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66–618 PDF 2011

S. Hrg. 112–41 

GULF COAST RECOVERY: 

AN EXAMINATION OF CLAIMS AND SOCIAL 

SERVICES IN THE AFTERMATH OF THE 

DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL 

HEARING 

BEFORE THE

AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISASTER RECOVERY 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON 

HOMELAND SECURITY AND 

GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

JANUARY 27, 2011 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gov/ 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security 

and Governmental Affairs 

( 

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(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS 

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut, Chairman 

CARL LEVIN, Michigan 

DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii 

THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware 

MARK L. PRYOR, Arkansas 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri 

JON TESTER, Montana 

CHRISTOPHER COONS, Delaware 

SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine 

TOM COBURN, Oklahoma 

SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio 

JOHN ENSIGN, Nevada 

LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

MARK KIRK, Illinois 

MICHAEL L. ALEXANDER, Staff Director 

BRANDON L. MILHORN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

TRINA DRIESSNACK TYRER, Chief Clerk 

JOYCE WARD Publications Clerk and GPO Detailee 

AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISASTER RECOVERY 

MARY L. LANDRIEU, Louisiana, Chairman 

CLAIRE MCCASKILL, Missouri LINDSAY GRAHAM, South Carolina 

SCOTT P. BROWN, Massachusetts 

BEN BILLINGS, Staff Director 

ANDY OLSON, Minority Staff Director 

KELSEY STROUD, Chief Clerk 

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(III) 

C O N T E N T S 

Opening statement: Page 

Senator Landrieu .............................................................................................. 1 

Senator Shelby .................................................................................................. 4 

Senator Vitter ................................................................................................... 5 

Prepared statements: 

Senator Landrieu .............................................................................................. 37 

Senator Shelby .................................................................................................. 40 

WITNESSES 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2011 

Kenneth R. Feinberg, Administrator, Gulf Coast Claims Facility ...................... 7 

Craig Bennett, Director, National Pollution Funds Center, U.S. Coast Guard . 9 

Ve Nguyen, Member, United Louisiana Vietnamese American Fisherfolks ....... 10 

Rear Admiral Eric B. Broderick, D.D.S., M.P.H., Deputy Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, U.S. Department 

of Health and Human Services ........................................................................... 24 

Albert L. Keller, Executive Vice President, Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, BP America, Inc. .......................................................................................... 28 

Tom Costanza, Executive Director, Office of Justice and Peace, Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of New Orleans ...................................................................... 29 

Lori R. West, Director, of International Relief and Development and Current 

Chairman, South Mississippi Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters .. 31 

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF WITNESSES

Bennett, Craig: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 9 

Broderick, Rear Admiral Eric B.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 24 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 53 

Costanza, Tom: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 29 

Prepared statement with an attachment ....................................................... 63 

Feinberg, Kenneth R.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 7 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 42 

Keller, Albert L.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 28 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 59 

Nguyen, Ve: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 10 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 51 

West, Lori R.: 

Testimony .......................................................................................................... 31 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 81 

APPENDIX 

Additional statements and information submitted for the record: 

Photos submitted by Senator Landrieu .......................................................... 85 

Letter submitted by Senator Landrieu to Bob Dudley on Mental Health 

Oil Spill .......................................................................................................... 89 

Letter submitted by Senator Landrieu to Mr. Feinberg ............................... 91 

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IV 

Additional statements and information submitted for the record—Continued 

Letter referenced by Senator Landrieu .......................................................... 94 

Mental Health Dollars Chart .......................................................................... 96 

Technical Assistance Network Chart .............................................................. 97 

Appeals Threshold Chart ................................................................................. 98 

GCCF Data Chart ............................................................................................. 99 

GCCF Organization Chart ............................................................................... 100 

Gulf Coast Claims Facility Denial Letter ....................................................... 101 

Proposal Letter from State of Louisiana ........................................................ 102 

Congressman Scalise letter to Mr. Feinberg .................................................. 128 

Feeding America Letter ................................................................................... 130 

Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organization Letter .............................. 136 

Questions and responses submitted for the record from: 

Mr. Feinberg ..................................................................................................... 145 

Mr. Bennett ....................................................................................................... 163 

Mr. Broderick .................................................................................................... 165 

Ms. Harkavy on behalf of Mr. Keller with attachments ............................... 166 

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(1) 

GULF COAST RECOVERY: AN EXAMINATION 

OF CLAIMS AND SOCIAL SERVICES IN THE 

AFTERMATH OF THE DEEPWATER HORIZON 

OIL SPILL 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2011 

U.S. SENATE,

AD HOC SUBCOMMITTEE ON DISASTER RECOVERY,

OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY

AND GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:45 p.m., in room 

SD–342, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Mary L. Landrieu, 

Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Landrieu, Carper, Nelson, Shelby, and Vitter. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR LANDRIEU 

Senator LANDRIEU. The Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery will 

come to order. I am pleased to be joined by my colleague, Senator 

Shelby from Alabama, and we are hoping to be joined by several 

other colleagues. I am expecting Senator Vitter, Senator Bill Nelson and Senator Carper to join us as the afternoon goes on. 

I want to thank our witnesses, in particular for making the special effort to be here today because of the challenges with weather 

and transportation, so I really thank you, because we did not want 

to cancel this important hearing and I am very pleased that we can 

proceed as scheduled. 

Let me go ahead and quickly begin with an opening statement 

and then turn it over to Senator Shelby, and as other Members 

come, they will also be allowed to make a brief opening statement, 

and we want to get right into our witness presentations. 

I again thank all the witnesses for making a special effort in 

these weather conditions to join us for this important hearing. 

As you all will note or know, last week, the Graham-Reilly Oil 

Spill Commission released its report on the technological and regulatory failures that caused the Macondo well to explode on April 

20th last year, taking the lives of 11 men and creating one of the 

largest environmental catastrophes in American history. It is important that we thoroughly review this accident and implement 

new measures to ensure a robust and competitive offshore energy 

industry that operates as safely as possible. But there are some 

other obligations that we have, as well. 

This particular report, nor was this Commission charged with 

this task, and so they did not examine claims payments and the 

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2 

human side of this tragedy. They are focused on the technological 

and the general business side of offshore oil and gas drilling. But 

there is another side that we are here to examine today, and that 

is the human side of this disaster. 

Four-hundred-and-eighty-three thousand people in the Gulf have 

filed claims so far for lost wages and revenues. They are currently 

experiencing severe challenges getting timely payments or accurate 

information in some cases about their claims. Roughly 194,000 of 

these claimants are located in Louisiana, 162,000 are in Florida, 

68,000 are in Alabama, 52,000 in Mississippi, and 10,000 in Texas. 

So these claimants are located across the entire Gulf Coast. 

The Commission report does not address these claims but to say 

that after everything is over, we should do an after action report. 

But right now, this Subcommittee is today and has been for a while 

focused on this human side, the claims process, helping make people as whole as possible from the harm they have suffered as a result of this catastrophe. 

Fishermen, deck hands, and restaurant workers put out of work 

by the oil spill, small business owners whose businesses have been 

threatened, many of them still struggling to make payroll to keep 

their doors open, are each entitled to just compensation under the 

law, but the system is not yet working, in my view, as well as it 

should be. Thousands of Gulf Coast residents have lost their jobs 

and are fighting to feed their families, keep their homes, and preserve their way of life. For a while, clean-up jobs and emergency 

payments made this situation tolerable, but the clean-up jobs—the 

well is now capped—are diminishing or substantially diminishing, 

and the seafood and tourism markets have not yet recovered to 

their pre-spill levels. 

Today, we are here to discuss the payment system established by 

Mr. Feinberg under the authority of the White House and British 

Petroleum (BP) to compensate people for lost earnings, property 

damage, and subsistence losses resulting from the spill. We will 

also learn about work that nonprofit organizations are doing along 

the Gulf and the continued challenges they face in providing assistance to spill-affected communities. 

Frequent visits, and I have made many, to coastal communities 

and dozens of conversations with constituents and briefings with 

local leaders lead me to believe that the claims determinations 

have not been as consistent as they need to be or as transparent 

as they could be. People have struggled to obtain information about 

their claim on a timely basis. 

In my view, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have also 

been somewhat marginalized and under-resourced throughout this 

recovery process, and it seems like we are making a similar mistake that we made in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, 

Gustav, and Ike by underestimating the power and the effectiveness of community-based NGOs to help the Vietnamese community, for instance, or the Hispanic community, for instance, or a 

certain group of elderly people in a community from submitting 

and accessing information about their rightful claims. 

Mental health issues, including domestic violence and suicide, 

are on the rise, and they are becoming an increasing challenge for 

the region. A study released last July by Ochsner Clinic revealed 

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3 

that 30 percent of interviewees in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, 

and Florida suffered from serious psychological distress and cited 

disproportionate impacts among children and low-income households. 

Today, we are going to hear a very heartwarming story with a 

sad ending, from a Vietnamese oysterman who successfully piloted 

a boat of refugees out of Vietnam many years ago, made a new life 

for himself fishing off the waters of the Louisiana coast for decades, 

until suddenly this oil spill caused him to lose his business and his 

livelihood. He represents a great and growing number of Vietnamese American fishermen. Over 80 percent of the Vietnamese 

Americans in the Gulf region are connected to the seafood industry. 

We are going to hear from a member of their community today. 

We also want to hear from NGO representatives that were asked 

by BP to present social service proposals last summer and have 

never received a response, despite backing from 53 organizations in 

the State of Louisiana and another 32 organizations in Mississippi. And finally, BP has made a pledge of $20 billion to cover legitimate claims and placed a portion of those funds in escrow under 

Mr. Feinberg’s control. He is here with us today, and I appreciate 

him being here to give us an update. 

The function of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF) is to compensate people fairly for their losses, to discharge BP’s fiduciary obligations under the Oil Pollution Act (OPA) of 1990 with regard to 

those claims, and to offer a simpler, speedier alternative to prolonged litigation, which continued for 20 years after the Exxon 

Valdez oil spill. We are hoping it will not take 20 years to compensate people fairly in the aftermath of this spill. 

The Gulf Coast Claims Facility took over individual business and 

claims from BP on August 23. From May to August, BP was directly managing all claims. And so far, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility has paid out $3.3 billion to 168,000 claimants. That is what 

our records show. If that information is not up to date, we will get 

the new numbers today. 

Mr. Feinberg has traveled extensively to the Gulf. Senator Shelby, I am sure you have seen him or been with him in Alabama. I 

have attended several of the town hall meetings in Louisiana. You 

have made some commendable program changes along the way and 

I want to acknowledge that you have been flexible when things 

have been brought to your attention, first, by agreeing not to subtract vessel of opportunity earnings to use local firms to provide 

people with information about their claims, to provide interim payments, and other important changes along the way. So we are very 

grateful for those program changes. 

But on the other side, there are many challenges that remain. 

One of the things we are going to explore today is that while BP 

did provide $1 million to Louisiana charities for emergency relief 

and $52 million for mental health services along the Gulf. But 

without case management, financial counseling, claims assistance, 

and direct aid for food, rent, and mortgages, many families are still 

struggling. 

So in conclusion, I am pleased to be joined today, as I said, by 

several colleagues. I want to thank Feeding America and the Louisiana Association of Nonprofit Organizations (LANO) for submitH605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

4 

ting written testimony for this hearing. I would also like to acknowledge the White House staff that is in attendance. Congressman Steve Scalise for his continued efforts to improve the claims 

process on behalf of his constituents. I want to recognize Darryl 

Tate with the United Methodist Church in Louisiana and everyone 

else that has joined us for this important hearing. 

We have a great deal of business to cover, so let me turn it over 

to Senator Shelby for his opening statement and then we will get 

right into our first panel of witnesses. Senator. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR SHELBY 

Senator SHELBY. Thank you, Madam Chairman, for letting me 

join your Subcommittee here today. 

While the Deepwater Horizon rig has been capped, the boom recalled and the media on to the next story, many may think this disaster is over, but this is not true. Like many Alabamians, I remain 

extremely concerned regarding both the short- and the long-term 

effects that the oil will have on the Gulf Coast’s economy and the 

ecosystem. Alabama’s Gulf Coast region may take decades to recuperate and downstream effects could cripple the region for years to 

come. 

Since the oil started pouring into the Gulf last April, Alabama 

has seen a nearly 50 percent drop in tourism-generated dollars and 

a substantial loss of jobs. Tourism revenues lost to Alabama’s 

coastal economies as a direct result of the oil spill are estimated 

at between $850 million and $1 billion, a figure that does not include the additional losses to the fishing industry and the shipyard 

repair and maintenance operations. 

The federally mandated fishery closures have resulted in a significant loss of income for the entire seafood industry, fishermen, 

shrimpers, bait and tackle shops, and processors. Alabama’s fishing 

industry represent one of the largest economic engines in the State, 

accounting for more than $800 million in sales annually and nearly 

18,000 jobs. The economic impact on the commercial and recreational fishing industry already is severe and extensive. I think 

we must ensure that individuals and businesses are compensated 

now, but also put in place mechanisms to assist them with rebuilding and restoring efforts as the Gulf continues to recover from the 

disaster. 

I have met with Mr. Feinberg, who is with us today, several 

times since the Gulf Coast Claims Facility was created, yet I continue to have serious concerns regarding the claims determinations 

made by this organization. Like the entire Gulf Coast, Alabama is 

at a critical juncture. The Gulf Coast Claims Facility is not acting 

with appropriate urgency as I thought they would. Nine months 

since the oil spill, 57 percent of claims in Alabama remain unpaid. 

This amounts to 38,605 individual and business claims that have 

not received one penny in funding. That is a startling statistic to 

me. 

Further, from January 12 to January 24 in Baldwin County, the 

hardest-hit region in Alabama, only 28 claims were processed. That 

is less than three claims a day. Let me reiterate, Alabama has 

38,604 outstanding claims and the Gulf Coast Claims Facility is 

currently only processing three Alabama claims a day. Moreover, 

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5 

there is no distinction given by the Gulf Coast Claims Facility in 

their statistics between how many claims were paid and how many 

claims were underpaid. I am sure that this is not an insignificant 

figure. 

When Mr. Feinberg and I met in both November and December, 

I relayed these issues to him, and one of the largest issues that 

needed to be addressed was the lack of a clear formula on how a 

claim is determined. Filers, I believe, deserve clarification as to 

why their claims were denied, if they are denied, or why their payments were less than expected, if that be the case. 

On December 16, Mr. Feinberg told me here at the Capitol that 

the formula for claim payments would be made publicly available 

on the Gulf Coast Claims Facility website. Six weeks later, this information is still not available and I believe this is unacceptable, 

Madam Chairman. Those affected by the spill need to know that 

there is transparency, clarity, and consistency in the payment process. 

Finally, as we continue with the recovery efforts along the Gulf 

Coast, Congress needs to swiftly address the allocation of the Clean 

Water Act fines from the BP oil spill. The entire Gulf Coast faces 

an enormous ecological and economic disaster with an estimated 

impact of as much as $3 billion in my State of Alabama alone. 

Under the Act, BP could be liable for penalties up to $20 billion. 

Congress, I believe, needs to ensure that all five affected Gulf 

States are treated equitably when these fines are disbursed. Each 

State should have the ability to use these funds how they see fit 

to restore the economic and ecological damage caused by the spill. 

The impact to each State is unique and there needs to be flexibility 

in spending the Clean Water fines in the matter which best meets 

their needs. 

And while the national press has moved on, the Gulf Coast continues to face the challenges from one of the largest disasters in 

our Nation’s history. The damages caused by the oil spill could last 

years. Our residents and businesses are severely hurting, and we 

need a commitment by all stakeholders to the Gulf Coast’s full recovery. In particular, it is my expectation that the Gulf Coast 

Claims Facility will uphold and follow through on its obligation to 

the people of the Gulf Coast. Mr. Feinberg has assured me of that. 

He has been a man of his word in the past. 

Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you, Senator Shelby, and you can rest 

assured that this Senator will continue to focus on those issues, 

and I thank you for your help and support. 

Senator Vitter, we would be happy to take opening statements 

now if you want to do that, or wait a minute—— 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR VITTER 

Senator VITTER. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I will be relatively brief. 

First of all, thanks for your leadership and for this hearing. 

Thanks to all the witnesses and for your work. 

I just wanted to stress three points in my opening statement, 

and then I will follow up on all of these points in questions. 

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6 

First of all, Mr. Feinberg, thanks for your continuing work. It is 

obviously very important for all of our area. But I just wanted to 

stress a concern and urge you not to declare a victory quite yet 

based on the numbers and statistics that you always present, and 

I apologize if I missed any of your comments, but normally when 

we meet or when we are in public settings, you certainly cite the 

three-plus billion dollars issued and the tens of thousands of claimants paid. My concern is I really do not think that is an accurate 

or full snapshot picture and I would urge us to look at other 

metrics and make sure we all stay in it for the long haul. 

In particular, I think there has been a big emphasis on the quick 

claims. I believe over 50 percent of claims are quick claims. In Louisiana, I think it is over 57 percent, the sort of $5,000 payments. 

And in fact, that means that the folks most impacted, most hurt, 

most directly impacted by the spill are not taking those quick 

claims because their claims are more complicated and bigger and 

so they are still waiting or standing in line. 

Just as an example, a huge percentage of the quick claims have 

gone in Louisiana to tourism industry-type people, and they have 

losses—I am not arguing against that—and a tiny percentage, 

maybe 5 percent, to fisheries people. And obviously the fisheries 

folks are the ones most impacted and first impacted. So I would 

caution all of us to make sure we are in it for the long haul and 

use full metrics and make sure we get to the right outcome over 

time. 

Related to that, there have been some suggestions, including 

from some of our colleagues from New York, that you be appointed 

to this new 9/11 project coming out of the First Responders bill. 

Please take this as a compliment and nothing else, but I do not 

think you can possibly take on another job until this is fully closed 

out, and I invite you to say that publicly. [Laughter.] 

Third and finally, and this is not your bailiwick, we continue to 

struggle with the economic devastation of the spill and the resulting moratorium, including the continuing de facto moratorium. 

Now, this story has left the front pages of the national papers. Evidence of that, the President, unfortunately, did not even mention 

this in the State of the Union. But economically, the Gulf Coast 

continues to be hit hard by all of this, and it is not the spill directly, it is the de facto moratorium which continues. And this 

would be tragic whenever it happened. Coming in the middle of a 

serious recession, it is triply tragic. 

Just as an example, our State, Louisiana, before this month, 

which was a slight and welcome uptick, we have had eight straight 

months of increasing unemployment. That is not a coincidence with 

the spill and the moratorium. That is a direct result of the drilling 

moratorium, including the de facto moratorium, eight straight 

months of increasing unemployment catching up to the national average, and we need to end that, and coincidentally, we need domestic energy production from the Nation. So certainly, I will continue 

to work with my two colleagues here on that. 

Thank you, and I look forward to your testimony and questions. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you, Senator Vitter, for those observations and comments. 

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7 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Feinberg appears in the appendix on page 42. 

Let me quickly introduce the panel, and I am going to shorten 

these introductions. 

Mr. Feinberg has been introduced before. He is the Administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility. He has testified before this 

Subcommittee and others. Prior to taking on this challenge, he 

handled claims for the family members of 9/11 victims, Agent Orange, and the Virgina Tech shooting incident, so he comes to this 

job with decades, literally, of experience, and he is going to need 

all of that to get this right. We are looking forward to hearing from 

him today. 

Craig Bennett is our second witness. He serves as Director of the 

U.S. Coast Guard National Pollution Funds Center. The National 

Pollution Funds Center (NPFC) was established by the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. They manage the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund 

(OSLTF) and review claims decisions by the responsible party 

under the law. We are looking forward to hearing from you on that. 

He has been with the Coast Guard for 22 years. 

Mr. Nguyen is the witness I referred to in my opening statement. 

He piloted a refugee boat out of Vietnam and fled for his freedom 

with his family, got to the shores of South Louisiana, where many 

South Vietnamese were relocated, along the Gulf Coast—Mr. Shelby, I am certain in Alabama, as well—and managed to get through 

all of that, only to be shut down with this oil spill and is now on 

the verge of losing his business. And he, like many fishermen, and 

particularly in the Vietnamese community where subsistence fishing is common, is having a very difficult time specifically navigating this claims process. 

So, Mr. Feinberg, let us begin with you. I think we have 5-minutes for each witness to offer their testimony and then we will proceed to questions. 

TESTIMONY OF KENNETH R. FEINBERG,1 ADMINISTRATOR, 

GULF COAST CLAIMS FACILITY 

Mr. FEINBERG. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. I am 

testifying today before three Senators who I have known for a 

while and who have been among my most vigorous supporters in 

trying to get this program to work right and have been, thankfully, 

some of my most constructive critics in pointing out in good faith 

how we can improve the program, and I am grateful for that criticism. 

The program—just as Senator Vitter predicted, I go right away 

to the statistics—the program is working. We have paid out in 5 

months almost $3.5 billion to 170,000 people, businesses, individuals in the Gulf region. Baldwin County, I believe is the second 

county in the Gulf that has received the most funds from the Gulf 

Coast Claims Facility, due in part, I guess, to Senator Shelby’s insistence that we focus on Baldwin County, which we are doing. 

Also, it is true that in the last 5 weeks, as Senator Vitter has 

pointed out, 85,000 people and businesses have accepted the quick 

payment option. We have paid out in the last 5 weeks about $700 

million to individuals and businesses who either have already been 

compensated and feel that this is additional compensation that 

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8 

they will accept in return for releasing their claim or cannot document any additional damage. I do not know which, but 85,000 people have taken the quick payment option. 

Now, transparency, a big point with the three Senators today. 

We are taking steps on this. First, on Tuesday, February 2, about 

a month later than I promised, Senator Shelby, but on February 

2, we will post publicly the criteria and the methodologies being 

used to calculate final payments and interim payments. We are 

going to give a 2-week public comment period for any business or 

any individual before we implement it. Before we start making 

these final payments and interim payments, everybody in the Gulf 

will have an opportunity, as will the Senators, to comment on what 

we propose to do. And if there are comments that we should change 

it before we implement it, but the final payments and the interim 

payments, I assure the Senators, will commence in February to 

about 90,000 businesses and individuals requesting a final payment and about 40,000 businesses and individuals requesting an 

interim payment. 

And, Senator Shelby, the reason it took longer than I had promised you, I have to get this right. The Final Payment Program requires a lump sum payment for all present and future damage, and 

I am trying, talking with all the experts, with the citizens of Alabama, with the businesses in the Gulf, to find out from them, what 

are the long-term implications of this bill. Nobody knows for sure. 

And it has taken me longer than I had hoped to gather that information together. But it will be announced on Tuesday. It will be 

a 2-week public comment period. And at the end of that period, we 

will finalize that program and begin to commence to make those 

payments. 

I also want to pick up on a point. Senator Landrieu advised me 

to do this 3 months ago. We have now put in place in Alabama, 

in Louisiana, Florida, and elsewhere local people, live bodies in the 

claims facility offices to meet with claimants, to answer their questions. They are not representing them in a court of law. They are 

not offering legal advice. But instead of people being frustrated by 

calling 1–800 numbers or not getting answers or getting inconsistent answers, we are trying to deal with that by hiring local people who will address local individuals with local problems. 

We have received in the last 5 months—the Coast Guard has 

been fabulous. We have been working with the Coast Guard since 

day one. Craig is here. I acknowledge their support for this. 

The Gulf Coast Claims Facility has received about 500,000 

claims. I have to get back to Senator Shelby in writing. When he 

says we have only processed X percent or three claims, he—you 

take what Senator Shelby says with a good deal of credibility. I 

have to check this. It does not ring true, except it is coming from 

Senator Shelby. I will get an answer to you in writing on this, Senator. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thirty seconds, if you could. 

Mr. FEINBERG. So, in sum, just as an opening comment, we are 

taking steps to deal with transparency. We are dealing closely with 

Catholic Charities, Madam Chairman, and those other nonprofit 

service providers. We have no authority under the facility to pay 

them. That is a BP obligation, if anybody has that obligation. And 

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9 

I look very much forward to the questions where we can get into 

some of this in more detail. 

Thank you, Madam Chairman. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you. We are going to go to Mr. Bennett, but I want to clarify something. You said, in the last 5 weeks 

you did what? What was the number you threw out? 

Mr. FEINBERG. We have paid out in the last 5 weeks about 85,000 quick payments totaling almost $700 million. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. Thank you. I wanted to get that clear. 

All right, Mr. Bennet. And we have been joined by Senator Nelson from Florida and he will join us in our round of questioning. 

Senator Bennett. I mean, Mr. Bennett. 

TESTIMONY OF CRAIG BENNETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL 

POLLUTION FUNDS CENTER, U.S. COAST GUARD 

Mr. BENNETT. Good afternoon, Madam Chairman. I appreciate—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. You have been here long enough. We are 

going to have to promote you. Twenty-two years. 

Mr. BENNETT. Thank you. Good afternoon, Madam Chairman 

and other Members of the Subcommittee. I am grateful for this opportunity to testify today about the role the National Pollution 

Funds Center, which I have headed for these past 2 years, plays 

in implementing the liability and compensation provisions of the 

Oil Pollution Act of 1990, particularly as they relate to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 

Let me start by saying that I have a deep appreciation for the 

people and environment of the Gulf. I graduated from high school 

in Louisiana. I met my wife and got married in Houston, Texas. 

And I spent time raising my two children in St. Petersburg, Florida. So I remain mindful of my Gulf Coast heritage as I serve the 

NPFC. 

The National Pollution Funds Center serves a number of functions with respect to the funding of oil spills. First, it provides 

funding for Federal oil spill response through the Oil Spill Liability 

Trust Fund, which this office administers. The fund was authorized 

in 1990 with the passage of OPA to ensure no delay in the Federal 

response to a spill and for those spills where there was not a viable 

responsible party. Fund revenue sources include a per barrel tax on 

oil, cost recovery from responsible parties, interest income, and 

Clean Water Act (CWA) fines and penalties. The NPFC also ensures that the responsible party is advertising its availability to 

pay claims for removal costs and damages. If the responsible party 

denies a claim or does not settle it within 90 days, the claimant 

may present the claim to the fund. Finally, the NPFC recovers Federal response costs and any claims that are paid out of the fund 

from any and all responsible parties. As of January 24, the fund had obligated or expended $684 million for the Federal response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 

That was the removal actions of the clean-up. These costs included 

Federal agency oil removal costs as well as funds provided to the 

Natural Resource Damage (NRD) Trustees to initiate assessments. 

A key policy of OPA is that the polluter pays, not the taxpayer. 

The Federal Government has consistently billed responsible parties 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

10 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Nguyen appears in the appendix on page 51. 

for reimbursement of costs paid out of the fund. To date, nine bills 

have been sent to responsible parties for the Deepwater Horizon 

expenses, of which the first eight, totaling $606 million, have been 

paid by BP. The ninth bill, for $26 million, was presented on January 11 and I anticipate it being paid soon. 

OPA requires that I ensure that responsible parties are advertising for and receiving claims. They should also advertise that if 

not settled in 90 days or denied, the claimant may come to the fund 

or file an action in court. The NPFC only receives claims which a 

responsible party has not settled to the satisfaction of the claimant, 

in this case BP, which has delegated the claims process for personal and business claims to the GCCF, and the NPFC process provides a venue to adjudicate any claims that were denied or were 

not acted on through that normal process. 

Information about the NPFC claims process is available on our 

website. It is also on the BP, the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, and 

the Restore the Gulf websites, as well. This information includes a 

claimant’s guide in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Cambodian, 

as well as a list of frequently asked questions. Recognizing that not 

everyone is on the web, claimants are also informed of our claims 

option by the GCCF Claims Center and their call center. Eighty 

percent of the claimant inquiries that we have to our call center 

at the NPFC tell us that they were referred to us by the Gulf Coast 

Claims Facility. 

Denial letters to claimants for final claims will also include notification of the claimant’s right to submit a claim to the NPFC or 

to pursue litigation. The reasons for denial are generally due to insufficient documentation to support the claim, or the documentation showed the claim was not payable under OPA, or the responsible party had already paid the claim. Again, claimants who are 

denied by the NPFC have 60 days in which to submit additional 

information for reconsideration. 

In conclusion, individuals, communities, and businesses have suffered as a result of this spill. The National Pollution Funds Center 

is working to ensure a robust Federal response, that those damaged from this spill are compensated, and that the polluter pays. 

The Department and the Administration are working to ensure a 

full recovery throughout the affected States. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify today and I look forward 

to your questions. 

Senator Landrieu. Thank you, Mr. Bennett. 

Our next witness is Ve Nguyen. As I said, he is a resident of 

Plaquemines Parish, a commercial fisherman. He has worked in 

the waters of the Gulf for over 29 years. He has been directly impacted by this spill, and we have a translator from the State Department here with him. Mr. Nguyen. 

TESTIMONY OF VE NGUYEN,1 MEMBER, UNITED LOUISIANA 

VIETNAMESE AMERICAN FISHERFOLKS 

Mr. NGUYEN. [Speaking through interpreter.] Members of the 

Subcommittee and honored guests, my name is Ve Nguyen. I have 

been harvesting oysters in the Gulf of Mexico for 29 years. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

11 

[Mr. Nguyen speaking in Vietnamese.] 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. Let her translate. Just a minute. Go 

ahead. 

Mr. NGUYEN. [Speaking through interpreter.] On behalf of the 

United Louisiana Vietnamese American Fisherfolks, thank you, 

Senator Landrieu, for calling this hearing and special thanks for 

your staff for inviting me today. 

I would like to take this opportunity to do three things: To share 

my story, to present to the Subcommittee a request, and to ask Mr. 

Feinberg a question. 

Senator, if I may, my story is a common story in the Louisiana 

Vietnamese American fishing community. As of the spring of 2010, 

approximately 30 to 50 percent of all commercial fishers living in 

the Gulf of Mexico region are Vietnamese American, while more 

than half of every other Vietnamese American in the region are 

connected to the seafood industry. In my neighborhood of 

Plaquemines Parish, 100 percent of the Vietnamese households are 

fishermen. Louisiana fishermen of all ethnic backgrounds are independent and hard-working people. 

As refugees to the United States after the end of the Vietnam 

War, we all chose to build our lives anew in these fertile waters 

of the Gulf Coast and carry on the fishing tradition and customs 

of our ancestors. I was raised on my father’s fishing boat in Vietnam. During the Vietnam War, I used my naval skills to help the 

South Vietnamese Democratic Government defy communism—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you. Go ahead. 

Mr. NGUYEN. [Speaking through interpreter.] At the end of the 

war, I carried dozens of people on my boat to escape the communist 

regime. In the United States, our people carry on the fishing tradition of our ancestors despite the hate crimes from the Ku Klux 

Klan. I taught our children the love of the water and appreciate its 

creatures. My daughter is a marine biologist and my son helps me 

on the boats. 

After I was forced to flee my country to the United States and 

the United States took me in, I pledged an allegiance to the United 

States that includes paying my taxes. Unless I have no other 

choices, I do not seek government assistance. But with the oil spill, 

like many of my fellow fishermen, I have had to stand in line for 

handouts and Food Stamps. 

Before the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, my wife and I would 

be out on the sea by 6 a.m. and return in the late evening. Like 

all of the other fishermen in Louisiana, we typically hold back a 

portion of our catch, 5 or 10 percent, to bring home for personal 

consumption in the family, to contribute to community events, and 

to barter with other fishermen for other seafood. 

I face many challenges in the Gulf Coast Claims Facility process, 

but I would like to take this opportunity to highlight one in particular. Mr. Kenneth Feinberg received over 16,000 emergency payment claims for subsistence use, including mine, and Mr. Feinberg 

only paid one claim of $3,000. Mary Queen of Vietnam Community 

Development Corporation (MQVNCDC), a Louisiana contracted 

technical assistance provider, helped me packaging my subsistence 

use claim. Mr. Feinberg denied my neighbor’s emergency payH605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

12 

ments, loss of subsistence use claim almost that was identical to 

mine. 

I, therefore, would like to make our request to members of the 

Senate today, the United Louisiana Vietnamese American 

Fisherfolks, in solidarity with 14 other organizations request that 

the Members of this Subcommittee to clarify, reaffirm the definition of subsistence use in the OPA of 1990, fully acknowledging 

and recognizing the local non-taxable practice of bartering community gifts and family consumption of commercial fishing communities of all ethnic backgrounds. The definition is clearly intended 

by Congress in 1990 and comports fully with the Department of 

Wildlife and Fisheries (WLF) definition. 

Moreover, the calculation of emergency compensation for loss of 

subsistence use should be based on the quantity of the food that 

commercial fishermen subsisted on before the spill multiplied by 

the current retail value of the seafood. This formula has been summarized and defended by the White Paper submitted by the United 

Louisiana—— 

Senator Landrieu. Thirty seconds, please. 

Mr. NGUYEN. [Speaking through interpreter.] Finally, I have a 

question for Mr. Feinberg. On behalf of the 14 grassroots organizations, I would like to ask Mr. Feinberg why only the people with 

$250,000 minimum payment can claim. Why do not low-income 

people have the right to appeal to the panel? 

Senator LANDRIEU. That is an excellent question, and first of all, 

thank you for your testimony, Mr. Nguyen. We really appreciate it. 

Why do we not start with that question, Mr. Feinberg, if you do 

not mind starting with that, and we are going to go through a 5- 

minute question round. Go right ahead. 

Mr. FEINBERG. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. Anybody can appeal, regardless of any amount. In fact, you can appeal 

to the Coast Guard if you have no amount and were denied any 

amount. So nobody at all, nobody who files a lost income or lost 

wage claim with the GCCF, nobody is foreclosed from an appeal to 

the U.S. Coast Guard, and Mr. Bennett can give you the statistics 

on that. 

It is true that I did establish in the GCCF an additional limited 

right to appeal for claimants receiving over $250,000 or my awarding the claimant over $500,000. I decided that an additional claim 

right should be awarded to those high-impact claimants. But any 

claimant can appeal to the Coast Guard from my determination, 

and the reason I did not have a broader appeal right, I am worried 

very much about slowing down the process, which I am getting 

criticized about. Having appeals and more appeals is an inefficient 

way to get money out the door and that is why I limited it. But 

everybody has a right to appeal. 

Senator LANDRIEU. But just to be clear, anyone at any amount 

can appeal to the Coast Guard. 

Mr. Bennett, you run that program, so is that your understanding? 

Mr. BENNETT. Yes, Senator. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. So if anybody gets a denial letter, wheth- er they have asked for $3,000 or $5,000 or $500,000 or $5 million, 

they get a denial letter, or if they are compensated $1 million with 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

13 

no explanation and they thought they deserved $5 million, they 

could go to you. 

All right. Let me start with my line of questioning. First, I want 

to acknowledge for the record that in the 5 months that BP managed this claims process, and, of course, they had to stand it up 

very quickly and it was unprecedented, they only distributed $359 

million Gulf-wide. In the 5 months that Ken Feinberg has been on 

the job, you have distributed $3.3 billion, so you should be commended for that. 

However, one of my first questions is that people in my State, 

now I do not know about Florida or Mississippi or Alabama, but 

in Louisiana, Mr. Feinberg, they go to the centers. They try to get 

an update on their claim, and all they are told is, quote, ‘‘Your 

claim is under review.’’ They cannot get access to the status of that 

review. Is it the beginning, the middle, or the end? They cannot get 

a confirmation that their documentation is either in order or completely disorganized. And I think that is a real problem with the 

system and I would like you to respond. 

And also on this subject, one of the things I think many of us 

had asked you to do in the beginning is to have these offices staffed 

with people who the communities knew, local workers, and people 

who had knowledge or at least access to the computer database to 

give people some update. So would you please respond, and what 

are you going to do to correct it? 

Mr. FEINBERG. As I said in my opening statement, A, it is a fair 

criticism. B, there are 500,000 claims that have come in since August 23. We have picked up on your suggestion, which was made 

for the first time months ago, we have expanded our local people 

in these 35 claims offices so that individuals will be not as frustrated in trying to get an answer about deniability or the calculation of award—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. But do these employees in some of these law 

firms that have been, although they are not there for legal purposes but for advocacy purposes, do they have access to the database, because the Worley employees who were there who are—you 

could define as local, it is a local company, most certainly, in Hammond, Louisiana. I am sure people work for their company from all 

over the country, but many from the Gulf Coast. But I want you 

to testify, do they have access to the database, because they tell me 

no, and are the other firms that you are bringing in going to have 

access so people can get an update when they need one? 

Mr. FEINBERG. The answer is yes. I will not say they have access 

to the confidential database. They will have access to the—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. To the status? 

Mr. FEINBERG. That is correct, to give status as to eligibility, status as to denials, status as to the amount of the money that has 

been calculated. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. We are going to follow that up. This is 

similar, along the same lines. Claimants receive a denial letter. I 

do not have a copy of one with me, but I am going to ask the staff, 

if they do, to give it to me before the hearing is over, and if not, 

it will be up on our website. When claims are denied or awards are 

lower than expected, people are not receiving any commentary or 

detail. We know you requested $10,000. Here is a check for $2,000. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

14 

The reason you did not get the additional $8,000 is because of X, 

Y, and Z. There does not seem to be any explanation, and people 

then get very frustrated. They do not even know where to begin. 

Should they completely refile? What did they not understand? This 

is a real problem. 

Mr. FEINBERG. It is a problem. Now, I must say, the great majority of people do not have this problem. But I agree with you. If 

even a few people have this problem, it is a big problem. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. So you are testifying that denial letters 

or letters accompanying reduced award amounts include detailed 

explanations, because that is not our understanding. 

Mr. FEINBERG. No, I am not suggesting that. I am suggesting 

that, for the most part, when people get a denial letter, even if 

there is not an explanation, they understand why there has been 

a denial. The number of people—the critics are a relatively small 

number, but it is too many. I agree, it is too many. 

Senator LANDRIEU. All right—— 

Mr. FEINBERG. But we are dealing with this problem, as I said, 

by putting people in these local offices that have the ability to come 

up with live answers to help these people understand. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. Senator Shelby. 

Senator SHELBY. Thank you. Senator Landrieu, thank you very 

much for bringing forth this meeting. It is timely. 

Mr. Feinberg, I want to reiterate again, it has been 9 months 

since the oil spill. I will give these numbers to you again. Fiftyseven percent of claims in my State of Alabama remain unpaid. 

This amounts to 38,604 individual and business claims that have 

not received one penny in funding. Further, from January 12 to 

January 24 in Baldwin County, Alabama, this year, the hardest hit 

region in Alabama, as you referenced, only 28 claims were processed. That is less than three claims a day. You mentioned the 

numbers earlier. All the claims and the statistics that I referenced 

here came from your website. They are from your people. If they 

are wrong, correct them for the website and correct them for the 

record. We are relying on your numbers. 

Now, having said that, how many of the paid claims were paid 

in full? How many of the claims that you paid were paid in full, 

and if you do not have this, can you get this for the record—— 

Mr. FEINBERG. I will have to get that for the record. 

Senator SHELBY. A lot of people have complained, especially in 

Baldwin County, about partial claims, and they are desperate for 

the money. I know you are trying to expedite a lot of this and I 

know you are acting in good faith. 

The claims process has surely slowed down. Why is that, could 

you tell us for the record? 

Mr. FEINBERG. It has slowed down, briefly. Now, it has not 

slowed down in terms of 85,000 people in Alabama and elsewhere 

who have accepted the quick payment. The problem I have run 

into, and it is about to be solved by next Tuesday, I want to make 

sure before setting out a public methodology for processing final 

payments that we take into account, as you pointed out, Senator, 

the future of the Gulf. And it has taken me an extra month to 

gather together all of that expert information, and next Tuesday, 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

15 

I will announce, as I promised you I would, a final payment methodology and criteria. 

Senator SHELBY. Mr. Feinberg, we have known each other a long 

time and we have dealt in good faith, and I believe you are dealing 

in good faith. I appreciate the times you have gone to the Gulf 

Coast, not just my State of Alabama but the whole Gulf Coast. I 

know you have a very difficult situation. I know that. It is complex. 

But to our constituents that are frustrated, especially my area of 

Alabama, they have seasonal economy. The winter is here. They 

lost a lot back in the summer. They are not sure if they can make 

it until the spring. And we have talked about this before and a lot 

of your people have. 

So if you can process those claims—only bona fide claims. I 

would never want you to pay one cent that was not meritorious. 

But I would want you to pay the meritorious claims. And by now, 

you should have some methodology to differentiate between the 

real and the apparent, so to speak. That is all I am asking you, 

and I think that is all my constituents in Alabama want, is they 

want to be compensated for bona fide things and they are not all 

getting it and that is why I am here today. 

Mr. FEINBERG. And you have my word, Senator, that I am diligent in understanding that concern. 

Senator SHELBY. Thank you a lot. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Senator Vitter. 

Senator VITTER. Thank you, Madam Chairman, and Mr. 

Feinberg, again, thanks for your continuing work. I know it is not 

easy. 

Let me go back to some of the points in my opening statement. 

Will you publicly state that you will not take the 9/11 First Responder job or any other big public project until this Claims Facility is fully closed down? 

Mr. FEINBERG. Senator, I do not see how I can. I do not want to 

publicly state absolutely I will not, because, first of all, nobody has 

asked me. There has been no inquiry whatsoever that I do this. I 

am just reluctant, before the President of the United States or the 

Attorney General of the Department of Justice (DOJ) or whatever, 

I am reluctant to make that commitment before I know anything 

about it. But I assure you that my wife agrees with you, Senator. 

Absolutely. [Laughter.] 

Senator VITTER. Well, I am disappointed with your response. It 

would be flattering and perhaps appropriate for you to be asked, 

but, of course, you have to decide the answer, and I would suggest, 

given that this is a big unfinished job, that the answer should be 

public and unequivocal that you will not do that and would not do 

anything like that until this facility is completely closed down. 

Mr. FEINBERG. I take that criticism as valuable. Let us see what 

unfolds over the next few weeks. 

Senator VITTER. OK. Well, I am a little surprised and very disappointed with the response. 

Is the compensation package of you and your firm for this work 

public information? 

Mr. FEINBERG. Yes. It is public and it has been public for the last 

3 or 4 months. 

Senator VITTER. OK. Great. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

16 

Mr. FEINBERG. It is on the website, I think, but it is certainly 

public. 

Senator VITTER. OK. I have not seen it, and that is only my 

fault, apparently, if it is public. If you could just get us that detailed information, I would appreciate it. 

I talked about these quick payments. Of the 124,000 claimants 

who have been paid, do you know what percentage are quick payments? 

Mr. FEINBERG. I can say this. We paid 168,000, as Senator 

Landrieu pointed out, 168,000 emergency payments. Since that 

time, since those 168,000 were paid, we have paid an additional 

85,000, approximately, quick payments in the last 5 weeks. So we 

have made 168,000 emergency payments plus 85,000 quick payments. 

Senator VITTER. OK. We may be using slightly different terms. 

My understanding is that of all payments to claimants, over half 

are quick payments, and in Louisiana, it is over 57 percent. Does 

that sound like it is roughly accurate? 

Mr. FEINBERG. No, I do not think so. I mean, it may be. I would 

have to go back and do the math. The 85,000 quick payments have 

all been made in the last 5 weeks as supplemental payments. I 

would have to go back and do the math and give you those statistics. 

Senator VITTER. OK, again, that is the statistics I have, and the 

general point is that a huge percentage of claimants paid are quick 

payments. 

Mr. FEINBERG. That is true. 

Senator VITTER. My understanding is over half. Again, in Louisiana, my understanding is over 57 percent. 

If you look at those quick payments, my understanding is that 

92 percent go to retail, service, restaurant-type folks. 

Mr. FEINBERG. I do not know how anybody has that information. 

I can check and see. I doubt that is true. 

Senator VITTER. OK. And my understanding, that compared to 

that, about 5 percent go to seafood-related folks. Now, there are a 

lot less seafood-related folks than the other category. I understand 

that. But I think there is something else at work, which is that a 

lot of the payments, a lot of the success, a lot of the numbers that 

you cite, and it is appropriate to cite it, is essentially the low-hanging fruit. It is essentially the easiest cases to do. And my concern 

is that the folks most impacted, most hit, and sometimes in most 

dire straits are not the low-hanging fruit and are still waiting and 

in dire straits. Do you have a general response to that? 

Mr. FEINBERG. I do not—I would characterize it differently. I 

would say that those who have accepted the quick payment are either individuals who feel that they have been adequately compensated and here is additional compensation that is available simply by signing a release or individuals who cannot document any 

further damage and therefore see the wisdom of accepting these 

payments. 

I agree completely with you, Senator, that fishermen and 

shrimpers and commercial businesses dependent on Gulf resources 

are waiting impatiently for the Final Payment and the Interim 

Payment Program, which will be announced next week, because 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

17 

they are the ones with long-term decisions to make about whether 

to take the money and issue a release or wait and see over time 

how the future will develop in the Gulf. 

Senator VITTER. OK. Well, again, let me just state my conclusion, 

and people can reach different conclusions. I think these numbers, 

which are strong in dollar figures, in claimants paid, in many 

ways, do represent the easiest cases, and my concern is that the 

folks most hard hit are by definition generally not in that category. 

Mr. FEINBERG. Senator, I just want to make one other point, 

which is it is a very interesting point you are making. I get criticized for the opposite. I get criticized that people who take the 

quick payment are desperate. I do not believe this myself, but this 

is the argument I hear. It is the exact opposite of your argument. 

It is, Mr. Feinberg, people who take the quick payment cannot afford to wait. They are tempted. They are desperate, so they take 

the quick payment because they need it desperately. 

You are making a different argument, which I tend to share, and 

that is that people, commercial fishermen, shrimpers, people who 

have a long-term view of the Gulf, are in desperate need—Senator 

Shelby says it has been delayed too long—for these final payments 

and interim payments. So I am basically in agreement with you 

that I have to get these final payments out to these people, these 

fishermen who really need this. 

Senator VITTER. Can you come back to me? I have some more 

questions. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Yes, I can come back to you. Let me get Senator Nelson and then I will come right back to you. Go ahead. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you for your service. I just want to underscore what that chart says. You see that the number of claims, 

even though the spill was closer to the other three States than it 

was to Florida, nevertheless, there are almost 800 miles of Gulf 

Coast coastline in our State and that has spawned 162,000 claimants, compared, for example, where the spill was right next to Louisiana, 194,000. And it is simply that a spill far away is still affecting a State like Florida. And our people are frustrated and I want 

to bring those frustrations to you, Mr. Feinberg, respectfully. 

Take, for example, a lady named Susan that was in the process 

of renting vacation homes. That is how she made her living. She 

put in a claim. Obviously, she was impacted because vacationers 

did not come, and her claim was denied. Or take Theresa, who was 

selling advertising in directories and vacation guides for tourists. 

When the tourists did not come because they thought there was oil 

on the beaches—she is a disabled woman, that is her only source 

of income, and her claim was denied. 

And so I want to ask five questions, and if I cannot get to it, 

since I did not have an opening statement, I am down to three-anda-quarter minutes—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. Go ahead. 

Senator NELSON. Let me just say, first of all, your structuring of 

the claims process. Are the folks that are processing the claims 

given some sort of worksheet or instructions how to determine 

when all of the required documentation is complete, and is that instruction sheet there in order to determine how much the compensation should be? 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

18 

Mr. FEINBERG. Yes—— 

Senator NELSON. In other words, I am looking for uniformity. 

Mr. FEINBERG. Yes. There is an instruction sheet. They have 

been trained. The claims intake people in Florida do not calculate 

the amount, but they make sure with their instruction sheet that 

all the necessary documentation to process the claim is there, is 

available, and is submitted. 

Senator NELSON. OK. As in any big organization, somewhere it 

has broken down with, for example, the two I just mentioned. 

All right. Question number two, we have seen with similar documentation different outcomes. So in what ways do you oversee that 

the claims are processed so as to try to get as much consistency as 

possible? 

Mr. FEINBERG. In a small number of cases, relatively speaking, 

there is inconsistency. You are absolutely right. It is inevitable. 

There are 500,000 claims, Senator, that we have processed in 5 

months. I agree with you, there is inconsistency. We are trying to 

deal with it in our facility here in Washington. Where we see inconsistency, we flag it. We correct it. 

I went down to Alabama and Florida and met with people who 

claimed inconsistency and we fixed some of them, but not enough. 

And I agree with you, we have to do a better job of uniformity. I 

agree completely. 

Senator NELSON. OK. Now, there is a need for an expedited review when there are folks that are desperate—electricity shut off, 

foreclosure, cannot afford the basic necessities of life. Is there an 

expedited review? 

Mr. FEINBERG. Senator, I think the answer to that is categorically yes. We have paid 168,000 people, including in Florida 

160,000 emergency benefits in 90 days without requiring any release or anything. Now, there may be some people, Susan or Theresa or others, who for whatever the reason. But when those claims 

have been brought to my attention, we have done what we have to 

do to try and accelerate those claims. I am mindful of this criticism. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Go ahead and take another minute, Senator. 

Senator NELSON. People are hurting. When you have your electricity shut off, they are hurting. 

All right. Now, you, your organization has said they are going to 

release the formula in February. 

Mr. FEINBERG. February 2, Tuesday. 

Senator NELSON. All right. Would it not have been a wise thing 

to do, to be beneficial to the people that are making the claim, to 

know how those claims were going to be evaluated before they submitted those claims? 

Mr. FEINBERG. Absolutely. On February 2, next Tuesday, we are 

going to release for a 2-week public comment period the opportunity for claimants, experts, whoever, to comment before we start 

processing the claims next month, the final payments, to review 

the methodology, review the criteria for people like Susan and Theresa, and decide what they think before we process that claim, if 

they like the approach we are going to take. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

19 

Senator NELSON. That is a step in the right direction. And then 

I will just say that you all said that there is an appeal process to 

the Coast Guard? 

Senator LANDRIEU. Yes. 

Senator NELSON. Where is there not an appeal process to your 

facility? 

Mr. FEINBERG. There is. We are implementing a very limited—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thirty seconds. 

Mr. FEINBERG [continuing]. Appeals process, a very limited appeals process for high-end claims. There are so many claims, Senator Nelson. I do not want to bog down the processing of the claims 

with what could be thousands of appeals. Those individuals who 

are denied or who do not get what they want can immediately appeal to the Coast Guard and that is a separate appeal opportunity 

for any claimant. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. We have to move to the second panel, 

but every member will get another 2 minutes on this round, and 

I know, Senator Vitter, you had another question or two. 

Senator VITTER. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman. 

Let me pick up where I left off. My concern is that, in terms of 

the payments that have been made, a lot of which are quick payments, that has not hit the seafood and seafood processing community significantly. And so the seafood sector remains unaddressed 

compared to other sectors, and that is a big and important sector, 

very hard hit in Louisiana. 

Let me give you some examples. You came to Louisiana for some 

town hall meetings in January. Thank you for that. You were presented with a lot of cases that folks that were not resolved, were 

not being adequately dealt with from their point of view. Tracy and 

Mike Roberts from Barataria were at the Lafitte town hall and 

they brought up their claim. Michelle Chauncey [phonetic], also 

from Barataria, she was at the same meeting. Rudy Carmandell 

[phonetic] from Crown Point, he was a fisherman. He explained 

that his paperwork was not straight and the Claims Facility said, 

well, the problem was he needed to get something signed off by the 

boat captain. That really frustrated him, because guess what, he is 

the boat captain. 

In all of those cases, you said, ‘‘I am going to look into it. We are 

going to get back to you.’’ My information is that in all of those 

cases, they have not heard anything, nothing new, nothing at all 

from the Claims Facility since that town hall meeting. Do you want 

to respond to that, and how can we fix that and address that? 

Mr. FEINBERG. I do not believe—if I have not responded to individuals who handed me a claim in a visit to Louisiana, shame on 

me. I would like to know, Senator, through your staff, the names 

of those individuals or their claim numbers and I will be back to 

you and your staff forthwith. 

Senator VITTER. OK. We will give you those three. Can I ask you, 

in those three Louisiana town hall meetings, by definition, there 

are obviously a limited number of people who could stand up, could 

you all also report to us who is on that list and what has happened 

to those people since those meetings? 

Mr. FEINBERG. Yes. 

Senator VITTER. Great. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

20 

Senator LANDRIEU. Senator Shelby, and then I will get Senator 

Carper. 

Senator SHELBY. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I will be brief. 

Mr. Feinberg, I know you have a very difficult task. I understand 

that. As I said, I have known you a long time and I know you are 

working to resolve this. It is not easy. It is complex. But I think 

my people in Alabama, just like Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, 

Texas, and others, they are interested in a fair process, a process 

that can be expedited, because time is everything to them right 

now, to try to get over the winter into the spring and praying and 

hoping that they can get another season. 

You have been to Alabama several times and I appreciate that, 

just like the others. You have been involved and we want you to 

continue to do this. We know you cannot process every claim yourself, that you rely on your staff and so forth. And you have made 

a lot of people happy. I am not saying whole. I do not know that. 

But we have a long way to go and that is what my people want 

you to do, is to finish the job, finish it as expeditiously as you can, 

and do the right thing. 

Mr. FEINBERG Thank you, Senator. 

Senator SHELBY. That is all I ask you. 

Mr. FEINBERG. Thank you. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Senator Carper. 

Senator CARPER. Thanks. Welcome, one and all. It is very nice 

to see you. Mr. Feinberg, thank you for taking this on. Sometimes 

I think you almost need the wisdom of Solomon to be able to do 

this fair and square, so we appreciate your efforts and those of Mr. 

Bennett, too, to be fair. 

I understand, and this is really a question both to Mr. Bennett 

and to Mr. Feinberg, but I understand that under current law, if 

a claim is denied or if it is not handled, by the responsible party 

within, I think it is 90 days, then that claim can be presented to 

the Coast Guard for adjudication for payment out of the Oil Spill 

Liability Trust Fund. Is that correct? 

Mr. FEINBERG. That is correct, Senator. 

Senator CARPER. OK. Mr. Feinberg, I think you called this sort 

of a built-in appeals process. I think that is what—is that what you 

call it? 

Mr. FEINBERG. There are two appeals processes. There is the one 

that you have just described and then there is an additional appeals process that the Gulf Coast Claims Facility has created independent of the Coast Guard. 

Senator CARPER. OK. Mr. Bennett, I am told that over 500 

claims have been received by your office thus far, but of those reviewed, none have been paid. Let me just ask, what do you believe 

the chances are that this will continue? That is my first question. 

What do you believe the chances are that this will continue? And 

secondly, is your office able to handle what I understand are an 

ever-increasing number of claims that are being submitted to your 

office every month? 

Mr. BENNETT. Thank you, Senator. That is a good question. You 

are correct. My office has received to date 507 claims that have all 

been presented previously to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility and either denied, or in some cases paid before we got to it, or the payH605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

21 

ment did not meet the claimant’s satisfaction, so they brought it to 

us. So that is 507 out of the hundreds of thousands that are on 

there. We have finished adjudicating—— 

Senator CARPER. So in a case where they submit their claim to Mr. Feinberg’s folks for like, say, $200, they got $100, but they are 

not satisfied. So they come to you for the second $100? Is that 

right? 

Mr. BENNETT. That is correct, Senator. They can bring it to us. 

It is not really an appeal of his decision because it is sort of an 

arm’s length relationship between the two of us. But we are an alternate source for adjudicating. So as long as it has been properly 

presented to the responsible party, in this case the Gulf Coast 

Claims Facility, if after 90 days or denial, then they can bring it 

to us and we will take a re-look at it. We have an arm’s length relationship, so we try to understand what it was that they did. We 

want to make sure they have not already paid it, which we found 

in about 10 percent of the cases the claimant has been paid, so we 

end up sending a denial. And then we adjudicate it in our own 

process and get back to the claimants. 

We have adjudicated 200 and all of those have been denials to 

date. I cannot predict that it will continue to go at that rate. I 

think that is primarily an indication of the fact that the protocols 

that are out there that BP and GCCF have been able to do have 

actually been more inclusive than OPA requires. They can pay for 

personal injury. They can pay emergency advance payments. I cannot pay advance payments. Their final claims protocol will include 

prospective losses. I cannot pay for speculative losses. So there are 

a lot of reasons why when they—— 

Senator CARPER. Let me just ask you this. Stop right there. I 

want to go back to my second question. Is your office able to handle 

what I understand to be an increasing claims load demand? Are 

you able to handle it? 

Mr. BENNETT. Senator, that has been a concern of mine for the 

last 7 months, is what happens if we get a deluge, and so far, we 

have not seen that deluge. So far, we have been able to scale up. 

I have stood up a separate staff just for Deepwater Horizon claims 

and we have been able to keep up with the calls and the claims 

that have come in. I cannot—it depends on what happens in the 

future. We will continue to scale as we need to, using the resources 

that we have. But for right now, we have been able to stay up. 

Mr. FEINBER Senator, I just want to say one thing about this. 

Mr. Bennett has made two—from my perspective, he has made my 

day. First, the Coast Guard has acknowledged in this testimony 

that the GCCF is more generous and more open in finding eligibility than OPA requires. I have said that from day one. And second, the Coast Guard has publicly stated today at this hearing that 

it has received 507 appeals from the GCCF, and about half of 

those, we have adjudicated and affirmed the decision without exception of the GCCF. 

Senator CARPER. Good. Thank you. Last question, if I may. Mr. 

Feinberg, how are you ensuring that you do not deny a claim the 

government might pay or that no claims fall through the cracks? 

If the Coast Guard did pay a claim that you missed, would we be 

able to be reimbursed for those funds? 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

22 

Mr. FEINBERG. I do not understand the question. 

Senator CARPER. I will say it again. 

Mr. BENNETT. Can I answer that? 

Senator CARPER. Please. 

Mr. BENNETT. Senator, if I pay a claim that he denied, the responsible party is liable for that expense because it comes out of 

the trust fund. So I would then bill BP for any and all claims that 

we pay and we would be reimbursed by BP. 

Senator LANDRIEU. And they would probably bill him. He has the $20 billion. 

Mr. BENNETT. They would work that out between themselves. 

Yes, ma’am, that would probably come out of the escrow account. 

Senator CARPER. All right. OK. Thanks, Madam Chairman. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Senator Carper, good question. Senator Nelson. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you, Madam Chairman, and I want to 

thank you for doing this. I want to thank you, Mr. Feinberg, for 

coming several times to the Gulf Coast. 

Now, I want to go back to your last question. You do not want 

the appeals process to bog down your process of paying claims, but 

we would have to worry about that over in the Coast Guard, as 

well, and we would have to worry about the courts getting clogged. 

And so if you will go back and reevaluate that, because at the end 

of the day, what we are trying to do is help people. And so there 

is some breakdown there. Now, there is some breakdown also—for 

example, I have seen our staff in my Florida offices work miracles. 

Mr. FEINBERG. That is right. 

Senator NELSON. People have come to us. They have a claim that 

is bogged down. We get in touch with your facility and they work 

it out. But more recently, maybe it is the holidays, the middle of 

December, I sent to the Facility 40 cases, and it is well over a 

month and 10 days later. And so I followed up with another letter 

just recently. If you would attend to that, I sure would appreciate 

it. 

Mr. FEINBERG. I think I have an answer for that. You are right. 

I will attend to that. I think the reason those 40 claims are sitting, 

waiting to be processed, is because of the delay that I imposed in 

the methodology for finalizing payments, final payments in Florida. 

And as I said, Senator, we are accelerating that. We are going to 

announce that methodology next Tuesday, and a 2-week public 

comment period, and then we will be paying all 40 of those claims, 

and I will keep your staff posted on that. 

Senator NELSON. Thank you, Madam Chairman. 

Senator LANDRIEU. We are going to wrap this panel, but I want 

to put a couple of things in the record. 

One, 194,000 claimants have filed claims to date in Louisiana. 

Forty-four percent have been paid. One-hundred-sixty-two thousand in Florida. Sixty percent have been paid. Sixty-eight thousand 

in Alabama. Sixty percent have been paid. Fifty-two thousand in 

Mississippi. Forty-two percent have been paid. Texas, 10,000. Thirty percent have been paid. Now, these are quick payments, emergency payments, interim payments. I am not sure that we have 

even yet to see the final settlements, and we do not have those 

complete numbers. But it just gives us a rough snapshot. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

23 

1 Item referenced by Senator Landrieu appears in the appendix on page 94. 

But Senator Vitter is absolutely correct that these percentages, 

while they do tell a part of the story, it is the easier claims, the 

smaller claims being paid, and some of the businesses that were 

most affected, particularly in the fisheries and fishing and seafood 

sector that were the hardest hit have yet to be paid. So I think, 

Mr. Feinberg and also Mr. Bennett, we should keep our mind on 

that. 

Second, we did go find a claims letter, and I want to read it for 

the record because, to me, this is insufficient. I am not going to 

read the whole letter, but the operative is, you are denied. Your 

claim has been denied. You did not provide sufficient documentation. In this form letter, there is no comment about what documentation you failed to provide. It does not say, you did not provide 

your birth certificate, or you failed to provide a copy of your fishing 

license, or you failed to provide the address of your business. No 

specifics about documentation. And then it says, and if you have 

questions about your denial, you can call this toll-free number. 

So what I am going to do before the next hearing, because I am 

going to call another one, is I personally, with my staff, am going 

to get 20 people that have these denial letters, four from each 

State. That would be 20, is that correct? Four times five? We are 

going to do 20, four from each State. And I am going to call this 

number, Mr. Feinberg, and I am going to hope to get on the other 

end someone that is going to pull up their account and say, Ms. 

Jones or Mr. Jones, your claim was denied because, your address 

was bogus, or because you said you were in the restaurant business, but you are actually in the dry cleaning business and we 

found out about it and we are not paying you, or something. 

And then, Mr. Feinberg, I will tell you, the next hearing I have, 

I am going to have your Chief Operating Officers (COOs) in front 

of this panel, because you have a good big picture and I think you 

have a really good handle on the philosophy and strategic elements 

of this, but I am convinced, getting more and more convinced, unfortunately, that there is something lost between your vision and 

actually what is happening on the ground. And we just—this is getting to be now fairly desperate for some of our businesses and some 

of our people. 

So let us end this panel on a positive note, but I am going to do 

another review here in several weeks and give everybody time to 

recoup. I want to go to the second panel. 

And I am also going to submit two other things for the record. 

Our State submitted industry-specific compensation models for 

your review, Mr. Feinberg, and they have not received a response, 

and that is an official submittal from a very high office, maybe not 

from the Governor himself, but from someone at a very high office. 

And from the State of Florida, your Chief Financial Officer, Jeff 

Atwater, sent a letter from Florida to you.1 They have not been 

given a response. So we do need—I know you postponed some 

things, but this February 2 announcement, of course, is an important one. Florida and Louisiana have submitted some specifics to 

you. So let us please get on that, and we will see you all back here 

in about 4 weeks, OK? 

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24 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Broderick appears in the appendix on page 53. 

Mr. FEINBERG. Thank you, Senator. 

Senator LANDRIEU. All right. Thank you. 

And if the second panel will come forward, I am going to ask Admiral Broderick to go first. I know he has a tight flight schedule 

and I am sorry this has been delayed slightly. I really appreciate 

you all making the effort to be here given the weather conditions 

outside. 

Admiral Broderick is from the Substance Abuse and Mental 

Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), where he serves as 

Deputy Administrator. He has served for 34 years with the Department. He is a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health 

Service. He has extensive experience as a Clinician and he is here 

to testify about the oil spill’s impacts on the mental health of some 

of these communities and the stress that has been placed on individuals, families, and businesses throughout the Gulf. 

So, Admiral, why don’t we start with you and then I will introduce the other panelists in a moment. 

TESTIMONY OF REAR ADMIRAL ERIC B. BRODERICK,1 D.D.S., 

M.P.H., DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR, SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND 

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

Admiral BRODERICK. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Thank you 

for indulging my schedule. If you do have questions of me, if the 

Subcommittee has questions of me, I would be happy to answer 

them for the record afterwards. 

I am pleased to have this time to share with you a few highlights 

of SAMHSA’s efforts in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill recovery 

and response. I am joining you today on behalf of SAMHSA’s Administrator, Pamela Hyde, who was unable to attend the hearing, 

yet she has been very involved with SAMHSA’s role in the oil spill 

response. 

As part of SAMHSA’s mission to reduce the impact of substance 

abuse and mental illness on American communities, behavioral 

health is an essential part of health. We know that prevention 

works, that treatment is effective, and that people recover from 

mental health and substance use disorders. Traumatic events, such 

as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, placed a heavy burden on individuals, families, and communities and create challenges for public 

institutions and service systems, especially the behavioral health 

system. 

SAMHSA and the behavioral health community know that disasters often precipitate mental and substance use disorders, which 

can be triggered when hope seems gone, security is threatened, and 

lives and property are lost. Addressing these behavioral health 

needs is critical to the recovery for individuals, families, and communities affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and efforts 

will be necessary for years to come. With appropriate support and 

intervention, people can overcome adversity and move forward. 

As part of the coordinated Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) response, we at SAMHSA worked to help ensure 

that the immediate behavioral health needs of affected individuals 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

25 

were addressed in the immediate aftermath of the oil spill and we 

will continue to address these evolving needs over time. 

State reports show increased behavioral health needs in the Gulf 

region in the wake of the oil spill. These reports document an increase in incidents of psychiatric disorders, anxiety and depression, 

increase in the incidence of substance use, and higher risks of suicide. The rate of family breakdown, including domestic violence, 

are also on the rise. These outcomes, while troubling, were not unexpected. These increased behavioral health needs are similar to 

those observed after Hurricane Katrina as well as after the Exxon 

Valdez oil spill in 1989. 

The current situation in the Gulf is exacerbated by the fact that 

it occurs in the same region impacted by Hurricanes Rita and 

Katrina in 2005. We know that when multiple events happen over 

the course of time, individuals in those regions are at heightened 

risk for behavioral health disorders. 

SAMHSA has been engaged in supporting the impacted States 

since the day after the oil spill. We have provided technical support 

and assistance to the States to assess and meet the mental health 

and related substance abuse needs concerning the affected communities. SAMHSA has been in contact with State officials assessing 

needs and helping States formulate response plans, including the 

development of a shared template to gather information and address the emergent needs and provide technical assistance to 

States in their request for funds from BP for behavioral health 

services. 

In addition, SAMHSA immediately began making relevant and 

useful information available on our website. There are comprehensive resources and information available on behavioral health and 

the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. An online annotated bibliography 

continues to provide an extensive list of sources of information. 

SAMHSA’s website also provides links to dozens of other Federal 

agencies and organizations involved in the response. 

At the request of Secretary Sebelius at HHS, Administrator Hyde 

at SAMHSA, and multiple Gulf States, BP provided $52 million to 

fund mental health and substance abuse support services. Funds 

went to SAMHSA and to four States affected most in the region, 

Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Of this $52 million, 

SAMHSA received $10 million to launch a toll-free crisis counseling 

hotline for residents of the affected States, to develop behavioral 

health educational materials for public health information, and to 

conduct surveillance of ongoing behavioral health needs for individuals affected by the spill. 

SAMHSA created and successfully launched the Oil Spill Distress Helpline, 1–800–985–5990. This toll-free helpline provides information, support, and counseling for those affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. SAMHSA has also undertaken extensive 

regional public education campaigns to raise awareness of the potential behavioral health impacts of the spill and to connect those 

in need with available services. SAMHSA has assisted in the coordination of local and regional outreach activities to promote 

awareness of the hotline number. We have also disseminated public 

education and outreach materials on behavioral health among the 

residents of the affected communities. We have also developed and 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

26 

distributed television, radio, and print announcements to the public. 

In addition, the $10 million that BP provided to us also provided 

funds that we have used in coordination with our Federal partners 

to do surveillance of the mental health and substance abuse needs 

of the community. This includes collaboration with the Centers for 

Disease Control (CDC), who is in the process now of conducting a 

telephone survey in the Gulf. That survey began on the 15th of December and will continue for a year. We also recently announced the provision of about $650,000 in grants to the four States. They amount to about $162,000 per State 

to provide States funds to monitor the mental health and substance 

abuse services being provided to the people that they encounter in 

those communities. SAMHSA’s efforts represent only a part of the 

Federal Government’s comprehensive response to the Deepwater 

spill. 

Despite many hardships, people of the Gulf are doing their best 

to stay connected with friends of family, take care of themselves 

and their neighbors. I have to tell you, Senator, the resilience of 

the folks in your jurisdictions are truly phenomenal. They are very, 

very resilient people given what they have encountered over the 

last decade. It is truly amazing to us to see that. 

History tells us, however, that the emotional impact of the devastation is going to continue and we need to be very vigilant of that 

and monitor carefully how those communities are doing. As such, 

the Oil Spill Distress Line will be operational through 2011. Public 

Service Announcements (PSAs) and information on our websites 

will continue to be updated and disseminated. Surveillance will 

continue. And coordination with State and voluntary providers will 

persist until such time as the indicators signal that they are no 

longer needed. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Would you wrap up, if you would, please. 

Admiral BRODERICK. Sure. Now that the immediate response 

phase has come to an end, we are shifting our focus to the longterm recovery efforts for the Gulf Coast residents and to help them 

rebuild their lives. 

It has been my pleasure to be here, Madam Chairman, and I 

would be happy to, as I said, answer any questions for the record 

that you might have. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you, Admiral. 

I do have one question, then we will excuse you because I know 

of your flight, and then we will go to the rest of the panel. 

Admiral BRODERICK. OK. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Under the total amount of $52 million that 

BP contributed, and they did this voluntarily—— 

Admiral BRODERICK. Correct. 

Senator LANDRIEU [continuing]. Because I want to say for the 

record, there is no law requiring them to contribute in any way to 

social services, mental health. It was not contemplated in the Oil 

Pollution Act. It is being, of course, thought about now since the 

repercussions are so clear and widespread. But SAMHSA was provided $10 million by BP. Did you have any money on hand as an agency prior to the $10 million given to you 

by this BP contribution to respond as an agency? 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

27 

Admiral BRODERICK. We have authority, Madam Chairman, to do 

SAMHSA Emergency Response Grants, and this was a bit different 

in that there was no Stafford Act declaration. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Right. 

Admiral BRODERICK. So FEMA funds were not available. And in 

those instances when—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. So what was available? 

Admiral BRODERICK. What was available is SAMHSA’s general 

appropriation. And so while we have the authority to provide funds 

to communities in response to disasters. We do not have a specific 

budget line item for that, so we would shift funds around in those 

instances—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. And how much did you shift around to accommodate this situation? 

Admiral BRODERICK. We did not. The $650,000 that we provided 

to the four States came out of the $10 million that BP provided us. 

Senator LANDRIEU. And what did you do with the other—— 

Admiral BRODERICK. The rest of the $10 million? 

Senator LANDRIEU. The rest of the $10 million. 

Admiral BRODERICK. Six million goes to surveillance. A hundredand—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. Surveillance? What does that mean? 

Admiral BRODERICK. Epidemiologic surveillance, monitoring the 

substance abuse and mental health conditions of Gulf Coast residents—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. So just reporting it, but not treating it? 

Admiral BRODERICK. Correct. It goes to monitoring—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. Identifying it, reporting it, but not treating it. 

Admiral BRODERICK. Right. Epidemiologic—— 

Senator LANDRIEU. So of the $10 million that went to you, only 

$650,000 went for—— 

Admiral BRODERICK. Correct. The responsibility for treatment is 

the responsibility of the States. In these kinds of situations, our 

mission is to coordinate a response and to do things that cut across 

the entire region. The $42 million of the $52 million that was provided was provided to those States, and those States then were the 

ones that provided treatment to people. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. And was that agreed to between 

SAMHSA and the States, that you all would do all of the identification and reporting so that they could use 100 percent of their 

money for treatment? Do you know if that was ever—— 

Admiral BRODERICK. Actually, the Administrator convened all 

five States in Atlanta in June, and I mentioned the development 

of a common template. Essentially what that was a common format 

for a claim, if you will, by each of the States to BP. And so we submitted our claim for the things that States would not do, the things 

that cut across the whole region. For instance, that telephone number is available to anybody in the region. The surveillance occurs 

across the entire region. The Public Service Announcements occur 

across the entire region. And the States then submitted their requests, which totaled $42 million, that BP then paid to the States 

specifically for treatment. We did agree that we would—our request 

would cover the things that cut across the region and the States 

would request funds for treatment. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

28 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Keller appears in the appendix on page 59. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Because I am going to be asking each State 

to give this Subcommittee a very detailed report of how they spent, 

in Louisiana, 15, in Mississippi, 12, Alabama, 12, and Florida, approximately 2.4, and we are going to ask you for detail on your $10 

million, and then $1 million went to Catholic Charities. 

I know that you have to leave, so let me go ahead and excuse 

you now and thank you for your testimony. 

Admiral BRODERICK. Thank you. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Mr. Keller, if we can first go to you, I guess, 

and then we will come back to Mr. Costanza and Ms. West. 

Thank you again, Admiral. I appreciate it. 

Mr. Keller, go ahead and outline what BP felt under its—you do 

not have a legal obligation, but you all have made a fairly significant commitment here. There are still some great needs and we 

will discuss that as you go on, but go ahead and proceed. You have 

5 minutes. 

TESTIMONY OF ALBERT L. KELLER,1 EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GULF COAST RESTORATION ORGANIZATION, BP 

AMERICA, INC. 

Mr. KELLER. Thank you, Chairman Landrieu. I am Luke Keller, 

Executive Vice President for BP America’s Gulf Coast Restoration 

Organization (GCRO). I welcome your invitation to share information with you about the process for addressing State and local government claims relating to the Deepwater Horizon accident and 

BP’s contributions to various social services providers. 

The Deepwater Horizon accident has profoundly affected all of 

us. We have deep sorrow for the lives lost, the injuries sustained, 

and the impacts to the Gulf Coast communities. 

The GCRO was formed in the summer of 2010 and manages all 

aspects of the response to the Deepwater Horizon accident in the 

Gulf of Mexico. We have offices and dedicated local teams in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Texas. We essentially 

oversee four functions: Spill response and removal, economic restoration, environmental restoration, and restoring trust. 

Within days of the incident, we established a robust claims process to address claims by individuals, businesses, and government 

entities. Our central focus has been and remains the fair and proper resolution of all legitimate claims. In the GCRO, we work closely 

with State and local governments to ensure we meet our commitments to the people of the Gulf Coast. 

And at the request of State Government leaders, BP has provided advances to cover anticipated response and removal costs 

even before they were incurred, approximately $291 million to Louisiana, $75 million to Mississippi, $56 million to Alabama, and $50 

million to Florida. Advances were also made to governments for alleged losses of tax revenue. 

BP has a Government Claims Group within the GCRO that is 

dedicated full-time to addressing claims filed by government entities. We provide regular public reporting on our government claims 

process and also send periodic newsletters to government claimants. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

29 

1The prepared statement of Mr. Costanza appears in the appendix on page 63. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Mr. Keller, let me just interrupt you just a 

minute, and you may want to regroup. We had asked you specifically to come and talk about the mental health, community outreach piece. So you can submit the rest in writing, but we were 

very, very clear about the subject of this hearing. So why do you 

not think about what you might want to say about that and I am 

going to go to Mr. Costanza and Ms. West now and then we will 

come back to you and you can add some thoughts to what BP is 

observing in the area about community stress or strain, how the 

process is impacting people, not so much—I mean, everybody is 

fairly aware of what you all have set up and we are grateful for 

what you all have done so far, but we want to really stay focused 

on the human aspect of this. 

Mr. Costanza, let me introduce you so people know who you are. 

I do, but Tom is the Executive Director of the Office of Justice and 

Peace for Catholic Charities. He is also the Chair of the Greater 

New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership that has been working, unfortunately, too hard and overtime since Hurricanes 

Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Ike, and now the BP spill. I just want to 

compliment you and Catholic Charities for taking a leadership role 

through all of these storms and disasters with so many different 

religious organizations and community-based organizations to try 

to help our people through some difficult times. 

So we will start with you, and let me also introduce Ms. West, 

and then we will go right to you. She serves as Chair of the South 

Mississippi Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters. You all 

have been working very closely together. International Relief and 

Development (IRD) and the U.S. Gulf Coast Community Resource 

Center have assisted over 10,000 clients with hurricane recovery 

and long-term needs since 2005. 

So, Mr. Costanza, let us start with you. 

TESTIMONY OF TOM COSTANZA,1 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF JUSTICE AND PEACE, CATHOLIC CHARITIES, ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW ORLEANS 

Mr. COSTANZA. Good afternoon, Chairman Landrieu, and thank 

you for your leadership in all these disasters. We do try to work 

together as NGOs in partnership and we feel that is the best way 

to help people effectively recover. 

My name is Tom Costanza with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of New Orleans (CCANO) and I would like to begin by remembering the families that lost loved ones and for the families 

impacted by this current disaster. 

The anxiety level is high and getting higher in our communities 

across Southeast Louisiana, and much of this is due, unfortunately, 

to the claims process and structure. Although the process has paid 

claims, there is much confusion about its inconsistent methodology, 

fairness, lack of access to information, lack of local decisionmaking, 

and lack of concrete, useful information as to why claims were denied and what they can do to correct it. 

A real issue right now is a total of 4,230 fishing sector claims 

have been denied for insufficient documentation at the end of the 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

30 

emergency phase. Some are losing homes and vehicles. There is increased stress and anxiety because of frustration with the claims 

process and reduced incomes. Many are having difficulty finding 

other employment. Oystermen are concerned about the long-term 

loss of the oyster beds, and shrimpers are concerned over price and 

production levels. 

However, the nonprofit sector is responding. Along with many 

other NGOs, five local Catholic Charities and Second Harvest Food 

Bank agencies along the Gulf Coast have provided food, relief, and 

recovery services to people impacted by the disaster. 

A simple story is recently one of our case managers helped a fisherman with food, room, assistance, and counseling until he can find 

some temporary work because he cannot fish anymore. This shows 

you a human side of this recovery where a case manager is critical 

and important to develop that relationship and recovery. 

We are very grateful to BP for the initial direct assistance and 

mental health funds which we are using, but without the proven 

holistic approach to family recovery, including case management, 

direct assistance, financial counseling, the recovery simply is less 

effective. 

Responding Catholic Charities agencies report a collective total of 

nearly $2.7 million in resources we have raised and delivered to 

the oil spill-impacted population. We are asking both the Gulf 

Coast Claims Facility and the Gulf Coast Restoration Organization 

staff to sit down with the nonprofit and faith-based organizations 

and work together in service to the common good of the residents 

in our coastal communities. 

In addition, we recommend the following. We need to absolutely 

fast track and resolve the 4,200 fishing industry claims that were 

denied. This is critical. These are the vulnerable families. These 

are the families that need immediate assistance and cannot wait 

until the interim claim process is ironed out. We need to restructure the claims process for the fishing community using knowledge 

and protocols developed by industry experts with special cultural 

sensitivity to the highly impacted Asian Pacific population. And we 

must fund the NGO Technical Assistance Providers Network proposal to increase the claims quality and approval rates. 

In order to stabilize our families during this critical period, we 

would like to get the Family Stabilization Grant funded, because 

this would directly help people with rent, utilities, counseling, job 

development, so they can make it through this tough time. 

We need to be aware of health care and monitoring of toxic exposure, especially for children and the oil spill cleanup workers, and 

provide primary health care access and services in these coastal 

communities. 

We should pay subsistence claims, fund food banks, and streamline the Food Stamp application to the two-page Disaster Food 

Stamp Form to alleviate food insecurity. 

And in terms of long term, we have brought that up, should dedicate some of the fines from the Clean Water Act to human recovery, to look at the tax policy relative to spreading their final claims 

over a period of years, and as you mentioned before, to revise the 

Oil Spill Pollution Act to include human recovery. 

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31 

1The prepared statement of Ms. West appears in the appendix on page 81. 

We welcome the opportunity to continue to work together with 

BP and the Gulf Coast Restoration Organization. We have worked 

successfully with the Feinberg team in D.C. on some special critical 

cases and we look forward to building on that relationship. 

I would like to end with a quote from Archbishop Aymond. 

‘‘Many of these same families have rebuilt their lives after Hurricane Katrina and are a sign of hope for us all. They are a vibrant 

people.’’ Thank you. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you, Tom. Ms. West. 

TESTIMONY OF LORI R. WEST,1 CHAIRMAN, SOUTH MISSISSIPPI VOLUNTARY ORGANIZATIONS ACTIVE IN DISASTERS 

Ms. WEST. Madam Chairman, I am honored to be here today to 

provide you testimony to this prestigious Subcommittee on behalf 

of South Mississippi VOAD, Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (SMVOAD), and International Relief and Development. 

Since 2005, the members of SMVOAD have been working together to address the effects of Hurricane Katrina, the Nation’s 

largest natural disaster. Members of SMVOAD include the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Hope CDA, Interfaith Disaster 

Task Force, International Relief and Development, Lutheran-Episcopal Services of Mississippi, Salvation Army, STEPS Coalition, the 

United Way of South Mississippi, and I have attached a complete 

list to this testimony. 

Since June 2010 and continuing through January 2011, 

SMVOAD and IRD have held frequent meetings with British Petroleum to try and address the effects of the Deepwater Horizon oil 

spill on the residents of the Gulf Coast. We have submitted multiple humanitarian proposals to BP and have revised the proposals 

in response to BP’s feedback. The time and effort expended by 

SMVOAD members on this issue has been significant because we 

believe the problems faced by the people of Mississippi and those 

along the Gulf Coast are considerable. 

I would like to draw your attention to an August 2010 study by 

the National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. I believe this 

study is important because it has identified some of the key findings which clearly show the impact the spill has had on our local 

populations. More specifically, the study states the following. 

More than 40 percent of the population living within 10 miles of 

the coast have experienced some direct exposure to the spill. One 

in five households has seen their income decrease as a result of the 

spill, and 8 percent have lost jobs. More than one-quarter of the 

coastal residents think they may have to move from the area because of the spill. The oil spill had the greatest impact on those 

with the fewest economic resources, much like Hurricane Katrina. 

Coastal residents earning less than $25,000 a year were more likely to report having an income loss than those earning more. 

In the summer of 2010, the United Way of South Mississippi and 

the United Way of Jackson and George Counties, the Gulf Coast 

Business Council, and the Mississippi Center for Nonprofits conH605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

32 

ducted a survey of health, education, employment, finances, arts, 

and tourism to measure the impact of the oil spill on the residents. 

The survey found that the top six issues facing residents were 

stress, loss of job or income, increased need for food assistance, 

problems meeting car, rent, or mortgage payments, problems purchasing prescription drugs, and loss of health insurance or other 

benefits. 

Also, nearly 70 percent of the nonprofit organizations that reported a decrease in fundraising since May 1, 2010, indicated that 

the oil spill was a significant or moderate reason for that decrease. 

More than 80 percent of all the nonprofits surveyed expected a decrease in fundraising for the next 90 days. 

Despite these negative impacts on our community and the heroic 

efforts put forth by SMVOAD and other nonprofit agencies, BP has 

not yet provided the funding necessary to address the multiple social service needs of the Gulf Coast residents. I have been asked 

by our members to provide a copy of our major VOAD proposals, 

including proposals to address the various aspects of the spill’s impact on our community, including housing, finances, job and vocational training, and livelihood means. Our members believe that 

ongoing conversations with BP have provided some feedback regarding the proposals, but BP has stated that any funding of these 

types of urgent programs will indicate culpability or indirect or tertiary effects of the oil spill, and thus, they seem to have made a 

decision not to fund these critical programs. 

There was some hope among SMVOAD members when BP agreed to award $52 million for mental health services to the Gulf 

Coast residents in 2010. SMVOAD worked with several agencies to 

present BP with a comprehensive program to address both mental 

health and basic social service needs for at least 1,300 residents affected by the spill. It remains unclear to our members why the bulk 

of the proposal was not funded, and no funds were allocated for victims with urgent social service or real day-to-day needs, such as 

food, rent, transportation, and other critical financial needs. Based 

on our members’ experience serving tens of thousands of Hurricane 

Katrina victims, SMVOAD and IRD member organizations can say 

with confidence that offering mental health and case management 

services without also providing critical housing and vocational 

needs is largely ineffective. 

We would like the Subcommittee Members to note that many organizations have expended their own resources to assess and address the impact of the spill on low- to moderate-income families. 

Between May and September 2010, my organization, IRD, enrolled 

976 clients into its case management and direct services program, 

compared to 266 clients the previous year. Requests for rental assistance also increased, from 236 during the first 4 months of 2010 

to 678 in the 5 months between May and September 2010. And in 

addition, IRD’s YouthBuild program, a program that provides job 

training and GED preparation to at-risk youth in the Gulf area, 

saw its applicant pool rise from 142 in 2009 to 314 in 2010, immediately after the spill. 

IRD and members of SMVOAD are addressing the needs of those 

affected by the spill through a range of direct referral services. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Wrap up, if you can. 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

33 

Ms. WEST. OK. In closing, I know the Subcommittee recognizes 

that many nonprofit organizations in the Gulf Coast region need 

additional resources to deliver effective services that will help the 

residents who have been affected by the oil spill recover, both in 

the short- and long-term. But today, I am also representing South 

Mississippi VOAD to ask for more direct support and engagement 

on this critical issue with BP and its various representatives. 

Thank you. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you. 

Let me begin with you, Mr. Costanza and Ms. West, to just try 

to get a handle on the money that has been allocated and how it 

has been spent. Of the $15 million that went to Louisiana and the 

$12 million that went to Mississippi, did any of that portion go to 

the networks that each of you represent, and if so, how much? 

Mr. COSTANZA. Of the $15 million, $6.7 went to Catholic Charities and other organizations that are developing the model implementing the comprehensive—it is a comprehensive outreach, treatment, and community resiliency model. 

Senator LANDRIEU. And so do we know where the other non—— 

Mr. COSTANZA. The State had the remainder. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. 

Mr. COSTANZA. The State had the remainder. 

Senator LANDRIEU. So about $6 million went to the network of 

organizations, and then we will find out about the remainder. 

And how about with you, Ms. West—— 

Ms. WEST. It was a similar percentage. The majority went to the 

State and then a smaller percentage went to local organizations, 

mental health specific. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. Mr. Keller, several of the witnesses directly said or indicated that, potentially, BP feels that if you compensate along these lines, that you think that puts you in either 

a disadvantage in a case that you would be responsible for all of 

these mental health issues or social service challenges. Is that true, 

and did that come into your thinking, and if so, why, and if not, 

what has prevented you from maybe stepping up and helping a little more? 

Mr. KELLER. Senator, I am unaware of any statement like that 

has been made, and in fact, we have encouraged our staff on the 

ground to bring any proposals or requests that come to us forward 

so we can take a look at those and evaluate them on their merits. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK, because I am aware and have been for 

months, and it is part of why we wanted you all to come, I think 

the Catholic Charities has asked BP several times. There are 53 

Louisiana NGOs that have come together to talk about a second 

tranche, if you will, for some direct services, because as you can tell 

from the testimony in the previous panel, we are going to be at this 

for another 6 months, a year, or a year and a half—I hope not 

much longer than that—until all of these claims are paid and settled, but who knows. As I said, 40 percent, 60 percent of claims 

have been paid, but those have been the low-hanging fruit, the 

easier claims. Some of these are more difficult claims, so who 

knows how long this is going to go on and the need is immediate. 

So there have been, I understand, several proposals from Louisiana, Mississippi, and potentially other States. Will you consider 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

34 

them? Is there something that we should know in your corporate 

governance that prevents you from at least considering their request, and if not, will you consider them? 

Mr. KELLER. We will consider those, and I do not believe there 

is anything that prevents us from doing that. 

Senator LANDRIEU. OK. Now, I know there is nothing that requires you to do it. I am clear about the law, and I want the petitioners here to understand that BP is under no legal obligation. 

Now, in addition, BP was not under any legal obligation to set 

up any fund of relief for rig workers put out of work because of the 

moratorium. You are not responsible, in my view and many people’s view, for people put out of work by the moratorium. The government is. But yet, BP stepped up and you made a special arrangement and we are very grateful, to help with some of those rig 

workers. 

And I am thinking that perhaps, because this need is as immediate and as clear as that, in this case, this is directly related to 

the spill, these families, not necessarily related to any indirect, like 

the slow down or shutdown of some of the work related to oil and 

gas in the Gulf, but more so fisheries and people who really saw 

their livelihoods curtailed. So if you could look at that, it would be 

very, very helpful. I know that $52 million sounds like a lot of 

money, but as these numbers are going, it is $20 billion-plus for 

claims. It does not seem like a lot of money when you think about 

it relative to all the other money that is being spent, and it is such 

an important need. 

Let me, Tom, just ask you to just hit again how you all are working together, because I know you are fairly organized in Louisiana 

and Mississippi, but what about Alabama? What about Florida? Do 

you all have any communications with the social groups on the 

ground there? 

Mr. COSTANZA. I am aware of Catholic Charities’ disaster response is for the Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) having conference calls with Mobile in Alabama, but we could do a better job 

of coordinating a Gulf region response. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Ms. West. 

Ms. WEST. We have called together the regional VOADs and New 

Orleans VOAD has joined in a meeting, Louisiana VOAD has come 

together with South Mississippi VOAD, Mobile VOAD, Baldwin 

County VOAD, and Alabama VOAD, and we have all come together 

and have experienced similar situations requesting for this direct 

assistance and not prevailing. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Well, it is clear to me, and we are going to 

have to wrap up in a minute, that the law is deficient and can be 

and hopefully will be corrected so that the next time there is an 

environmental spill of a significant magnitude where there are impacts, not just environmental, not just economic, but community 

impacts or human service impacts, that the polluter, the violator 

in this case be held accountable. 

But in the meantime, I think BP would show a great deal of faith 

to the community, and as has been stated in many of your hundreds of advertisements, that you are going to really meet your obligations to really consider these proposals. I know that officials 

from the State of Louisiana have written to Bob Dudley, and that 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

35 

letter was sent on November 18. I am assuming some of the other 

leaders of the other States have also weighed in. And, of course, 

I met with Lamar McKay; who I do not see him here, but he was 

with me to discuss this some weeks ago and I gave him a copy of 

the State’s letter and Catholic Charities proposal. So again, you are 

under no obligation, but it clearly is a need in the aftermath of a 

disaster to try to provide some direct assistance for social services. 

But I will say this, because BP has stepped up in many ways. 

I am dismayed the Federal Government itself did not have any 

monies readily available to respond through our own agencies, and 

I am going to be asking the States in the Gulf Coast what emergency funds they have established in advance so we are not having 

to scramble for funds just to respond to people’s immediate needs 

every time there is a major natural disaster, or in this case a manmade pollution event. And sometimes, we get there too late and it 

is tragic. 

Do you all want to end—Mr. Keller, I would like maybe one more 

minute from you each as we end. We will start with you and we 

will close out the panel. 

Mr. KELLER. So I will be very brief. Again, thank you for having 

me here. I apologize for the misunderstanding, I was under the understanding you wanted me to talk about both our government 

claims process as well as social services. 

In a brief minute, I would just close out by saying that we have 

taken our responsibility very seriously. I understand and appreciate the distinction you make between those things we are obligated to do and those things that we do voluntarily. 

Just a nugget of information I would add is that, including the 

rig workers’ fund, and other things, such as the $52 million, in behavioral health grants and other contributions; of the total of a little over $1 billion that we have paid into the individual States in 

response to removal costs, lost revenue, and that sort, we have 

also, over and above our obligation, for every dollar spent there, 

have spent somewhere on the order of 30 cents in voluntary contributions. 

Senator LANDRIEU. We appreciate that, and just continue to in 

my view, I would encourage you to live up to your public statements that you are going to make the region whole. There are 

clearly some gaps, particularly in this area. 

Mr. KELLER. And we take these things very seriously and will 

certainly look at that. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you. Mr. Costanza. 

Mr. COSTANZA. Well, first of all, thank you, Senator Landrieu, for 

your leadership in bringing this human side of this tragedy to the 

forefront once again. It is critical for our people to recover and our 

communities will then recover. 

Simply, the simple task would be to continue to dialogue with BP 

and engage in conversation with NGOs, VOADs. We bring expertise, compassion. We leverage resources. We are effective. We can 

bring in the private dollar leverage with the other dollars. We, unfortunately, know how to do this well because of Hurricane 

Katrina, but we have developed relationships with other NGOs. We 

know each other. We work well. And we really think we could work 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER

36 

together. We will really help people at this critical time so that 

they can recover and get on with their lives. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Thank you. Ms. West. 

Ms. WEST. Thank you, Senator Landrieu. I want to bring it to 

Mr. Keller’s attention that when resources are limited, folks go to 

their local community organizations for assistance. And so the requests are demanding right now and our resources are limited. So 

we would appreciate the opportunity to continue engaging in conversation and take another look at these proposals. So thank you 

for the opportunity. 

Senator LANDRIEU. Good. And thank you all. And as you all 

know, we are drafting a piece of legislation to address some of 

these issues for future events, so we look forward to your input and 

we appreciate what you have already given us. And if anyone has 

any additional information or suggestions, please get that to us in 

the next couple of weeks. 

With that, the meeting is adjourned. Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 3:48 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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178 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.141
179 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.142
180 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.143
181 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.144
182 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.145
183 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.146
184 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.147
185 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.148
186 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.149
187 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.150
188 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.151
189 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.152
190 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.153
191 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.154
192 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.155
193 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.156
194 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.157
195 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.158
196 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.159
197 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.160
198 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.161
199 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.162
200 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.163
201 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.164
202 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.165
203 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.166
204 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.167
205 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.168
206 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.169
207 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.170
208 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.171
209 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.172
210 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.173
211 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.174
212 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.175
213 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.176
214 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.177
215 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.178
216 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.179
217 

Æ 

H605-41331-79W7 with DISTILLER


66618.180