Obama defends response to Gulf of Mexico oil leak
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President Obama on Thursday defended his administration’s efforts to deal with the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
There has been growing criticism that the federal government has not done enough to deal with the worst oil disaster in the nation’s history.
But speaking at his first news conference in 10 months, Obama took a hard tone, insisting that the federal government has been on top of the situation.
“The American people should know that from the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort,” Obama said. “As far as I am concerned, BP is responsible for this horrific disaster and we will hold them accountable on behalf of the United States.”
“We will demand that they pay every dime for the damage they have done and the painful losses they have caused,” the president said, repeating a position that his administration has frequently used during the crisis, which began last month when a deep water oil rig exploded and sank.
Obama also defended efforts to deal with the cleanup, saying more than 20,000 people were involved along with 1,300 vessels.
‘We will continue to do whatever is necessary to protect the coast,” he said.
-- Michael Muskal
