Before the hearing was over, Burton retracted his BP apology.
"I regret the impact that my statement this morning implied that BP should not pay for the consequences of their decisions and actions in this incident," he said.
Florida Republican Jeff Miller was the first in his party to call for Barton to resign.
"I am shocked by Congressman Joe Barton's reprehensible comments that the government should apologize for the 'shakedown' of BP. BP has caused the greatest ecological and environmental disaster our nation has ever seen. Mr. Barton's remarks are out of touch with this tragedy and I feel his comments call into question his judgment and ability to serve in a leadership on the Energy and Commerce Committee. He should step down as Ranking Member of the Committee," said Miller.
Barton has received $100,470 in campaign donations from oil and gas interests since the beginning of 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The same group reported that since 1990, political action committees of the oil and gas industry and people who worked for it have given more than $1.4 million to Barton's campaigns, the most of any House member during that period.
No comments:
Post a Comment