Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today joined nine of her Senate colleagues to introduce legislation to grant subpoena power to the bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, which President Obama created by executive order on May 22. Congress has previously granted subpoena power to presidential commissions investigating national crises, including the Warren Commission and the Three Mile Island Commission.
“Our investigations must have real teeth with subpoena power that allow us to get to the bottom of this catastrophe,” Senator Gillibrand said. “Subpoena power is critical to hold all parties accountable, protect taxpayers and successfully clean up the disaster in the Gulf.”
Senator Gillibrand is joining Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), John Kerry (D-MA), Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Patty Murray (D-WA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Bob Casey (D-PA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Mark Begich (D-AK). The Senators strongly believe that the BP Commission must have subpoena power to ensure access to all the evidence it needs to undertake a complete investigation on the causes of the spill and make meaningful recommendations on how to prevent similar disasters. Today, Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Ed Markey (D-MA) plan to introduce similar legislation in the House.