technology Committee met: Democratic senators sought to steer the hearing toward oil company BP‘s liability for worker deaths in the Gulf of Mexico, while Republicans responded with criticisms of the Obama administration’s handling of oil spill cleanup efforts.

While there were no apologies offered to BP on Wednesday, an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics shows that committee members enjoying the most campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry were most likely to comment on the alleged failures of the Obama administration’s cleanup effort.

“We need to know that the clean water act is not one of the biggest obstacles to clean water in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), a recipient of more than $400,000 from oil and gas companies, making the industry his third-biggest campaign supporter.

However, committee members such as Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), for whom the oil industry is not a major contributor, pursued the issue of loopholes in the law for corporate penalties.

“When oil companies enter into this business, they have to be prepared to do pay any price to make their victims whole,” he said.

The chart below shows the type of questioning by the nine senators who appeared at the hearing and the amount of time they spent talking. It further lists their campaign contributions from, and investments in, the oil and gas industry:



Senator Party Cleanup Claims Cleanup time Claim time Oil & Gas Investments* Industry Contributions BP Contributions Rockefeller D 3 Q, 3 S 17:00 0 $290,850 (12) 0 Klobuchar D 2 Q, 1 S 2:45 0 not in top 20 0 Lautenberg D 5 Q 3:00 $1,001,001 not in top 20 0 Begich D 2 Q, 1 S 5:00 0 $85,958 (11) $8,550 Hutchison R 1S 2 Q, 4:20 4:00 $555,503 $2,138,225 (1) $11,250 Thune R 1 S 1:40 0 $577,662 (9) $2,000 Vitter R 1Q, 1 S 3:43 $483,503 $791,335 (4) $4,000 LeMieux R 1 S 1 S 1:15 0 no data** $3,500 Wicker R 4 Q, 1 S 2:45 0 $410,010 (3) 0

* Investments are averages of minimum and maximum possible values of total investments, based on lawmakers’ personal financial disclosures of 2008.

** LeMieux was appointed to his seat last year and has no record of campaign contributors.

Note: The chart shows the number of questions (Q) and statements (S) made on either the cleanup efforts or liability law. Industry contributions list total contributions with rank of industry in senator’s supporters in parenthases.

– – – – – – – – – – – –

The hearing took place after Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), committee chairman, invited Shelley Anderson and Natalie Roshto, widows of two Deepwater Horizon workers killed in the explosion of the rig, to testify. And he asked tort law expert Tom Galligan, president of Colby-Sawyer College, to discuss whether a legal loophole could allow BP to pay less in compensation claims to family members of workers who died at sea.

If Democrats aggressively pursued a line of questioning centering on BP’s liability for the workers’ deaths, the Republican members of the committee just as aggressively criticized the cleanup efforts of the Obama administration and claimed that a 19th century law was delaying assistance of foreign vessels.

Republicans questioned another witness, Fred McCallister, on current restrictions for private and foreign vessels operating in the Gulf. McCallister, vice president of Allegiance Capital Coporation, said several clients had asked for his assistance in clearing waivers.

Not every beneficiary of the oil and gas industry punted on the issue of payment of damages. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) urged members to vote for a bill that would lift restrictions on foreign vessels assisting in the clean up — and point to what she said was a failing by the Obama administration. But she also asked Galligan whether current maritime law contained a loophole that would allow lower payments to families of workers who died at sea.

Hutchison has received more than $400,000 from oil and gas companies, making the industry her third-biggest supporter. She received the most money — $11,250 — from employees and PACs associated with BP. Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) and Wicker, along with Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) also received contributions from BP.

Hutchison also had the most personal investments in the industry, with at least $75,000 in oil and gas-related holdings, according to her 2008 personal financial disclosure reports. Congressional officials are required by law to disclose their personal investments in broad amounts.

Begich has received more than $85,000 from the oil and gas industry in his career, placing the industry 11th on his list of supporters.

He went straight to the potential controversy surrounding reform of liability law, asking, “Do you think, honestly, that we can get in this political body beyond that debate which is about trial lawyers versus corporate entities?”

OpenSecrets Blog reporter Summer Lollie contributed to this report



For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit the Center for Responsive Politics.For permission to reprint for commercial uses, such as textbooks, contact the Center: [email protected]

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