A month after President Barack Obama toured the U.S. Coast Guard Gulf oil spill incident response staging area in Theodore, Alabama, Vice President Joe Biden followed suit.  Last Thursday, Mr. Biden and National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, viewed operations at the facility located south of Mobile and the vice president met afterwards with local fishermen and small business owners affected by the spill.
While Mr. Baden’s short stay in Alabama was briefer than the presidents trip in mid June, it was encouraging that he included residents directly impacted by the crisis, rather than simply conducting photo-ops.
Unfortunately, I was not able to join the vice president on this trip due to votes in the House of Representatives. I hope the vice president took to heart the personal stories expressed to him by real people suffering from the dramatic drop in business as a result of the spill.
As we approach 100 days since the blow out of the Deepwater Horizon well, the frustration over the slow pace in which the federal government and BP have been handling the clean-up and the claims processing is as thick as the summer haze hanging in the South Alabama air.
The federal government has made a commitment to the long-term economic and environmental recovery of the Gulf Coast states and dialogue with the administration must continue long after the oil well is shut off if the businesses and families are to see a return to the way of life we all cherish.
Wellhead Capped:
Gulf Coast residents have learned to take any positive developments in the effort to cap the gushing deepwater oil well with a large measure of caution. However, the recent news that BP has successfully (if temporarily) capped the wellhead was very welcome.  Equally encouraging was the unexpected announcement that shrimping has returned to Mobile Bay.
One continued concern is the impact of Gulf hurricanes and tropical storms on the ongoing skimming operations and on the effort to permanently close the well. Strengthening Tropical Storm Bonnie may test containment and clean-up operations.
With the possible containment of the well, more resources and attention can finally be directed to the ongoing clean-up of our beaches and environmentally sensitive areas.  The enormity of the task is daunting and the impact of the spill will be felt in our region for years to come.
I have made clear to administration and Coast Guard officials that the people of the Gulf Coast expect their government to treat the spill clean-up and ongoing economic recovery to our area with the highest level of urgency. Even though oil may no longer be flowing from the underwater well, the assault on our coastal economy has not let up.
As I noted two weeks ago, I have also contacted President Obama, National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen and EPA Director Lisa Jackson to express great dissatisfaction over the delays in deploying oil skimmers in the Gulf and I have called on the administration to remove all bureaucratic barriers which are preventing or slowing foreign and domestic oil skimming vessels from the clean-up battle.
More than three months have passed since the blow out of the Gulf well and there can be no excuse for further delays.
If we can ever be of service, call my office toll free at 1-800-288-8721 or visit my website at http://bonner.house.gov.