Senate

GOP senator tears up during Gulf spill tribute

by Jordain Carney - 04/20/15 5:01 PM ET

Senators on Monday marked the five-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who asked for the Senate to have a moment of silence for the 11 people killed, teared up during his speech.

{mosads}”This is hard,” he said. “These were just people we grew up with, so I apologize for being emotional, but these are our neighbors.”

Eleven people were killed when the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sunk in the Gulf of Mexico. The federal government estimated in an August 2010 report that the incident leaked more than 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf, causing damage to surrounding marine and wildlife.

Vitter called the spill a “major and deeply tragic incident.”

“The terrible and unnecessary loss of life, the harming of our precious coastal ecosystems and persisting economic burdens serve as a continuing reminder of the failures that led to the spill, as well as the lessons learned in the five years since,” he said.

Vitter added that changes are still needed at the federal agencies that oversee and regulate offshore energy. The Louisiana Republican, who is running for governor, also slammed the Obama administration for “knee-jerk reactions” in the wake of the spill.

“Once the Obama administration imposed this unnecessary drilling moratorium, that decision had crippling results for Louisiana’s and Gulf states’ economies,” he said.

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) suggested that it could be years, if not decades, before the final impact of the spill is known.

“Eleven men died. Eleven families were changed forever,” he said. “If we don’t learn from this experience, shame on us.”

— Updated at 5:23 p.m.

Tags Bill Nelson