Florida senator calls on Obama to do more to contain oil spill

Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat from Florida, has called on President Barack Obama to do more to contain the fallout from the Gulf oil spill.

Nelson on Thursday called for the White House to send more military assets to the Gulf before the giant oil slick hits Florida’s beaches.

“This is the largest environmental disaster in our nation’s history,” Nelson said in a statement. “If this doesn’t call for more organization, control and assets — like sub-sea mapping by the Navy, for instance — then nothing does.”

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday the oil could begin washing up on the Florida coast later this week.

Nelson has cited a call by former Secretary of State Colin Powell for Obama to show more decisive force in combating the spill.

Powell called on the administration to use “decisive force to demonstrate that it’s doing everything it can,” during a television interview over the weekend.

Nelson has pushed legislation to raise the liability cap that protects BP from paying more than $75 million in economic and environmental damages. Nelson wants BP to be fully liable for the disaster. 

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