May 27th, 2010
05:18 PM ET
13 years ago
Louisiana Dem gets emotional over oil spill's impact
Washington (CNN) - Louisiana Democrat Charlie Melancon lost his composure Thursday during a Capitol Hill hearing about the Gulf oil spill.
"Our culture is threatened. Our coastal economy is threatened. And everything that I know and love is at risk," Melancon, who represents many of the affected Louisiana shoreline areas, told his Capitol Hill colleagues.
Unable to finish reading his prepared statement, Melancon submitted it for the congressional record and then walked out of the hearing room as other lawmakers sought to comfort him.
Related: Obama clamps down on offshore oil drilling
Related: Relatives, rig survivors urge Congress to hold companies accountable
BP (British Polluters) MUST and WILL pay. I don't understand why nobody is taking BP to task, except Obama. BP's pr machine is so amazing that it almost convenienced American's that this is called the "Gulf Spill."
Wake up, people...its the "BP Spill."
Hang in there, congressman.
nice job obumma. it's been over 37 days!!!!
Yeah, I'm a conservative and still support his reaction. It shows he has passion. Nothing wrong with that.
For this man to break down..the damage must be far worse than we realize..My heart aches for the Gulf Coast!
Cheney and Bush put in those people who were in bed with the oil industry. But this is exactly the result of what conservatives believe, that the government should stay out of the way of business and industry knows what to do and should be protected from government regulation. BP is a poster child for what a good corporation is and a testament to what happens with CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT PRINCIPLES. The only thing that isn't conservative is that BP will have to pay. Conservatives will say that BP shouldn't have to pay, they never prosecuted polluters before, why would conservatives start now.
Arrest BP executives NOW. Put them on a death squad. They killed people at the rig and now are threatening millions of lives.
And, the hits from "the decider" just keep coming. Thanks georgie, ya who needs that dumb old government interfering with corporate americas profits. Greed baby greed!
Louisiana has been getting billions in oil revenues for decades, why did they not have a slush fund, and a plan in place, in case the state had to step in.
BP, Trans Ocean and Haliburton are the responsibile parties, however back up plans are wise where so much is at stake.
I am a Louisianian now living in Florida. First Katrina and now this. Obama's handling of this mess makes Bush look like a superstar.
Fact is the out of touch and out of control government in Washington has lost touch with all reality. The reality now is that many thousands of people will lose jobs along the Gulf Coast.
Fisheries, tourism (air, hotel, small biz, restaurants). Does anyone out there have a clue what percentage of fiheries are provided in the Gulf region? I didn't think so.
Oh, and all Obama can do is knee jerk and extend the moratorium on offshore drilling. That really helps too, more lost jobs down the road and a even greater dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
Obama is an abject disaster for this country. This is what happens when someone who isn't even remotely qualified to hold the office is socislly promoted.
Thanks George Soros...we all appreciate it.
Think it's any coincidence that this comes as he is running for the Senate against David Vitter in 2010? Sincerely think he's trying to score brownie points here.
Why are you, whoever you are, still buying gas from BP? Give your head a shake...
Make them listen to you! Stick it to them!
Come on people, we are customers. Force them to do the right thing.
It's nice to know Big Government got their wake up call. Yes, this is the most devastating event in American history, but it is time to wake up Big Government and make changes that benefit the people and the wildlife of our planet, not YOUR pockets!
Real people are real congressmen and congresswomen, and those that don't like the President of the US, don't really need to live in this great country, with the greatest government in the history of the world. And, this President has been one of the best in my 67 years.
The rest of you Republicans and your "DRILL, BABY, DRILL" CRAP SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES NOW!
HOW DARE YOU CRY "FOR THE PEOPLE" OF LOUISIANA NOW!
Yeah! Everyone is real sorry... NOW!
NOW you don't want to point fingers, unless it's at Obama and the government, for what's happened. Not at yourselves for your selfish attitudes about the environment.
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE?
SO SORRY... All that oil goes on the WORLD COMMODITIES MARKET! That's NOT JUST AMERICA'S OIL. IT GOES TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER.... WHERE EVER THEY LIVE!
BP exec's should sit in jail, for along while, if u litter in my state, it's 1000 dollar fine and jail time .so these guys should rot. because we all know there was wrong doing.
I agree it is just awful. I hate to bring up something that might sound a bit political during such a tragic time but this is a political blog and someone has to say it:
Maybe it is time that we give this "self regulation" that started with Ronald Reagan a second look.
The simple fact of the matter is that you can trust big corporations some of the time to do the things we force them to do. But allowing the regulation to be done by the industry has been an disaster.... from Wall Street to the coal mines to the off-shore drilling platforms. It is time for our leaders to step up to the plate and say ENOUGH.
Ironically the biggest complainers that "Obama hasn't done enough" would be the first to complain about "Government intrusion" Hell the tea party thinks making restaurants serve black people is a "government intrusion" so telling the oil companies how to behave would be really out of bounds............until it effects them.
Thinking about how I would feel if it were my history, my legacy, my HOME that was being destroyed by capricious greed, and knowing that those things might, in fact be GONE FOREVER, made me weepy too.
We MUST demand better of ourselves and each other. This travesty should not have happened.
In a cynical world it's a rare sight to see a politician express such a heartfelt and honest response to a critical issue. Too often, the easier response is pointing fingers and reading dry, over-scripted "response" advisories.
Good on your Mr. Melancon.
DRILL BABY DRILL! Sarah Palin is proud today.
You people commenting on this article seem to be gravely mistaken.....
1. This is terrible, but in no way is it a call for no more drilling. You would be surprised how many things in our life oil is used for. It was an industrial accident and it wasn't the first and won't be the last.
2. BP has expressed accountability and has agreed to pay for the damages what more do you want from them? And their president alone makes more than enough money to keep the company afloat I would be surprised if they suffered signifigant financial loss over this, nor should they. That is the last thing our country needs is another corporation being crushed under the boot of this administration!
I have contacted BP about a method Ihave designed that will internally seal off any pipe any size. I contacted them requesting they conect me with CNN News, but they refused. If they were truely serious about a cap off solution they would at least look at my drawings.
BP is in charge, not the US government. BP is running the show and our peon at the coast guard is our man. They are doing a fabolous job, so I cannot understand why the congressman is so upset. This is the best handled crisis I have ever seen. BHO was right to put BP in charge. They care so much about our country. Everyone needs to settle down. Just like BP has said, this is a minor leak and the story is just being blown out of whack. We all need to just trust them. That is what our President is doing, so everything is fine. No worries.
Let's not forget that Republicans are the ones that always repeated "Drill Baby Drill!" ...by the way where is now idiot Palin? Why to blame Obama? He just didn't have enough time to clean the stupidity and corrupted people left by Republicans....
Poor sobbing Charlie. Give me a break. Charlie has taken almost $300,000 in oil money during his short stint in congress and has always been an ardent supporter of off shore drilling. "Drill Baby, Drill" has been Charlie's war cry. Charlie called big oil a “a clean industry, a good industry,” and voted to drill in the Alaskan Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and voted to end the moratorium on offshore drilling. Now he's afraid he'll lose his set and he's sobbing. The guy should be crucified.
It's pretty clear that the technology to control eventualities like this mess that Big Oil told us existed do not. We have got to stop deep water oil exploration. As citizens, we need to lower our consumption of oil and products made from oil or messes like this will happen more and more. If you really are moved by this horrible thing then ask yourself what you are doing to help from the consumption end so we don't need to undertake reckless drilling like this.