this just got sprung on us and i have deep concerns. it looks a lot like the super-committee that we know didn t turn at so well back in august of 2011. these are big issues and i think they ought to be dealt with through the committees of jurisdiction that have been working on these issues. but the super-committee failed back in august of 2011 and i m very doubtful that any super-committee right now can fix this problem. martha: does he have a point? 20 lawmakers would be on the bipartisan super-committee, 10 hoist members and 10 senate members. republican john barrasso is chairman of the senate republican policy committee. good to have you here. thanks for having me. martha: we re hearing a lot of this. congress needs to do its job. it has been sent to do its job. the formulation of yet another committee i think is going to add, in many ways to the outrage that we ve been seeing out there. i want to pull up the poll numbers as we get started here. congress has extremely low appro
we get to the bottom of this incident and understand exactly what happened. such that we can assure it never happens again. easy to say. mr. chairman, just a request, please. if mr. hayward could move the microphone a bit closer, i m having difficulty hearing. i think we all are. i just said something earlier. pull it a little closer if you could, please. mr. sullivan for questions, please. i should note, mr. upton is here from michigan, a member of the committee and so is mr. engle. if they want to ask questions they can at the appropriate time. mr. sullivan. thank you, mr. chairman. mr. hayward, according to the occupational safety and health administration, there is mounting evidence that bp is one of the worst, has one of the worst safety records of any major oil company operating in the united states. is there a deficient safety culture at bp that led to the deepwater horizon and other disasters like the
you re the bp ceo and you, like a laser you are, safety is going to be biggest issue and people under you making these kinds of decisions. now you re reviewing them. do you disagree with the conclusion that this was riskier to use this particular well lining? i m not prepared to draw conclusions about this accident until such time as the investigation has concluded. this is an investigation. that is what this committee is doing, is investigatory committee. and we expect you to cooperate with us. are you failing to crop with other investigators as well? because they re going to have a hard time reaching conclusions if you stonewall them. which is what seem to be getting today. i m not stonewalling. i simply was not involved in the decision-making process. i ve looked at the documents. and until the investigations are complete, both yours and others that is somebody else s conclusion.
cautious, saying that the ceo was feeling that bp was too cautious with its risk assessment and how it was operating. the article at the time raised the question of whether the u.s. would really buy into that assessment of cautious versus making sure that something catastrophic didn t happen. i think you ll hear a lot of this about those documents, those emails and exactly what led up to this day 59 days ago. jon: and we heard one of the members of the committee asking whether or not tony hayward had a technical adviser with him there at his side to answer some of these technical questions, i guess that is why. that s exactly right. and we could get down into the weeds to use a phrase, for oil drilling, and how it works, and the cement that is used at the bottom, and whether there is a high integrity there, and the flow of the gas, and the mud. we could get down into all of that technical oil drilling
moment to do before you answer but you are the only one that answers the question, is that clear? thank you. mr. hayward, i m asking you to please rise, raise your right hand and take the oath do you swear or amp the testimony you re about to give to be the truth, whole truth, nothing but the truth, in the matter pending before this committee? i do. let the record reflect the witness answered in the affirmative. mr. hayward, you are now under oath. we d like to hear an opening statement from you. you may submit a longer statement if you will for the record, but if you would, please, begin your opening statement, and let me again on behalf of all members of the committee, we appreciate your willingness to appear here today. chairman waxman, chairman okay, okay ranking members suspend, please, sir. [interruption from